Mums and sons

I was more than happy to be a boy mum. Im not that girly myself
After multiple pregnancies I had my son Now due another when my firstborn is 16 months
My MIL and FIL shared their disappointment before saying it doesnt matter as long as its healthy and its rubbed me the wrong way and now over thinking about the fact we won't have a girl
Can someone please share your good stories on 2 boys under 2 xx

Hello there I'm just after a bit of advice if possible /if anybody had any similar experiences.
My Son is 10 and I've struggled for years to get any sort of support. The last time we had contact with NHS services for this whole process in hoping to get some sort of diagnosis was a phone call in 2022.
We had our first in person appointment today and its not gone well at all in my opinion. I had brought a very close family friend who is like a second mum to me as a chaperone for support , she knows my son very well and he trusts her a lot. The doctor declined to let her accompany us and said "no , you can talk to your friend afterwards" I struggled so much to get my words out with what I wanted to say , while the doctor looked at me waiting for me to hurry up with my answers. I felt like I was a criminal being cross examined more than a parent trying to advocate for their child. The school report from 2022 now is no good due to it being 2 years old, I didn't elaborate as well as I could have due to my stress and anxiety over the whole thing , she asked me what my concerns were and I mentioned things that we believe could be related to autism she shut me down straight away and said "you can not just jump straight to the autism conclusion ". I just feel like I've absolutely failed my son here. Does anybody have any advice please on what to do next ? I was expecting a lot more questions from her regarding development from a younger age etc and I did manage to bring some do that up myself. She also kept telling me "he looks fine to me , but you obviously have concerns". Yes i do because he's incredibly good at masking his issues! We had a big problem last week with a fire drill at school and my son refused to come into school and got incredibly stressed out , I had to wait until the scheduled alarm had been done so I could take him in, I've emailed our schools Senco to arrange a meeting with her to discuss this appointment and wondering if the school reports with the recent fire alarm issues may go in my son's favour relating to his sensory issues.
Also , this may be a standardbset of questions here especially then living situation ones as I fully understand they have to do that for safeguarding purposes and perhaps i am being sensitive here , but I was also asked
"Do you work mum what do you do ?" I said yes and proceeded to tell her what I do but then she shut me off mid sentence "very busy lady then ,ok"
"Do your children all have the same father " "Do you have a partner" I said yes I have a husband "oh , a husband? Ok!"
Thanks for reading if you got this far .

This is my first ever post and want to know if I'm being irrational or not, so thought why not ask reddit. Also dont know if this is in the correct subreddit? If its not meant to be in this one please point me to where I should post, and it is a long one and kinda involves two stories. One bridesmaid I want to send a text to give a kick up the bum and the other I want to move down to a guest.
People in the story
Myself L - F28
Bridesmaid A - Alex (friends for 12 years) - Thinking of moving down to a guest.
Bridesmaid B -Beth (friends for 7 years) - Want to give a kick up the bum.
Both bridesmaids are separate friends from different times of my life.
H - (Friend 4 years) Not a bridesmaid.
Story-
I got engaged to my fiancé in June 2022, and asked Alex and Beth to be my bridesmaids straight away as always knew I wanted them involved in our day. In November 2022 we booked our venue for November 2024. Since June 2022, we didn't do anything together for the wedding as everything was so far away, I booked a dress experience with Alex, Beth, My mum, nan and sister in November 2023. I didn't find my dress but we had a lovely day, I booked more appointments at other shops, neither of my bridesmaids could come to the other appointments due to it being close to festivities and having other plans, which was fine and said not to worry if I found the dress we would arrange in the new year to all go together and have lunch after to talk wedding bits and pieces.
I did find the dress so sent photos in our group chat, and said would arrange a date in the new year to take them to see it and have lunch as previously spoke about.
So in mid Jan, I sent a message to arrange a weekend day when we could all do this, I did have to ask a few times for dates that could be done as neither of them responded, but we got a date booked in and I phoned the shop to say that I would be bringing my two bridesmaids to see the dress, so they were lovely and said they would have the dress up out the way so it can be a surprise for them.
During this time the bridesmaid dresses had arrived, and I was unsure on them so asked if they would mind coming over to try them on so I would know to send them back or not, Beth and my sister came about 2/3 days later to try them on and we spoke about my hen and asked if I should set up a group chat so they can start planning it as it was now Feb 2024, and didn't want it to leave it late to plan and arrange it. Which they agreed to so the next day I set up the group and then left it.
Alex couldn't come to the dress try on as she doesn't drive, so arranged for me to take it to her when I had time or for me to take it to the wedding dress show day and she could take it then.
The day we had prearranged rolled around and Beth text me about 2 hours before due to to leave to say she unfortunately couldn't make it due to having a stomach bug and not being able to hold anything down and apologised, I was disappointed but understood it is not something that can be helped and definitely don't want to go into a shop full of white dresses if not feeling great. So said that was fine and I hoped she got better. Then about 20 minutes before we were due to leave to pick up Alex from where she was due to meet us after dropping her son to her mums, I get a text to say she had been up early with her son and forgot what time it was and then realised she had left it too late to come and meet us, so she would no longer be coming she did also say maybe we had to have a talk about her being a bridesmaid as she had a lot going on. This I was angry at, and I did have a cry before I left for the shop as I had looked forward to this day for a while and on the day both had cancelled, and when I got to the shop the ladies were so lovely but also hurt for me that both had cancelled on the day of as they were expecting myself, sister and my two bridesmaids. Me and my sister had a great day and I asked how my hen planning was going. She said not well and that both Alex and Beth had been very quiet and not helpful. It was also Alexs birthday soon after this appointment so I had bought her gifts to the day to give to her, just small gifts that were to make her smile. On her birthday I sent a text and got no response which is unlike her to not even respond thank you as she has done in previous years, but shrugged it off as being busy. She made a post on facebook saying how she was thankful for all of her friends for getting her wonderful gifts on her day etc. I text her the next day to say I had her gift with me and that I had planned on giving it to her on the appointment day, but she could come and get it or I could drop it off when I was next free to which I then got a reply.
I sent a text the next day after this into our group chat, to say that as both me and my sister are the most flexible with our time, we would be leaving it up to them to if they want to plan a date to go and do this again, and that i would like us to get together still to plan some bits out and we were both more than happy to go to their houses if that made it easier for them. ( this was sent in Feb, nothing has happened since on this front)
I then didn't hear from either of them properly until end of Feb, I had tried to reach out to both about things that weren't the wedding as I normally would anyway however I either got short responses or nothing. Around march time things seemed to go back to normal with both Alex and Beth responding fairly normal for our friendship.
I then spoke to my sister around mid March, again asking how the hen planning was going, and she was getting quite stressed with it as neither bridesmaids were responding in the chat along with everyone else, and if Alex did respond it was also a no to her ideas without giving another idea in its place. I told her that if i needed to be added back in to help then I would, however I did have someone who maybe able to help. By this point
This is where my friend H comes in, she and I have been friends for a 4 years but she lives around 4 hours away from me, and wanted my two oldest friends as my bridesmaids. We dont get to see each other often however we try to ring each other once every month and have a 2/3 hour long catch up on our lives, and it was around this time we had our call so I spoke to her about everything that has been happening, and she said she would be happy to help my sister plan the hen. Which she did and Beth stepped us also after not being too active. Alex however did not and she is also unsure on whether she can come to the hen in itself due to childcare. Which is fine and I plan on doing a afternoon brunch thing for those who wanted to come but couldn't.
We are now in May with 6 months to go, neither have given RSVPs to the wedding and I havent seen either of them since November 2023. I want to get together to talk things like makeup artist, hair things i want to buy them as gifts etc but i dont seem to be getting anywhere.
Whilst going on through all of this I have tried multiple times to get Alex on the phone as we normally would when we hadn't seen each other for a long time, one night i waited 3 hours for her to call as she said she could but then kept moving the time back and back, by 3 hours of waiting I had enough and said would try again tomorrow to which again she just didn't pick up and text to say she would call later, she didn't. By this point Id had enough and spoke to my partner about it all and relooked back on our friendship. I had been there at her lowest moment taking time off work to help and support her as her family who she lived with didn't step up to help, over the last 2 years it had always been me asking her for a call or texting her first or to go over and see her, with her only initiating to go to hers to see her once. When she got married I wasnt a bridesmaid but still did bridesmaid things like get ready with her on the day and spend the night with her the night before as her bridesmaids didnt do any of that so she would have been getting ready alone etc. She has been there for me in the past when I needed it however in the last few years its been a lot more one sided. We hadn't seen each other in months so I went to hers to catch up and have dinner whilst I was there she got a phone call from another friend and she answered and had a 20/30 minute conversation with them, whilst I sat there so i was worried it was an emergency once she got off the phone I did ask if everything was okay and did i need to go etc and she said no it was just a catch up, we call each other nearly everyday. Which I did get mad at as when I go to hers I barely even speak to my fiancé as want to give her all my attention and found it rude she didn't give me the same courtesy if it had been an emergency then that is not an issue.
So I am asking am I being a bridezilla for wanting to give them a kick up the ass or moving them down to a guest for the day? And asking my friend H to see if shed like to be a bridesmaid instead?
Ive tried to include as much info as possible and give the main bits.

I'm walking through a bustling underground train station. I push and shove my way through all the other commuters onto the platform. As I look around, there seems to be endless rows of platforms in both directions, stretching well into a dense fog. Further ahead, neat lines of railway tracks extend out from the fog and through the platforms. I instinctually look up at the info screen
Next train in ### minutes
I furrow my brow, squint to try and focus on the numbers but they're heavily pixelated and illegible. I look around at the other commuters, who stream onto the platform completely unaware of the anomaly. Most people are on their phone, or wearing headphones while some are talking to each other. No one seems to notice the malfunction with the screen.
That's when the absurdity of the situation clicks for me. Endless platforms, a wall of fog, unreadable numbers and people that don't care. It's all a dream. I bring my hand up to my face and pinch my nose, trying to breathe through it. An old reality check I remembered from back when I was trying to learn to lucid dream.
My heart rate jumped when I realised, that I couldn't breathe through my nose. Before I could even process this, another problem presented itself. I didn't know why I was here. I didn't know where I was going and I definitely did not know how I even got here. It seems as if reality ceased to exist right before I walked onto this platform. Just like it typically feels in a dream, you spawn in out of nowhere and don't really know what happened prior - except this wasn't a dream.
I knew I was sure of it because deep inside my bones I felt this anxious urgent message. I need to catch this train. It was a primal feeling.
At this point, my head is spinning and I need to sit down somewhere. I choose a silver bench with a middle aged woman sitting on it. She shuffles further to the left as I sit down next to her clutching my head and racking my brain to try and figure out what it is happening. This is what amnesia feels like, I thought to my self as I gnawed at scraps of messy muddled memories. Each image that came into my mind was just a fragment - A school, a library, sickeningly white walls. It hit me that I didn't even know my name. I was starting to hyperventilate but then my body kicked into autopilot. I started to take deep breaths, focusing on my diaphragm and calming myself down. It felt like I was trained to do this. I started to focus on the current situation.
Where was my ticket? Instinctually, I knew I had to have gotten one on my entry to the train station. I reached into my pockets and pulled out a scrap of paper. Scrawled in very familiar cursive:
*In case of memory loss, read the journal in your backpack*
Strange message but I didn't have any choice then to at least give the instructions a try. I removed my backpack and rummaged through it for the journal. I wouldn't really call it a backpack - more a tattered and frayed bundle of cloth that was reminiscent of a backpack. I finally found a series of small thick journals, bundled in cloth with their leather covers on the verge of disintegration. The pages still seemed in good condition though. Each cover was sequentially labelled which I'm guessing corresponded to the chronological order of the writings within.
The lady next to me was weirdly getting agitated. She kept stealing glances, her body shaking and eyes burning with a fierce rage. I slowly got up from the bench and began to step backwards. My backpack bumped into a pillar. The dull thud it made seemed to cause a drastic change to everyone around me though. They all snapped their heads, locking eyes on me and staring through my very soul. I felt exposed.
The rumble of an arriving train stole away their attention and within a split second everyone was ignoring me again, going back to their usual activities. It seriously felt like I had just imagined it and it was becoming more and more clear that I was having some sort of mental breakdown. Nevertheless, as the train slowed to a stop on the platform, I walked into it and found a seat. The train seemed to be old and new at the same time. Typical blue seats with abstract dirty patterns complete with a modern sleek interior of gentle curves clashing with a boxy dull metallic exterior and doors that looked like they belonged on a rusty submarine.
I opened the first of the journals and began to read. I soon realised that the handwriting was mine and within the next few moments I was attacked by a barrage of memories that had remained repressed and buried in the back of my mind.
*
My name is Jacob and I have been stuck here in this place called *The Limbo* for an eternity. When I say 'eternity', I don't mean it lightly. Back when I used to keep track I counted over 500 years through my wristwatch that never seemed to run out of battery. Now I know counting is meaningless. There have been periods like this where my mind falls into a deep trance and I lose my whole identity as I mindlessly wander in this place much like the entities that inhabit it. Occasional periods of lucidity breach this trance and then I find myself lost and confused. It's why I keep the journals with me. I think its some sort of psychological survival mechanism that human brains develop when faced with the infinite vastness of The Limbo.
Speaking of The Limbo, I've come to learn a few things about its nature through my stay here. Some of its been through people that I've come across (Yes others are also stuck here) and some has been through my own experiences. Perhaps the most important is the question of where I get my food and water. The answer is weird. I have never felt hungry or thirsty. The sensation of having cool water slide down my throat remains a memory so distant that it feels like the snippet of a childhood dream.
I guess the next natural topic about this place would be time. Through various experiences of mine (that you'll get to read about) and discussions with others, the leading theory of mine is that The Limbo exists outside of time itself. While I myself have fallen here sometime during 2001, I've met many others from various years like the 80s, 90s and even one recent fellow from 2043.
Most people in The Limbo eventually fall into a trance, withering away until they become one of the entities or become mere tools for them. It's probably naive but I keep going through this place with only two hopes. The first is to somehow get out of here at the right time point and see my son, who I never got to see. The second is to come out of this place and die so that I no longer have to live out the empty agony of eternity (I'll explain how you can't age or die in The Limbo later). Perhaps my hopes will dwindle as the centuries pile and I will become just like those who I look upon in pity now.
I am writing this consolidated diary of my experiences for several reasons. I'd like someone to know of my unending journey in this place. To be aware of the capacity of the human spirit to keep going in the worst of situations. I have never had a long term friend in The Limbo, but know that I consider you the reader a dear friend even if I never get to meet you because you will know my story. I'm also sharing this in hopes that there is more awareness of The Limbo. Perhaps the military and scientists can actually figure out what it is. Perhaps all of us can be brought home. Or maybe this can serve as a survival guide to those who may be unfortunate enough to fall through.
There are small holes in The Limbo. Most of them are barely large enough for a pinkie finger to fit in let alone a person, but sometimes I've come across one large enough for this journal to go through. I'm not sure what time or place these holes lead to, so the safe passage of this book into a person capable of reading it has about the same chances as me ever leaving this place.
The train I'm on supposedly leads to the edge of The Limbo, where the holes are large enough for humans to fit through. It's really more of a legend amongst the poor souls that are trapped here and I've followed trails and clues for a long time to even find this train.
There are only two ways this goes. Both outcomes would lead to you reading this book in your hands. I'll either find my way out of this hell or give up hope and slip this journal through a Hole. You will find my fate at the end.
I should stop rambling now though. It would be best to start at the very beginning.
*
I was rushing out of work in pure ecstasy. My wife had gone into labor while I was at work and been rushed to hospital. I needed to get there fast. People were glancing over at me over their cubicles in confusion as I packed up my work bag and rushed out to the elevators. I couldn't stop thinking about seeing my first son as the elevator made its way down. The elevator doors finally opened and I rushed out.
The ground entrance of the building I worked at, particularly near the lobby, is an intersection of various hallways. I was already walking to close to the wall when someone came rushing around the corner and bumped me right into the wall. I was only able to hear half their apology when I fell *through* the wall like it was just a holographic projection. In hindsight, I find it oddly funny how easy it is for a life to get ruined. Just when you think you've got it all, when everything is going smoothly, a small incident like that is enough to take it all away.
I found myself in a room that resembled a classroom. It looked as if someone who had never stepped inside a classroom was asked to imagine the space. Desks were arranged in messy uneven rows with the chairs facing various directions. The board at the front of the room was a seamless patchy mixture of both chalk and modern whiteboard and mounted way too low on the wall, nearly hugging the floor. A large teachers desk sat in the front of the room. The walls were filled with posters of absolute gibberish along with diagrams and pictures that seemed like they showed something tangible but no matter how close you looked you could never identify anything in the picture.
The initial confusion was replaced by an immense panic. My heart was drumming against my chest as I searched the room for a doorway to exit it. My mind was trying to rationalise the situation. I was trying to convince myself that this was just some old part of the building and I had fallen into a hallway instead of the wall.
I ran through the doorway at the far end of the room and found myself in a large hallway that seemed to extend forever in both directions. The walls were a muted grey and the floors were that typical dirty linoleum. Soon I would find out that the regularly spaced doorways on either side of the hall led to other nonsensical classrooms.
I ran down the hallway screaming for help in pure panic, which was a terrible mistake in hindsight. I stopped running down the hallway when I suddenly heard the distinct scratch of chalk against board. In this large empty space, the sound echoed and boomed. Since I was still refusing to buy in to the reality of the situation, my hopes were momentarily increased by the supposed presence of another person here.
I slowly walked over to the doorway that the sounds were coming from. My stomach filled with an uneasy dread. This deep primal instinct within me urged me to hold back. I peeked carefully in the classroom and saw a woman with their back turned to me drawing something on the chalkboard.
It took me a few moments to notice that it was a very realistic portrait of my face.
She was drawing lines across my throat, her long dark hair swaying as she drew in the details. The drawing was completed with a terrible slash across the throat, blood gurgling out. I was frozen in place, transfixed on the hauntingly beautiful realism of the picture.
She began to turn around slowly while humming a high pitched tune. To this day I can't describe the face I saw. It is still etched into my mind. A face full of so much hatred, so much anger that I don't think its possible for a human to make that face. It expressed an emotion beyond human understanding. No artist in the world could ever render the expression on the paper. No words could describe the pure fear that coursed through my veins as she stared at me and began to approach.
I turned around to run, only to realise that a bunch of school children had gathered around me. They were headless, the bleeding stumps dripping thick blood onto the floor in a rhythmic patter. Somehow they were laughing.
I shoved through the group and ran down the hallway. I wasn't sure where I was going. My whole world had shattered and now I was completely aimless in some nonsense dimension with horrors beyond imagination that wanted me dead.
*
The extract above is from this journal I found at the foot of a large tree on a hiking trail. It's a miracle that I spotted its faded leather cover given that it was almost buried under rotting leaves. I really don't know what to make of what I'm reading, so I'll be slowly transcribing bits of it in separate posts over the next few days.
I know this subreddit is good for this sort of stuff. I'd love if someone else could share anything they know about The Limbo. This whole journal feels like some sort of prank, but the words and memories within feel way too real.
I can't help but feel a connection to this story. My mum doesn't speak much of my Dad, who I know left before I was born. No one ever found out where he went.
I was born in 2001
X

AITA for telling my mum I dont want her bringing my brother and his stepkids over to celebrate my birthday? I had quiet dinner planned about a month in advance and it was just my mum/dad and my son(4). Last minute my mum says she will bring ‘enough food for everyone’ even though I was making dinner and when I asked why we’d need more she said my brother and his stepkids and partner were coming. I said I didn’t want them coming because I just wanted a quiet night and his stepkids(5&9) are total brats and yell/scream/play rough with my son, he always ends up crying and they break his toys and his partner does literally nothing about it. Last time they came over they snapped the pedals on a cool plastic ride on bike thingy I got him for scooting around the house, she just shrugged. I told my mum I didn’t want them coming as I hadn’t invited them and she packed a sad (because she had already told them they were allowed without asking me) and cancelled the whole thing. Now I’m apparently arently a big AH and disgusting/rude for uninviting/cancelling it according to my bro/sister and inlaw (reminder, mum text to say she cancelled) I feel like it should be the only day of the year where I can just get what I want and be happy in my own home without it being made into a big deal. Worst birthday ever (though me and my son got to eat all the cake we wanted and watch cartoons all evening… so maybe not that bad) AITA?

Bit of info I have ptsd, different past traumas Mum of 4 F 39, my mums always been obsessed with my eldest son. (long story but she manipulated him and caused him to be difficult, willing to answer questions). A few years ago I found out via a lot of different people that for a while my mum and sister were telling people and my side of the family all these crazy lies, I confronted her and she blamed my son, told me to have a stroke,(I’ve chosen to walk away) went to my son and made him not talk to me, my nan (who was my world) ended up in hospital she did message me to say and I asked her to keep me updated. She didn’t I next get a message from my aunt - my mother had told her I had ignored her message and didn’t care and that my nan was dying. I sent evidence that I had replied and also had messaged my dad but she wouldn’t accept. She puts stuff up on fb all the time about me (I haven’t got fb), she played games with my nans will, she uses my son (21), but he sees I’m the bad guy she’s destroyed my relationship with him he ignores me 99% of the time, he doesn’t bother with any of us (infact his behaviour I think he’s a sociopath). But I can’t walk away from him. I’d like tips or advice as I’m still so angry I want to forgive for me but I can’t, I also know I’ll never forget what my mum has done. Sorry for the length

So for context I (21F) am the youngest of 6 siblings and when my eldest sibling, (my brother) turned 21 he died only days later in a car accident. Although this was quite some time ago. But of course coming from a big family it was difficult and completely devastating. All my siblings are 2 years apart from one another but due to how blended my family is I’m 7 years apart from the 5th sibling, who for this story I’ll call James (29M). Now this story may be long and a bit confusing but please bare with me as I try my best to write it. James and I are the one who are 7 years apart. We do not share the same dad, however he calls my dad “dad” and my father helped raise him and is on his birth certificate. After losing my eldest brother my mum and dads health declined rapidly. My mum had open heart surgery and my dad had 5 brain surgery’s. My mum to this day has never really recovered.
Now I know hate is a strong word, especially to describe your own brother but EVERYTHING my brother does just infuriates me. So here’s where I could be the A-hole.
There’s not one specific reason as to why I feel this way about my brother but I’ll try my best to explain. When I was 16 and James was 24, within a year he slept with 2 of my best friends who were only 17 at the time. I did not find out about this until they had already turned 18. He would steal the family electronics to pawn them for money because he was spending all his money on alcohol and drugs. If he was ever confronted about these things he would ALWAYS LIE. When I was younger and not working my parents used to give me any of their coins and I would save for the whole year so I could go to our local show (fair). Given we had such a big family and I couldn’t work I thought if I could save for the year it was one less stress on my parents. One year James stole EVERY penny a week out from the show (fair), I couldn’t go that year (he stole around $150AUD) .
Now a lot of these times my brother would just get away with it all because everyone felt bad for him or because he had a way of charming people and they would just pretend it never happened. Almost all of his previous relationships ended physically but he calls them all “crazy” to justify his poor behaviour. When I turned 18 and was living with my parents we were to pay board, so we could help them rent and any bills they had. Around a year ago we started buying our own groceries and cooking our own food. This was just so our parents could prepare us for the “real world”. Which in all honesty I’m so glad they did because it helped me tremendously! However my brother proceeds to eat everyone else’s food and not contribute to bills, despite having a well paying job. We even went as far as having designated selves and labelling things. Despite this, just the other week he ate mine and my boyfriend’s leftovers and then put the empty container back in the fridge!
Now I won’t ramble on too much longer but the worse thing of all is the way he treats my parents. All my other siblings have moved out so it’s just me and James living with parents. My mum being as sick as she is, is unfortunately the target to all of my brothers unwarranted out bursts. He yells at her and tells her “you just wish it was me in that car” referring to my brother who died and “I’ll just go kms and then you’ll have no son left”. My dad is less vocal during confrontational times but when he is involved James goes from calling him “dad” to calling him his actual name.
With all that said, that was barely a glimpse of what I’ve had to deal with. I used to come up with every excuse to justify all the things james has done. But now when I look at him or he tries to talk to me I truly can’t stand him. Personally I have never met a more arrogant and manipulative person. I can no longer make excuses for him. It breaks my heart to think of my brother like this but I feel like the a-hole because at the end of the day he’s family. So AITA?

Morning all. Don’t know if it’s an odd question, but why do I go back to share with people who I KNOW have no knowledge of how to support me? In my family I’ve always felt the odd one out, Mum, Dad and younger sis would always say ‘you are so sensitive’ and ‘I don’t know what you are talking about, I’ve never had that.’
I recently went through a separation (my decision) after an 18 year marriage. Separate to this, last week I found out that the meds I’d been taking on and off for 11 years (for PND and anxiety that were diagnosed 20 months after my first birth in 2011) needn’t have been taken for this long, though I’d followed medical advice and never questioned it (my mistake, I know that now).
My sister last week, when I shared with her, said ‘I wouldn’t blame anyone else for this (the situation with the meds)’ and ‘How sad that all that your moving abroad has achieved is a bad marriage and a depression.’ I felt winded.
Last night, I battled with myself internally for ages before telling my mum about the meds. I KNEW she wouldn’t understand. She said, ‘It’s bad. It shows you are dependent on them’ and ‘I don’t understand how anyone could have PND. When I had YOU, I always knew the hardship was temporary because you were very much wanted.’ I felt awful. WHY did I feel compelled to tell her if knew she wouldn’t get it?
I love my son (who is nearly 13 now) very much but early on (it was a prolonged birth with a c-section) I really struggled. It took docs 20m to diagnose PND and at some points I felt so listless and run down, I didn’t care what we did as a family (eg going on a day out or going shopping) because I knew I’d have to come back to the house and all the hardship of looking after a baby. In one dark moment which I felt really ashamed of I wondered if I should’ve had a baby at all… But somehow none of that has anything to do with the love for my son, which has always been fierce. I’ve always done my utmost best to care for him.
And after all this, I am kind of feeling a sense of victimhood. Feeling like ‘poor me’.
Does anyone have any thoughts on what’s wrong with all of this and what I could do? Because I live abroad, my family are far away, and I’ve 2-3 friends locally but everyone bar one prefers to talk about lighter stuff. So recently, what with the separation and all, I’ve felt quite alone with all this.
Any insight is welcome, thank you.

So for context I (21F) am the youngest of 6 siblings and when my eldest sibling, (my brother) turned 21 he died only days later in a car accident. Although this was quite some time ago. But of course coming from a big family it was difficult and completely devastating. All my siblings are 2 years apart from one another but due to how blended my family is I’m 7 years apart from the 5th sibling, who for this story I’ll call James (29M). Now this story may be long and a bit confusing but please bare with me as I try my best to write it. James and I are the one who are 7 years apart. We do not share the same dad, however he calls my dad “dad” and my father helped raise him and is on his birth certificate. After losing my eldest brother my mum and dads health declined rapidly. My mum had open heart surgery and my dad had 5 brain surgery’s. My mum to this day has never really recovered.
Now I know hate is a strong word, especially to describe your own brother but EVERYTHING my brother does just infuriates me. So here’s where I could be the A-hole.
There’s not one specific reason as to why I feel this way about my brother but I’ll try my best to explain. When I was 16 and James was 24, within a year he slept with 2 of my best friends who were only 17 at the time. I did not find out about this until they had already turned 18. He would steal the family electronics to pawn them for money because he was spending all his money on alcohol and drugs. If he was ever confronted about these things he would ALWAYS LIE. When I was younger and not working my parents used to give me any of their coins and I would save for the whole year so I could go to our local show (fair). Given we had such a big family and I couldn’t work I thought if I could save for the year it was one less stress on my parents. One year James stole EVERY penny a week out from the show (fair), I couldn’t go that year (he stole around $150AUD) .
Now a lot of these times my brother would just get away with it all because everyone felt bad for him or because he had a way of charming people and they would just pretend it never happened. Almost all of his previous relationships ended physically but he calls them all “crazy” to justify his poor behaviour. When I turned 18 and was living with my parents we were to pay board, so we could help them rent and any bills they had. Around a year ago we started buying our own groceries and cooking our own food. This was just so our parents could prepare us for the “real world”. Which in all honesty I’m so glad they did because it helped me tremendously! However my brother proceeds to eat everyone else’s food and not contribute to bills, despite having a well paying job. We even went as far as having designated selves and labelling things. Despite this, just the other week he ate mine and my boyfriend’s leftovers and then put the empty container back in the fridge!
Now I won’t ramble on too much longer but the worse thing of all is the way he treats my parents. All my other siblings have moved out so it’s just me and James living with parents. My mum being as sick as she is, is unfortunately the target to all of my brothers unwarranted out bursts. He yells at her and tells her “you just wish it was me in that car” referring to my brother who died and “I’ll just go kms and then you’ll have no son left”. My dad is less vocal during confrontational times but when he is involved James goes from calling him “dad” to calling him his actual name.
With all that said, that was barely a glimpse of what I’ve had to deal with. I used to come up with every excuse to justify all the things james has done. But now when I look at him or he tries to talk to me I truly can’t stand him. Personally I have never met a more arrogant and manipulative person. I can no longer make excuses for him. It breaks my heart to think of my brother like this but I feel like the a-hole because at the end of the day he’s family but I hate the person he’s become. So AITA?

I think there will be some people in this group who can help me. I would like to hear from parents/step parents who have grown up or will grow up never knowing one of their bioparents. Whether it's your child's situation, your step child's, or your situation from your childhood. Any stories on the topic would be good and you felt and how your responded to it or how your kids feel/respond to it.
For background on why I'm asking, my oldest has not seen or spoken to her biofather since she was 9 months old, obviously she had no memory of him at all. She is 8yrs old next month. I left him when she was 9m old and I really wasn't sure what would happen, if he would ask for custody or visitation, I really didn't know. He was extremely abusive (physically, s3xually, emotionally, financially, every way you can imagine, he also was a drug addict and alcoholic with a criminal history (Incestual paedophilia, grevious bodily harm, B&E, theft, r@pe) I didn't know about when we got together, I learnt more about his past after leaving than he ever let me know when we were together).
He ended up choosing to move to the other side of the country when I ended our marriage, I didn't make him do this and didn't expect him to do that. He then never tried to have any contact, I can't say I stopped him from contact because there was nothing to stop. I sent a few photos a few times in the first few months but he never asked for them so I didn't push because of how much better our life was without fearing for our lives. When she was 4yrs old I filed and went to court for full custody and the judge granted sole physical and legal custody, no visitation, allowed me to change her last and middle name, and permission to leave the country without him signing a passport if I ever want to. I was surprised because I was told to ask for these things but not to expect them to be granted (regarding the name and passport). He was served so he knew this was happening and chose not to fight it in any way.
My child has a (step) father in her life who she calls Dad and they are so close, sometimes i think they might be closer than we are! We also have anothet baby, I've explained how DNA works and that she got half of hers from someone else so she knows these things but isn't really phased by it. She knows her older sister who shares the same bio father but also has no contact with him, she was my step daughter when we were together and he cut contact with her when I left him. I kept contact with her biomum. He has another son whose mum contacted me twice now but we don't know them, they live on the other side of the country and ive heard he does interact with that boy. He never held, fed, or changed her in the first 9 months he was there, I was supposed to just keep her from disturbing him as much as possible, so I don't think she knew he left
It keeps me up at night sometimes wondering if she will ever want to find him when she's older, or if she will never care to because some people just don't. I'd like to hear any stories at all about children who have no contact and no memory of a bio parent and how it affects them, if anyone is willing to share. Thank you for your time.

In the song ‘Peter’, which is most likely written about Matty she states “life was always easier on you, than it was on me”. Obviously I know people have had much more difficulties than Matty Healy and yeah you can call him out on his controversial sense of humour, but for Taylor to claim her life was harder on her is delusional.
Although Mattys parents were semi-successful actors in the UK and he wasn’t exactly raised in poverty, the trauma of seeing what his mum went through must be really difficult. He’s spoken about how he’d often seen his mum black out drunk, high, or passed out on the sofa unable to move. She’s even admitted at length about how she’s battled with alcoholism, drug addiction and mental health issues and has said it caused her to be distant from her two sons. This upbringing culminated in Matty himself developing a heroine addiction which he had to attend rehab for and almost lead to his own death.
But oh no! Taylor growing up in an upper-middle class home with two very loving parents, who in her own words, provided everything she wanted was so much harder! She can make the point that since she’s become famous life has been tough because of all the hate she’s had but it’s been like that for Matty too. Obviously it’s on a different scale but The 1975 has never been seen as a ‘cool’ band and this has lead to him having many haters criticising him for everything from his lyrics to his mental health and addiction.
Like I said, there’s plenty people around the world who’ve had much more challenging lives than the both of them, but this feels like another “you wouldn’t last an hour in the asylum that they raised me line”. Completely out of touch, only thinking about herself (again) and thinking that famous people problems are somehow relatable and worse than normal people problems.

Just the idea that most all demi-gods get basically no powers or very little ones (hermes kids can unlock doors I think) but Frank's entire family line until you hit anceint greece were all shapeshifters because there was a son of poseidon somewhere along the family tree.
Frank's greatest power isn't even from being a demi-god son of Mars, he could be a normal kid but because his mum was his mum he'd still be able to shape-shift. Maybe not as well as he can now, but he could still do it.
Frank's mum is stronger then most all the demi-gods we met in the first series and possibly still batting in the top ten or so of the ones we met in HoO just from having like 0.01% of Poseidon's godly dna in her.

My ex has a boyfriend whom had an incident in 2021 of slapping, bruising and shouting at his step child. This isn't connected to my child but from his previous relationship, it went through CPS. He had to take a class on what is acceptable and not acceptable with regards to his children and wasn't allowed to see them for a period of time.
He also had a SA allegations made against him which was then dropped by the party but an internal investigation was taken out by his company and they concluded it did occur and subsequently fired him.
Current situation is that his children no longer wish to see or be around him however he is going to court over this to get access back.
That paints a very short picture of this man, I don't want this person around my son but he has been living with my ex for about 5 months. They've been together 1 year and 5 months. I haven't been comfortable about the situation and had recently found out that my ex's parents are really concerned as well.
Had they told me nice things about him and there opinion of him been good, I'd have been more at peace about the situation as beforehand I was taking her word for it which is obviously positive but the fact her parents are also concerned really has worried me.
Do I have a leg to stand on here? She's a good mum but I fear this man will have a negative impact on my child and at worse will do something physical. She's already lied to protect him from me and her family finding things out but I'd carried out a Claire's law and Sarah's law where this information was disclosed to me.
Ideally I just want to be primary carer for my child and be the person who has control over his welfare and protection. It would make me feel 1000% better about the situation but I don't know if I have a case as it's not her I'm worried about, it's him.
What else could or should i do? What advice do you have?

Just as the title says. Of course it’s a bit more complicated than that so i’ll expand below.
Also a very long post i apologise i really need help and advice i feel desperate 😭😭 this girls been nothing but good to me
First and foremost i’d like to give some context to this situation. I recently graduated 2023 july and got a remote job since september that was fully remote first. Since then i decided to do a bit of “digital nomading” and go live in india for a while. I’m originally from London, UK.
So anyways. Some background on my fiance and fiancé’s family and their relationship to my mother.
The family has been neighbours with us in the same apartment building for the past 14 years. My mother used to live with me and my elder sister in london before she moved to india 3 years ago out of wanting her family around her and some financial support as I couldn’t support her whilst going through university entirely.
So my fiancé’s family has many years of history when my mother didn’t live here of looking after my grandma. Who is also completely insane btw. Which will explain why my mum is constantly feeling under pressure.
Another note to add to this is my mother has been on anxiety and depression meds since 12ish years due to the abusive marriage with my father whom she divorced.
Back to the family. So my fiance actually used to shower my grandma for several years while my mum wasn’t here and this would mean at any time even ridiculous times like 12 or 1am in the morning regardless of her having work in the morning. This stopped at some point because my grandma used to verbally abuse her and say she doesn’t do anything for her which ofc isn’t true.
So this family apparently has a history where when they used to sometimes use the apartment whilst they were here things would go missing from it aka stolen. One time my mum even found her slippers in their families closet which were “lost”.
On the other hand my mother used to go out shopping doing errands sitting and chatting with my fiance almost every day for years. So their relationship was a Ok.
Some more background on their family is that her parents aren’t educated and are from a village whereas mine our educated etc etc so sometimes they lack correct manners like looking through my mums shopping bags when she comes home with them randomly coming over to stop family arguments when it isn’t their place etc.
So main issues my mum has with them:

1. Fiancé’s mother and grandma were insisting that my mum transfers the property onto my name whilst i’m here (idk how true this is on the insisting part my mum has a habit of over exaggerating scenarios) ( this happened prior to us going over for formal asking of my fiances hand in marriage
2. My mum had a domestic violence case ongoing with her second husband who sexually abused her and she openly spoke about getting justice with fiancés family and even took my fiancé to a solicitors appointment and my fiances mother to the police stage to file the initial case since my uncles were taking far too long to get things going
3. My fiance few weeks after we formally asked for her hand in marriage made a comment to my mother that she should try get my uncles to start actually helping with the domestic violence case so she can get some income from the case (because she’s openly discussed this with Fiance and fiances mother)

this made my mum feel as if she was implying she didn’t want me (her son and her husband) having the burden of my mothers finances. However this isn’t true because several times my fiance has said we’ll look after your mum together i’ll contribute financially we’ll take her on holiday etc etc and couple of these times was in front of my mum.

1. we had a conversation about removing my grandma from our property and putting her in a rental as she was effectively torturing my mum with her behaviour e.g. “you only got married for sex ur a prostitute etc etc”

then following week of our official “rishta”one of her 5 sisters made a comment saying “if ali isn’t planning on going to the UK with Anam straight away they can live here just remove your grandma and put her in a rental”
ofc her sister has no rights to say this
then there’s been a few arguments here and there between my sister and my fiance where my sister was just constantly berating my fiance saying i’m not involved in the wedding etc etc so my fiance eventually burst and said fine whenever wants be be involve they can and whoever doesn’t they don’t have to.
this argument stemmed from the fact her family was being quite pushy with who and where we get the nikkah dress and ring from and wanting one of my fiancés sisters involved in the dress buying process (apparently that’s not a thing in indian culture only the grooms side buys the dress and ring according to themselves)
but my mum never openly addressed this issue instead she kept it in herself and i mentally when it built up she bursted out at my fiance way “ur not even his wife yet and ur dictating so much”
My fiance this week attempted to apologise to apologise for the “income” comment and when she tried to explain why she brought it up aka because it was a recent concerning matter in my mums life that was being constantly discussed my mother started getting pissed off and saying “why u talking about how i was discussing this with ur mother that’s a lie this is a lie ur twisting the story etc etc you should’ve just said “im sorry if i hurt you aunty it wasn’t my intention””
and just prior to this apology my mother bursted out at my fiancés sister because when my sister who came recently to have her surgery done in india was breaking mangos from the building societies trees and my fiancés sister even helped her initially. But when she saw one of the committee members looking at my sister breaking these she advised my sister to stop for 5 mins so she goes as this committee member would’ve sent a complaint home and banned “outsiders” from our flat coming in and this outsider was my sister childhood friend from india who was also with her along with my sisters child.
My mum then came down when she heard about this and started screaming at my fiancés sister saying “who the hell are you to tell us what to do and what not to do if they sent a complaint i would’ve dealt with it”.
Now my uncle has taken the decision that he doesn’t want my fiance in this house and that neither my mum or anyone else in our family will ever approve of this relationship because ever since the mango incident me and my mother and sister keep having random arguments again and again.
Please give me advice i feel helpless 😭😭

Hi. I've always wanted to be a mother but as I've become one I hate it. I don't even like being called a mum. My son is almost 3 months old and I don't feel any kind of love at all, I don't even like him. I look at him and feel nothing at all. I don't miss him when I'm gone. I try to be happy and a good mother but I'm miserable and angry. Everyday the feeling of wanting to leave keeps getting stronger. I'm not able to talk to my partner about my feelings. I know how he would react. He wants a big family and has struggled to find someone to do it with. His dad left when he was a baby and he talks about how it affected him his whole life so that is why I'm still here looking after our son. I feel stuck. I just wanted to vent, thank you for reading.

UPDATE Neighbour's 17-year-old has threatened to kidnap my 1-year-old. WIBTAH if I contacted police?
I (35F) was on my street and saw a girl (about 8) deliberately drop a kitten from shoulder height to the ground. The kitten had to brace itself to land safely. A man (I presumed dad) was watching and made no comment. I approached the kitten and noticed it was a bit thin. Instinct got the better of me and I took the kitten in. I posted on a local fb group about what I saw and asked if anyone knew the owner. Got the cat some food which it ate like it was famished. Didn't see anything on fb until the next morning when I found a flurry of messages.
First a female I'll call Milly, called and told me the whole story. The kitten was born under her bed. She moved out because of a breakdown in her relationship with her mum. She was sad to leave the cats, said there were about 9 in the home and 2 dogs, none of the animals were cared for properly and she asked me to keep the cat called Buddy. She said if I gave him back he'd disappear like the others eventually do.
Second female, I'll call her Annie. Messaged and begged me to return Buddy, confirmed she is Milly's sister. Agreed her younger sister was the one i saw with her step-dad and agreed her siblings needed to treat Buddy better. I offered to care for him and money to buy him but she insisted she was very attached to Buddy and would take better care of him, she also estimated 9 cats in their property and one likely pregnant.
While talking to Annie, her stepdad (we'll call him Gary) chimed in on the post I made on Facebook saying his younger daughter was just trying to "stop the cat following them" and she was crying all night because she was worried about her cat and I shouldn't have taken him and he's well fed.
I took the kitten to the vet who confirmed no microchip, his weight was OK but he had signs of worms so i got dewormer. Told Annie I'd return Buddy once he'd has his worming treatment and suggested chipping and neutering all the cats which she agreed she would look into.
Annie and I agreed a meet up point at which time step dad started sending angry messages from his workplace because I wasn't returning the cat yet and I was communicating with a child instead of him. Turns out Annie is 13! But WAY more mature than stepdad. He became threatening and I was home alone with a poorly toddler so I went to meet Annie. Sweet kid, took my advice on board and asked questions.
Told Gary cat was home, that from 10th June if Buddy isn't chipped someone can legally take him and claim him. I told him why I took Buddy and that if I'm concerned about an animal I'll check for a chip and act accordingly. I also told him Annie is a good kid and to neuter his cats! Then blocked him. Now Gary's teenage son is trying to intimidate me on my walk home.
TLDR; I kept a neighbours cat, even after finding out it belonged to them because I was worried he was being mistreated. Returned him after 24hrs but some of the family think I'm an asshole for taking him.

TLDR uBPD Mum wrote her twin daughters a birthday poem but sent it twelve days late, full of innacuracies and with a request to visit one of them. The request is for a fictional exhibition in a specific date range. She forwarded her original message to the other twin without to editing out the visit request or making an attempt to cover the fact it was written for the first twin and sent to the other as an after thought.
Context A birthday poem sent to me an hour after it was sent to my twin sister. It was also 12 days after our actual birthday, neither of us heard from uBPD mum on the day (I've asked her not to contact me but she thinks that my sister & I are 1 entity so even though my sister is still in contact with her, mum treats her like she is not). My sister (Twin1) trained in fine art in the city she now works in. She is not currently making art so has no idea what exhibition uBPD mum refers to in the poem. I have marked lies/inaccuracies with an * I've asterisked the line about being a proud mum and gran because if she was so proud, why does she make no mention of wanting to see her 2 grand sons on this trip to the city to see my sister at her exhibition? She hasn't seen her grandsons in at least a year despite visiting near by their city in our small country twice last year. She didn't even tell my sister she was in the area until my sister phoned to wish uBPD mum happy birthday on her birthday February this year.
Poem
Twin1 and Twin2 38 today * That's just not possible no way Where has the time gone Times flies sadly that's so true Doesn't seem that long ago when Myself and Twin2 went to the zoo.
You were and are my sunshine of Hometown on Gala My beautiful twin daughters living in bonnie Hometown Bay A prouder mum I could not be how you both excelled and now you both have your own family You get to experience the love and joy like I had and still have as I reflect on my wonderful family tree When you hurried home excitedly to show all the things you had lovingly made for me
You were always caring and sharing Even at such a young age so helpful too. Remember girls I was on the phone to uBPD Gran When you flushed Twin2 nappy down the loo I was panic stricken and mortified when the neighbour below said it had flooded her too.
I loved my plants* .it was a not easy to maintain with two Mischieves monkeys who tipped them upside down . It was funny but I also did frown Before you knew it we were back to laughing and getting along Happy again and full of song
Love shack was your favourite tune I loved that song too you could sing it to the moon Love shack baby love shack Oh to hear you sing that song would bring It all right back
The time we all got such a fright Twin 1 When you accidentally bumped into a light Well lamp post * Out of the three of us who was startled the most?
You were fine ,you got a war wound scar Was it the left or right side I can't remember I think it was your right eye It was so long ago at the time you were very shy
Twin 2 walked into a gate * I was dumstruck only seconds too late* You got a scar on your eyes too By then I was beside myself and did not know what to do !
Almost in the space of a year You each have a scar by your eye Which side they are on your eye is unclear Now you parents yourself you know what I mean How quickly things can happen Even when your close by to the scene
Bless the wee lady above is in Hometown She used to shout girls you whoo seconds later it was raining milkyways all over you I could only chuckle when I realised I too Along with uBPD dister we went to our neighbour for our daily rations of sweeties too * And to this day I believe my mum never knew.
Remember when you got up early and Oh my you got hold of the butter I think I was in a flutter Butter in the rods of the Wendy house it was everywhere If I recall righghtly it was in your hair.
You used to trick people switching places * Sometimes you did trip up on your laces You tried to fool me but that was not so easy * However tricking your pals and strangers was easy peasy.*
The things you have done this uBPD Mum and gran could not be more proud of you You won a camera for your ambulance picture Twin2 you designed the school logo in highschool too Is there no end to your talents You both excelled and followed your career Which I never regretted not being able to As th minute I knew I was expecting I always prioritised you* and am a proud mum of twins with 5 wonderful grandchildren too*
The trips we went to beech and picnics with aunt The endless pictures are wonderful memories of happy times with you I still have her special multi coloured umbrella Where we often seemed shelter under it too
So many more memories this is some of them I just want to ask you Twin 1 can I come with my friend M or F and see your exhibition* city between 23 rd and 29 th Sept I love seeing all that you can do and have done
Your pictures in the cafe The story about wellies and where they travelled from faraway I believe it was Canada And you made a wellington cast Now it's a focal point for tourists and everyone to see.*
I often look at the screen you both made me made before I moved country All the gifts over the years cards and mementos each one speaks words to me When you gave me the picture and chair for my birthday .
That incredible exhibition in the gallery when you made a clear curtain and even there there is a story
I understand if you say no don't come .I hope and pray one day we will all Be together again surrounded by my family.Until that joyous day comes remember I carry love in my heart for you all eternally❤️

I (29F) have been married to my husband (37M) for 9 years. We have a 5 year old together.
I had a forced/arranged marriage. My parents are quite young and I never thought they would force me. Part of me still holds a grudge against them, but now that I’m older I have realised that they only did what they thought was right.
I never really liked my husband, he’s not a bad guy or anything but I just didn’t feel like we were compatible. I thought that might change once we were married and I got to know him better but it’s been 9 years now.
In the beginning I really did try and I thought I could do it, until I found out he was talking to another woman. I think that’s when I actually gave up, and this happened around a year into the marriage. After that I went back to my parents but my mum told me I should go back and that my husband made a silly mistake. So I went back and realised I was never getting out of this so I just need to be content with whatever Allah has given me.
I’ve always wanted a big family but my husband doesn’t like kids. My father in law basically forced him to have a baby, so then after 4 years Alhamdulillah my son was born. I live with my in laws and they seem like they hate each other. I don’t want that future for myself. I feel guilty that I will be messing up my son’s life, but I feel like it would be better in the long run. My husband literally doesn’t do anything with my son. He’s never taken him out on his own or even read a book to him.
Is anyone in a similar situation? Does anyone have any advice? There’s obviously so much more to the story but I don’t want to write a whole novel on here.😅

I (22 m) live at home with my mum and dad along with my younger sister who is autistic (she is 19 doesn’t work or go to school), my mum is her official carer. In the last couple of months I’ve noticed that my mum just doesn’t care for her the way that she should. The severity of my sisters condition can be apparent with a lack personal hygiene, cleanliness and general inability to ‘fend for’ herself, that being said she can do minor tasks like make toast, cereal etc. She is also unable to control her bladder at times especially during the night
My sister no longer goes out, pretty much at all, she will sometimes walk the dog and has a social worker who will take her out every couple of weeks, but she rarely attends. Due to her lack of hygiene, her room is often times dirty and smells quite bad, her room is next to mine so a lot of the time I can smell it. I recently brought up to my mum how her room needed tidied and it smelled and she got in an argument with me saying that she is 19 and should be doing it for herself and got my dad involved who scalded me later on. Apparently I am ungrateful and my mums job isn’t to clean up after everyone and we all need to pitch in to help my sister. While I agree to extent that everyone should help out, I don’t think this extends to my sisters needs, for one my mum is paid through different government grants to be my sisters carer because she can’t work as my sister requires such care - these grants total more than I make working 30hrs per week. Secondly, I am her sibling, a male at that, I don’t think it is my place to be going in her room and tidying, especially when there is soiled clothes and bedding needed changed and when she gets her period she isn’t good at dealing with that and will hide her clothes and bedsheets. I believe that it is my mums ‘job’ to do these things, yes it’s not fair on her and it is a difficult job at that, but she is paid an allowance to do so and had the option for extra help but don’t take it. I do now help with my sister secretly now I’m off of university for the summer. My parents are the type to complain you don’t do anything but when you do get offended cause they “aren’t doing a good enough job” or it isn’t to my “standards”, for example, they went away for a week and I took the week off work to show appreciation and clean the house top to bottom, when they got back they acted grateful but were passive aggressively saying things like “what’s wrong with the house?” “You’re a bit OCD” “did I not do a good enough job before it left?” - just to add when they left they left the house a riot, they refused to do anything cause “they’re going away and will deal with it when they come back”.
I now feel as though my sister is being neglected, her room being constantly unsanitary and also when my sister is due to go out with her social worker my mum will often sleep in or not prepare my sister the night before, making it more difficult for her on the day. I understand dealing with an adult child with these issues is difficult, but it is no excuse to do this. My sister was also at the doctors a couple of months ago for her anxiety and got medication to take the night before going out to help her feel less anxious, but I found out my mum wasn’t giving her them and making excuses when her worker would come and say that the tablets aren’t working. Then a couple of weeks later she went to the doctor again to ask for something else, which was given and instead of giving them to my sister she took them herself. Even if everything else I’ve said is okay in some way I at least know this is illegal, but I don’t know what to do, I don’t want to complain in any legal sense for obvious reasons but speaking to them will just get me kicked out if I accuse my sister of being neglected, but I also feel a duty to help.
Am I just being a shitty son? What do I do?

I think the twist will not be the predictable Cindy x George affair, but her getting with his son (who is the chip off the old block).
They are already laying the groundwork: dubbing in Cindy saying it was the first time they’d met, making it clear there’s no biological connection, removing the idea she was his ‘mum’ for a while. And Ian and Elaine with suspicions of George instead.
It would be fireworks and a fantastic detonation of the Knights and the Beales, and a classic Cindy moment!

So I had food poisoning last week. Started Tuesday and still on going now. I thought my kids were safe. They aren’t, but it’s particularly impacted my middle boy, 11, autistic. I said to him at the end of last week “if you’ve a bad belly, do not trust a fart” and was met with “DAD STOP!”. He’s such a prude. Well today it happened. He come in from school and as usual went straight to his room to get changed. 30 minutes later I see him running through the hallway, holding his ass. The noise was so intense that I went downstairs. The shower goes on, I’m thinking good lad. Gets out of the shower, gets dressed and comes downstairs… “mum. Dad. I need to tell you something, it’s quite embarrassing”. I say “what’s up love?”, he responds “come”. My wife obliges… THANK THE LORD. I hear gagging and “Aww son. It’s gag ok. Jump into bed mate”. He had tried to lock the door, with his pants down, as the poo sharted out. He got the door, the walls, the window, the floor, the bath tub, sink, radiator and the toilet seat.
I sat in the living room as my wife cleaned. Needless to say she’s due a bottle of wine tonight.
My boy come to tell me ‘what happened’ and as he’s explaining it I can feel myself going hot and about to burst into laughter. So I pull my top over my face and tell him it’s so I can itch my scalp without my nails touching my skin. Luckily he believed me but he HAD to finish telling me.
Wife comes down as he goes up. She’s besides herself with laughter.
He then shouts down “now I now what you mean by ‘don’t trust a fart when you’re unwell’” 😂

Watching Doctor Who is a common pasttime for my nine year old son and I, especially while his mum is working away! More often than not, the episodes we choose are from the revival period, though he does enjoy some of the older ones, despite them being a slower pace.
But we revisit some episodes more than others. His favourite is Vincent and The Doctor, which we've watched many times. Which episodes do you go back to a lot, and for which was once enough?