Bold of your mom to set herself up as the sole arbiter of your life circumstances, Letter Writer!
Category: manipulation
#1381: “How to make someone known for going back on their promises put a big financial promise into writing.”
The answer to "how to make someone _____" is almost always, "Sorry, you can't make anybody do anything."
#1379: Friend is going back on an informal housing agreement.
The problem with informal agreements.
#1375: “Guilt trips with a side of trauma.”
Both anxious and avoidant attachment styles respond badly to pressure and benefit from structure, or, "Mom, I can't be your on-call therapist."
#1366: “Malicious, controlling mother-in-law wants to move in”
Ultimatums are scary for a reason: Sometimes people force you to follow through on them.
#1364: “Gender is elusive, and I cannot teach it to you, Mother!”
Don't let a side quest for understanding get in the way of doing - or demanding - care and kindness.
#1358: GUEST POST: “I think my professors $#@%-ed me up.”
Thriller author Amy Gentry answers this letter about abusive professors who feed like vampires on the potential of their students.
#1347: “My friend asked me if we could add ‘benefits,’ I still feel weird about it, am I justified in ending the friendship?”
"Good news, I finally persuaded my fiancée to let me sleep with other people, now we can finally act out all my fantasies about you over Zoom!" Whoa, seems sexy!
#1346: “My new ‘friend’ has alt-right skeletons in her closet. How do I nope out?”
"Inside this lady are two bigots, one is capable of acting nice sometimes and the other is not, don't feed either of them with your time, sympathy, or attention."
#1333: Multi-Level Marketing Cults & Performative Friendship
How to plot the accumulated costs of "useless objects" vs. "pointless arguments" over time?