Some people here criticize me for not getting along with my husband’s parents or even with my own mother. But no one seems to understand that the problem isn’t always with the children—it’s in how parents treat their kids. My relationship with my mom has always been strained; she thinks I ruined her life. My husband has a bad relationship with his parents because they openly favor their eldest daughter over him.
Anyway, this story isn’t about me. I have a childhood friend, Emily, and we’ve always been very close. Her mother, Sarah, always seemed like the perfect parent to me. She never insulted Emily, always supported her, even when Emily was left alone with two kids.
But recently, Sarah started making unreasonable demands. It all started when she wanted to help her middle daughter, Anna, financially (Emily is the youngest). Sarah offered to buy Emily’s house using Anna’s maternity capital funds. At first, it seemed fine—Emily was fully on board. The problem is, the house documents aren’t in order. We tried explaining to Sarah that everything needs to be sorted out first for the pension fund to approve the deal, but she refuses to listen. She yells at Emily, accusing her of hoarding the maternity capital and not wanting to help her sister.
Things got worse. A few days ago, Sarah showed up and kicked Emily out of the house, saying:
— Pack up your kids and get out of my house!
Emily was in shock. She tried to talk, to explain again that she’s not against selling the house, but it was no use. She gathered her things and left with her daughters. Luckily, she had somewhere to go—a friend’s empty house. But what now? Emily’s salary at the hospital is only $200 to $250 a month, so she can’t afford rent. Sarah doesn’t care. She won’t answer Emily’s calls and refuses to talk when Emily visits. Just the other day, we saw an online listing for the house—Sarah posted it herself. The documents still aren’t ready.
The worst part is that Emily used to have her own small apartment. Sarah convinced her to sell it to renovate the family home, promising to transfer the house to Emily in return. Now Emily has neither her apartment nor the house. Meanwhile, Sarah provided housing for her two older daughters without any strings attached.
How can anyone maintain a good relationship with parents after this? When they don’t listen to or understand their own children? This is such an upsetting situation, just pure disappointment in the older generation.
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