My younger sister is moving in with her future-fiancé. How to mark this passage, and what house-warming gift to buy them? [more inside]
posted by SebastianKnight on Nov 7, 2009 - 7 answers

Should I buy a house? This one? Now? (Sticky family and personal issues involved.) [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Dec 6, 2007 - 15 answers

I'm dealing with the fallout from coming out to my deeply religious immediate family. For years, I had prepared for their tears, their anger, their remonstrances, their appeals to the Bible, and all of those have come. What I hadn't prepared for was how disappointed I would be, and how fundamental and lonely that disappointment would be. Help? [more inside]
posted by grrarrgh00 on Oct 16, 2007 - 38 answers

I was raised by an abusive father. Now in my early 30's I am looking ahead to the future when I may become a father. I am determined not to recreate the family environment I grew up in but know how these things sometimes turn out -- that people determined not to recreate something sometimes wind up doing so in an unforseen manner. I was in therapy for 2 years in my 20's to work on the issues but therapy is not an option now because of money. I have worked hard not to be my father, but part of me is afraid that I will wind up being like him as a parent. (In particular, I worry about being a father to a son because of my history). I am looking for information about the father-son relationship as well as information about how to be a good parent when you have a background like mine. Please offer advice, books, suggestions - anything that can help.
posted by anonymous on Feb 13, 2005 - 16 answers