Worried about my emotional well-being, and my future. Need some good Metafilter advice.... I am a 34 y/o female who is gainfully employed and generally self-sufficient (own my own home, car, take care of the house, etc.) but I am extremely lonely and feel more and more isolated everyday. [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Oct 25, 2009 - 29 answers

My mother's grief is overwhelming me. How do I keep my cool? [more inside]
posted by Monsters on Sep 5, 2009 - 25 answers

Should she make the kids see the dad? The kids do not want to go and there is not a visitation order in place. [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Sep 2, 2009 - 21 answers

I am a web developer and often find myself in situations where acquaintances, friends and family request that I build web sites or web store for free or extremely cheap. How do I handle these tedious requests? How have you handled them? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Aug 23, 2009 - 31 answers

It's been almost three years since my mother died, and my father has slowly been working himself back into seeing new people, but it's starting to cause major family drama. I'm 23 and live on my own in a different city, so this doesn't bother me much. But my 17 year old sister still lives with him, and she's really upset that this is going on. To make matters worse, the latest person he's seeing is my sister's favorite teacher from school. What can my dad do to ease this transition for my sister? What do both people deserve here? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Aug 1, 2009 - 34 answers

FamilyDramaFilter: My Ex has been receiving curiously specific messages from a new Facebook 'friend' regarding our breakup. All signs point to this person actually being my mom. After questioning her via email, I have been sent two denials, the last quite vociferous. I'm pretty sure she is lying. How should I proceed? [more inside]
posted by camneely on Jul 22, 2009 - 21 answers

How do I ask my boyfriend if his mother knows about our relationship? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Jul 18, 2009 - 18 answers

Working in Family Business. What would you consider that "line" where you are no longer dealing with a family member but a co-worker, boss, etc.. [more inside]
posted by Gravitus on Jun 13, 2009 - 5 answers

I don't know if it's really my kid. It's our second and I see myself in our first, emphatically, but the second one, I don't recognize myself in at all. [more inside]
posted by anonymous on May 28, 2009 - 72 answers

How do I deal with my parents on limited resources without sending all of us into a fit? (likely to be TL;DR) [more inside]
posted by divabat on Feb 20, 2009 - 13 answers

I'm mourning my sister. The catch? She isn't dead. She just isn't herself anymore. How do I go about this in a healthy way? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Dec 2, 2008 - 22 answers

Last year my dad and my step-mother divorced after 20 years of marriage. It was not an easy break-up, and my dad was pretty devastated in its wake. While it was wrenching for me to think of my dad being alone in his mid-sixties, I cheered myself knowing that my dad, being a very smart, handsome, together guy with a whole lot of awesome qualities, is definitely a catch and would almost certainly end up with someone terrific. I always pictured him being with some fun, free-spirited woman, probably a widow, someone who could match his intellect, stand up to his occasional bull-headedness, and win the hearts of his kids. He’s now with with someone, alright, but not at all what I’d imagined or hoped for. [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Nov 25, 2008 - 50 answers

I'm nervous about spending Thanksgiving weekend with my boyfriend's Midwestern family out-of-state in Indiana. They're flying both of us out for Thursday-Sunday, and I want to be sure to make a good impression. Advice? [more inside]
posted by booknerd on Nov 10, 2008 - 54 answers

How do you keep in touch with friends and relatives over long distances? [more inside]
posted by abdulf on Oct 19, 2008 - 12 answers

Looking for advice about how to handle a cultural misunderstanding...or possibly a scam. Not sure how to reconcile the experience and associated feelings, and especially unsure about how to deal with the situation in the most sensitive and informed way. [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Jul 31, 2008 - 13 answers

My wife and I asked her sister for my wife's wedding dress back. She is refusing to give it to us until we pay her for damage to her car. [more inside]
posted by adi on Jul 27, 2008 - 58 answers

Imminently divorcing parents, naive and idealistic father, playing therapist to adults - the works. Help me not hate my family! [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Dec 27, 2007 - 23 answers

How do I make sure I'm the absolute best son I can be? [more inside]
posted by TheManChild2000 on Nov 9, 2007 - 19 answers

How to handle my boyfriend's father? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Nov 2, 2007 - 54 answers

I need a script for telling my manipulative mother "no." [more inside]
posted by notjustfoxybrown on Jul 23, 2007 - 22 answers

Help me distance myself from my family (and not feel guilty). [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Mar 22, 2007 - 17 answers

In a nutshell, my fiancee hates my family. [more inside]
posted by aprivateperson on Feb 27, 2007 - 111 answers

I am looking for advice on how to tactfully deal with difficult family members when it comes to my lifestyle. You know there's [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Jan 10, 2007 - 27 answers

Help me find a good book on mother-teen-age daughter relationships for my wife. [more inside]
posted by Xurando on Nov 25, 2006 - 5 answers

I've recently turned 28, and am still unmarried. For various reasons, I would prefer to stay single. However, my extended family has other ideas [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Nov 14, 2006 - 17 answers

Whenever a relationship question is asked, it seems like the answer is always "communicate". Talk to the person, explain what's wrong, establish the communication barrier. I'm not saying the answer is wrong - after all, it's a requisite answer for a reason - but surely, it's easier said than done? [more inside]
posted by Phire on Oct 14, 2006 - 12 answers

Relationship Etiquette Filter: I had forgotten that I still have a gift that an ex's mom gave to me several years ago. It supposedly had sentimental value, and I feel weird about keeping it. Will I offend by trying to return it? Oh boy, there's way [more inside]
posted by wejones on Aug 16, 2006 - 43 answers

AdviceFilter: I am thinking about starting a new business, but am concerned about maintaining a good work/life balance... [more inside]
posted by mooders on Aug 10, 2006 - 5 answers

How do you deal with a family member who constantly inflicts feelings of guilt? [more inside]
posted by jca on Apr 11, 2006 - 29 answers

Fundy-In-Law-Filter: My husband's sister and her husband are hard-core evangelical fundamentalists. We are liberal Episcopalians. This causes a problem every Christmas. What do you say when you get a gift that was clearly meant to make a point? [more inside]
posted by Biblio on Dec 27, 2005 - 84 answers

My live-in boyfriend and I have been together for six years, and would very much like to get married soon. Our relationship is rock solid. We are both immigrants living in New York City and while we want a low-key wedding both come from backgrounds that value family weddings - while we can keep it small and inexpensive, running off to Vegas would upset a lot of people. Wanting to get married is bringing some unresolved family issues to the forefront . . . . [more inside]
posted by anonymous on May 9, 2005 - 24 answers

How do I get my relatives to stop bugging me about why I don't have a boyfriend yet? (mi+) [more inside]
posted by invisible ink on Dec 24, 2004 - 39 answers

Question for step-parents.
My significant other and I both have several children from other marriages. I truly love this person, and their children. But I don't love this person's children anywhere even close to how much I love mine. Just looking at my children breaks my heart, I can never get enough time with them. It's not like my significant other's children aren't great or I don't love them. But there is a big difference in how I love them, compared to my own. My children just don't seem to annoy me the way my significant other's do. Is this a relationship breaker? Does anyone have experience with this?
posted by anonymous on Dec 2, 2004 - 8 answers

I am getting married this November. My SO and I have a great relationship with her parents and siblings, who live in the same town as we do (actually, she's living with her parents until our wedding). My family is 3,000 miles away from us. Now, I have a job offer that would require us to move about three hours away from her family. We can also stay where we are. Is it a good idea to be in close proximity to family as newlyweds? Is it more important to break away and start out on our own?
posted by willpie on Jul 8, 2004 - 17 answers

Dealing with parents: How to say 'no'? They want to make an extended visit beyond anything we find reasonable. More behind the door... [more inside]
posted by Goofyy on May 20, 2004 - 14 answers