My dad, in his 60s, seems to be depressed. He is deeply unhappy and anxious, and he's also become angry and bitter to the point of a total personality change, mostly with my mum. She is miserable, and me and my siblings are so worried about both of them, especially because Dad refuses to get any help or even have a conversation about this. What, if anything, can we do here?
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posted by smockpuppet
on May 18, 2013 -
11 answers
Two nights from now I will be back living with the parents on the other end of the country. Help me turn this into a positive experience. What worked for you?
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posted by signondiego
on Apr 29, 2013 -
9 answers
My parents are seem to lack trust in my ability to manage my own life. They are controlling, have a strong tendency to emotionally overreact. How do I tell my parents I am taking a break from school with them overreacting? My mother is currently undergoing cancer treatment and I am concerned she will “worry herself sick” over me taking a break from school.
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posted by lovecricket
on Apr 29, 2013 -
13 answers
I am currently finishing up my exchange in France where I've had awesome experiences and faced life-changing learning curves. Now I'm returning home to my extremely estranged parents who have been fighting all my life--deep, disgusting trenches of arguments that seem never-ending.
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posted by rhythm_queen
on Apr 28, 2013 -
48 answers
Please help me pick a name and domain for our website/app. We're a private network for parents to upload, backup and share their kids' pictures.
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posted by signal
on Apr 14, 2013 -
1 answer
My mom just found out my dad's been cheating on her. How do I deal with all of this from 3000 miles away?
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posted by anonymous
on Apr 5, 2013 -
27 answers
How do balance respecting a parent's age and experience and treating them well when they aren't acting their age? Sorry for the length. I am not sure how to make it shorter.
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posted by anonymous
on Apr 2, 2013 -
19 answers
My wife's mom is a widow of advancing age. She lives alone in Eastern Europe, in a country with universal health care. (More or less... thanks, austerity!) As she is getting older, we're starting to worry about her living over there, both because of quality of care and because the day that she's no longer suited to live by herself seems approaching. We live in the US and would like to bring her over here permanently. Putting aside immigration questions, how do we get health insurance for her?
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posted by DirtyOldTown
on Mar 12, 2013 -
8 answers
Overall I have a very good relationship with my parents. However, some of their behaviors annoy me sometimes and there is this general feeling I get with our interactions in which I feel like I'm being treated like a teenager. So I'd like to get the Metafilter consensus: this normal parent behavior? Details inside.
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posted by daisies
on Mar 7, 2013 -
70 answers
Tell me about your daily schedules, parenting logistics, etc., with a newborn
plus a toddler or older child.
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posted by Bardolph
on Mar 7, 2013 -
15 answers
My mom is well-meaning. She tries hard to be good and kind. I would be in dead a ditch without her.
However, she is far and away the most emotionally manipulative person I have ever met. The most succinct way I can describe her behavior this: Every conversation about a problem-- even if it's not related to her behavior-- turns into a conversation about what a bad person she is.
YANMPsychologist. But she doesn't have one and won't get one, and I need some kind of term to frame her behavior so I can look up resources on how to talk to her without wanting to scream.
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posted by the liquid oxygen
on Mar 4, 2013 -
27 answers
My family are terrible. I've recently, with the help of therapy and mortality staring me down, finally cut ties to their toxic presence. How can I make sure that they're never legally or otherwise involved in my life again? In the US, married, very ill.
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posted by sweltering
on Mar 4, 2013 -
9 answers
I'm an adult who doesn't live with my parents. I've been suspecting something shady going on for the past 6 months and it's taking a toll on my stress levels. How do I deal with this situation?
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posted by anonymous
on Mar 1, 2013 -
32 answers
An 18-year-old girl I met online who I'm interested in dating's parents (who, I should note, are still financially supporting her) want all sorts of my info before they'll let her meet me and I believe they want it regardless if she meets me here or if I meet her there. Her parents want, among other things: My address and addresses and phone numbers of various family members of mine; scans of pieces of my ID; to check if I have a criminal record.
Is it wrong of me to want to withhold this info from them?
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posted by anonymous
on Feb 27, 2013 -
96 answers
I am worried about my parents, both of whom make a decent living, but are overwhelmed by debt. I cannot help them financially (and neither can my siblings, really), but I am looking for suggestions as to what direction to point them to be able to help themselves.
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posted by aka_anon
on Feb 23, 2013 -
16 answers
I act childish and feel patronized whenever I go back home from university to my parents and (much) older sister. I think this is a known phenomenon. What can I do to minimize this? (Snowflake details inside.)
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posted by Conspire
on Feb 22, 2013 -
10 answers
Out of the blue, the mom of my ex-boyfriend (whom I thought I was just starting to get over with) wants to reconnect, but without his knowledge (we haven't been keeping in touch since Christmas). She wants to have "a little chat" -- when I pressed for details, she said only to keep in touch whenever I find myself in town. As well-intentioned as she may be, I feel this is quite manipulative of her due to the context of our breakup and I'm not sure how to respond, if I should, and if I should go ahead and meet up with her (I'm half-scared of being ambushed and reprimanded -- because she wants his sister to tag along on this chat, too -- plus I feel I'll be complicit in the mother's going behind my ex's back, whatever the outcome).
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posted by anonymous
on Feb 19, 2013 -
81 answers
My parents are now asking my sister's new live-in boyfriend to pay rent while he lives in her house, which they co-own and are paying the mortgage on. Is this right?
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posted by Auden
on Feb 18, 2013 -
53 answers
Hi MeFi,
I have a friend who is having trouble getting access to the money her dad left her when he passed away. Her mother currently has control of the money and won't let the friend manage it herself despite the fact
that she is 21. The friend wants to know how she can find out her account information so she manage her own money.
Thanks,
zscore
posted by zscore
on Feb 18, 2013 -
10 answers
We are web junkies, the parents are hip but have some issues adopting multi-step tech solutions, can we cut the lessons and just curate their readers? All of them are on flipboard, but rarely add new material, Is there an easy way for me to subscribe them or do I have to make additional google accounts for them and subscribe them that way? What am I not thinking of?
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posted by history is a weapon
on Feb 11, 2013 -
4 answers
Being without children myself and not that well versed on what they need/want or the big trends right now, i need suggestions for the following gifts i need to buy in the next month or so:
gift for a premature baby boy (or his mum);
gift for a 2yr old girl;
gift for my soon to be arriving nephew
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posted by moreteaplease
on Feb 8, 2013 -
10 answers
As I assist my recently retired parents, I'm finding I know very little about the practical parts of traversing this phase of life. How do I help them manage their financial future, particularly with life insurance? I've read previous posts but special *elder* snowflake..
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posted by loquat
on Feb 7, 2013 -
5 answers
My Dad is in his late 60's and through some combination of age, TIA's, and overmedication, he is at some times out of it and inappropriate, and at all times tired and lethargic. My Mom is struggling horribly with this as she's unwilling to see herself entirely as a caretaker, and she enables him with regards to alcohol and drugs, and beats up on herself over things she can't control. I'd like to support her and give her good guidance without being overly harsh.
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posted by ftm
on Jan 31, 2013 -
10 answers
So, my girlfriend is in her early 30s, as am I. We've been dating for almost a year; we're moving in together and it's overall great - but I'm starting to get irked that she leaves almost every saturday morning, and comes back almost every sunday night, to go to her parents who live in another state. I love her; and this is a silly problem; I don't want to make it one, but I'm at a loss on how to react...
posted by anonymous
on Jan 27, 2013 -
35 answers
My sister (married, one child) and I (married, no kids) want to plan a joint family vacation. We do not want our parents (divorced, both remarried) to come. Our mom is extremely sensitive/dramatic, and we are hoping to avoid a major meltdown from her. Help?
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posted by anonymous
on Jan 26, 2013 -
16 answers
I am struggling with deciding what the right balance is between forgiving someone even though they have not (and probably will not) acknowledge their wrong thoroughly and ceasing substantial contact with them (which will also make me sad) in order to demand the treatment that I feel I deserve. (snowflake details inside)
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posted by sb3
on Jan 25, 2013 -
41 answers
I am a young adult woman living in the home she grew up in, with parents and siblings. My parents are NOT abusive - they have always provided me with a place where I felt safe and cared for. But the way they relate to me now that I've gone to college and come back has not changed since I was several years younger, and I think it's affecting me negatively. I need to figure out what my action plan is for establishing my independence, both materially and emotionally.
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posted by anonymous
on Jan 17, 2013 -
76 answers
How to confront parents about an event which really hurt when I was younger and continues to plague my life/our relationship now (over ten years later)?
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posted by anonymous
on Jan 9, 2013 -
38 answers
Extremely medicated mom: My mom has struggled with intense bipolar disorder for most of her life. She attempted suicide twice and has been hospitalized 3 times. For the past 3 years or so, medication has stabilized her moods, but at what appears to me to be a heavy cost. She's dulled and flattened to the point that she seems like only a small fraction of the person she was. It's hard for me to see her this way, but I don't know what I can do.
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posted by anonymous
on Dec 26, 2012 -
20 answers
I live in a quiet and basically ok city neighborhood that's thinking about gentrifying a little. A few months ago we got a new local cafe/bar that's become a community center for parents. But now they don't want us. Can you give me some insight into why that might be or help me plan how to find us all a new hangout?
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posted by crabintheocean
on Dec 23, 2012 -
51 answers
Last minute gift panic: Halp! My sister and her husband live in Houston, TX. I'd let to get them a nice gift that they could use in the area- Spa time, restaurant gift cards etc. I know nothing about the area. Suggestions? Special snowflake details inside
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posted by GilloD
on Dec 22, 2012 -
6 answers
My folks are visiting. They won't migrate to contemporary email services such as gmail, preferring to rely on the email service from their broadband provider, Roadrunner.
On the road, they have used "https://webmail.roadrunner.com/" as the point of access in the past.
However, at the moment, the website appears to be universally inaccessible from within my hole LAN, wired or wifi.
When I access the URL, no browser completes the page render. If allowed to timeout, I can examine the source for the page, and the sent content includes a frame hosting a javascript which appears to loop, directing the frame to load "https://webmail.roadrunner.com/".
They are not interested in setting up mail client access or forwarding.
How can I solve this?
posted by mwhybark
on Dec 22, 2012 -
17 answers
After a decade of virus-filled PCs, a few years ago I got my dad a iMac. After a conversion period, he was off and running and doing fine. But he still finds amazing ways to do things like delete all his applications and otherwise ruin the thing. Is there any sort of lightweight IT service I can pay to lock down his Mac a little and prevent him from messing it up?
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posted by mathowie
on Dec 21, 2012 -
18 answers
My parents fight. A lot. My brother is able to drown out the fights somehow and stay neutral. I am not--I get in between the fights and support my mother. And this obviously, does not sit well with my father, who calls me names and tells me he doesn't love me and blames me for fights. What should I do?
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posted by rhythm_queen
on Dec 8, 2012 -
29 answers
Is it wrong for me to share details about a deceased ex-boyfriend with his parents? Specifically, that he was my boyfriend at all. Snowflake details inside.
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posted by anonymous
on Dec 5, 2012 -
38 answers
Did you grow up with parent(s) who loved you but were not around a lot?
How did that impact you and the person you are today? How did it impact your relationship with you parents? What do you wish your parent(s) did differently? Do you think it is every possible to have a healthy family situation with parents who are gone a lot?
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posted by seesom
on Nov 29, 2012 -
30 answers
My relationship with my parents is affecting me emotionally, and has echoes in my professional life. I really want to get through to them across a generational/cross-cultural gap -- but how?
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posted by anonymous
on Nov 26, 2012 -
17 answers
How honest am I obligated to be with my parents about dropping college classes?
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posted by efsrous
on Nov 14, 2012 -
29 answers
How do I take care of my aging parents long distance? I'm an only child with small children of my own and feel alone in this situation.
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posted by percor
on Nov 12, 2012 -
18 answers
Convincing my traditional parents that marrying my boyfriend (as opposed to an arranged marriage) is not a "sin". Tried for many years; can you help me try more? I will start with a little bit of my background. Please bear with me for the verbose description.
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posted by alady
on Nov 10, 2012 -
41 answers
Please help me deal with my parents ever-strained and unhappy marriage, my fathers refusal to seek marriage counseling, my mother's emotional affair, and my grandparents horrible influence. This has been happening forever--now that I'm 20, my parents are divulging more and more. It's too hard to deal with. Any suggestions welcome.
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posted by anonymous
on Oct 31, 2012 -
24 answers
Help me find an excellent primary care doctor for my mom in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Snowflakes inside.
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posted by sweltering
on Oct 29, 2012 -
3 answers
