It's called parentification. My SO has a partially needy and emotionally manipulative mother, and it hurts like hell seeing the consequences of it. I almost hate her for it.

LOL I think it's best to just have that unfriend and block up! Less shit to deal with. And speaking of exasperating MILs, mine showed up today an hour before she said she was going to so no one in the house was ready and I just cried in the shower until she and my husband left to get started on lunch early. I can't…

This is me being jealous. My sister is The Worst and I find myself wishing for sister-friends in the world. They do not exist. I drink boxed wine and read a lot. Boo.

Starring way too many of these posts about shitty friends and realizing I have too many shitty friends.

Moving across the country is one of the great ways to see who your friends truly are. I feel like I really only have one friend. She texts me to see how I'm doing or talk about random crap. I don't have to contact her first! She listens to me when I need to vent. Of course, I do the same for her. Since moving I've…

You guys, I moved across country when I was 40. FORTY. The making and unmaking of friendships until I figured out what the hell I was doing...neverending. Eight years later, still happening today.

*sigh* I think I might have about 3 friends. Maybe. I feel insecure about saying that without asking them if we're friends. but we're friendly. … I'm dying alone.

I just avoid these problems by not really having friends at all.

What happens when your mother is The Non-Question Asking Relative? I have had hour long conversations with her two and three times a week that never genuinely wanted a response to the question, 'so, how are you?'. It was like a tick, a habit. She just said it so that if anyone asked whe could say she had asked.

Thank you for this Tracy, an excellent and timely post. There are so many people, myself included who have felt lonely in the company of so called friends, and around the holiday season it can be especially hard. I have had a poor track record with friends and friendship, and freely admit that many of the issues but…

One of the best things i've done in my life is remove toxic people from it. I don't need bullshit fake unhealthy friendships, I'd rather be alone than deal with that shit.

Yes, can we talk about friend dating? It is the WORST. Like everyone wants to be friends but it takes a few awkward meetups at the bar before you can get each other's cell numbers or hang out without cleaning your house and stuff. We just moved and we're doing a lot of this, and I am so ready to transition into…

I need some friend troubleshooting. I am new in town and there is a girl I am supposed to be good friends with. We've known each other at a distance for several years and now live/work close together. She seemed very excited about me moving out but I've found her to be harsh and difficult to build rapport with. We've…

I'm at the point where I've almost given up on friendship and prefer to stay at home in peace with my husband. Something always happens. My most recent "friend breakup" was last weekend. My husband and I were planning to meet with a friend Ms. Janiana from New York for dinner at Vietnamese. Another friend Patricia…

There you go. And fretting about not having any close friends is the worst. I had 4 close friends and in the past 10 years; 1 committed suicide, 1 died in an aircraft accident, 1 went to prison and I think felt ashamed and stopped communicating, and the last I can't locate anymore (I suspect drug issues.)

I've come to the realization that I do not have any close friends anymore.

Solution? Don't have friends. Convince yourself you're better off. Besides, it frees you up to comment on shit online.

I got out of a lopsided friendship more than a year ago. She would call me after 10 and then talk for hours, despite the fact I asked her not to on more than one occasion because I liked to be in bed by 11. She would do most of the talking and it would be hard to get a word in edgewise, much less disengage from the…

The mister and I are mid-new-couple-friends-attempt friendship. We met another couple and hit it off all around, but it is weird and a bit awkward to do like couples "getting to know you" pseudo-dates. there's mututally unspoken couples crushing*, and none of us seem to know what to do about it.

This is how my MIL is...