My family is not religious, however, my brother will be marrying a woman who insists that any children they have must be baptized and raised as Catholic as it is "the true faith." My family believes that any child should have the freedom to choose their own religion when they are sufficiently mature to understand religion. So, why do Catholics insist upon baptizing and raising their children to be Catholics?

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I’m the middle child of a family with five children. I hate asking these kind of questions, because I feel so lame sharing and asking. I feel utterly picked on by my parents and siblings. I have always been known to be the soft and most tender of my family, but in my family
that basically means I’m the weak one. I’m in highschool and I’ve switched three time and I’m a junior. I need a friend to talk to a share

my triumphs and my struggles … Since everyone at school already had
friendships covered I went to my mom to tell her how my has been. I
tell her my worries and my excitements, but she has been starting to
hurt me emotionally. She tells people about all the dumb things I do
and tells them that I am not smart etc. This is not a big deal except she goes on and on about it… It hurts so badly.I have dreams of going
to college and all my teachers seem to have aspirations for me but, she tells me that she does not expect much out of me because "I’m too
blonde" ( I make all A’s and I work hard to make them proud.) I guess I don’t look as impressive compared to my other brother who is in the very top of his class. she has told me that I’m a drama queen and
basically that my emotions are not valid.
I think she is doing this on purpose because when I confronted her about the mean things I feel she has told me "well it just the truth and there is nothing wrong with telling the truth". That statement hurts me
so much. I work so hard trying to be the daughter my family wants but I feel like I’m getting beat up. Since my life changes so much I can
usually sustain a optimistic view, but all the shrill comments about me
from my own mother makes me feel like my insides are rotting. I don’t
like being treated differently from my siblings. I feel like I’m doing
something wrong, because my parents have to be right somehow. I
guess my biggest problem is that I feel stupid and lonely. Please
someone tells me what is going on… What am I doing that is hurting
my relationship with my parents. I am miserable, but I want to what is right and good for the whole family.
As old as anyone in my grade would be. I yes I do feel as pathetic as I sound for my age.
You all have given me very kind advice, and I have gained some hope for better times ahead. I love my family and hope these sores will mend soon. I really do appreciate the advice,and it humbles me to see the knowledge you all have shared. You really have no idea how much it means to me, but I will simply say that I have the deepest gradtitude to everyone.

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I’m the middle child of a family with five children. I hate asking these kind of questions, because I feel so lame sharing and asking. I feel utterly picked on by my parents and siblings. I have always been known to be the soft and most tender of my family, but in my family
that basically means I’m the weak one. I’m in highschool and I’ve switched three time and I’m a junior. I need a friend to talk to a share

my triumphs and my struggles … Since everyone at school already had
friendships covered I went to my mom to tell her how my has been. I
tell her my worries and my excitements, but she has been starting to
hurt me emotionally. She tells people about all the dumb things I do
and tells them that I am not smart etc. This is not a big deal except she goes on and on about it… It hurts so badly.I have dreams of going
to college and all my teachers seem to have aspirations for me but, she tells me that she does not expect much out of me because "I’m too
blonde" ( I make all A’s and I work hard to make them proud.) I guess I don’t look as impressive compared to my other brother who is in the very top of his class. she has told me that I’m a drama queen and
basically that my emotions are not valid.
I think she is doing this on purpose because when I confronted her about the mean things I feel she has told me "well it just the truth and there is nothing wrong with telling the truth". That statement hurts me
so much. I work so hard trying to be the daughter my family wants but I feel like I’m getting beat up. Since my life changes so much I can
usually sustain a optimistic view, but all the shrill comments about me
from my own mother makes me feel like my insides are rotting. I don’t
like being treated differently from my siblings. I feel like I’m doing
something wrong, because my parents have to be right somehow. I
guess my biggest problem is that I feel stupid and lonely. Please
someone tells me what is going on… What am I doing that is hurting
my relationship with my parents. I am miserable, but I want to what is right and good for the whole family.
As old as anyone in my grade would be. I yes I do feel as pathetic as I sound for my age.
You all have given me very kind advice, and I have gained some hope for better times ahead. I love my family and hope these sores will mend soon. I really do appreciate the advice,and it humbles me to see the knowledge you all have shared. You really have no idea how much it means to me, but I will simply say that I have the deepest gradtitude to everyone.

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About four years ago, my brother became a single parent. He lost his job at the same time and moved in with me and my mother (disabled) who I was taking care of. At the time I was working two jobs, and going to school. It was a long year, but I graduated from college and he found a job. About two years ago his job moved him to another city. My mother’s health had stabilized so she moved with him, but they were not managing well without me. So a year and a half ago, I left my job and moved here to help. At the time I felt it was a mistake, but I was concerned about their well being and the children. It has been a long mostly unhappy road since then. When I first moved here I had several job interviews, but since I have not had any. I have depleted my savings keeping our head above water and maxed out the only credit card I have had in the last ten years. Unable to pay it my credit has suffered. With all of the demands on my time due to my situation, my brother asked me if I could wait to find a job. That was a few months ago, things have not gotten any better in the last year. I have been attending grad school part-time, but I am very unhappy. My brother and my mother are suffocating me. My relationship with my mom has been like a parent child relationship, except I have been the parent as long as i can remember. I have a car but my brother does not, so he uses it to get to and from work and pickup the children. Recently, I have stepped up the job search and I am looking and applying for jobs near and far, but I am concerned about how they will make it. Worse, my brothers job has become unstable and we could all end up in a worse situation, or I could end up in the same situation I was in before, taking care of them. I absolutely love my family and I am crazy about the children. They have problems but they are great people. I just have no life at all! I can’t remember the last time I dated. The children’s mother is too self-absorbed to do anything more than see them twice a year. She is driving around in a new car and we have only seen about 1000.00 total in child support over the last 4 years. I look at my car and it has been run into the ground; it is trashed, filthy, gross and messed up from several accidents my family have been in and bad cleaning habits of my brother and his children. The house is a mess (serious mess), I have tried to get it straight but everyone has very poor habits. I often get up at night and put away the dishes that everyone has left on the table, the floor, or wherever. I am not comfortable having people over because of the condition of the house. I can’t remember the last time I dated because I am uncomfortable discussing my situation. For my own sanity, I cannot live like this anymore. I never planned on being a stay at home "mom" and I feel like this attempt at it has been a total failure, lol. I use to run a tight ship, but now I am running on empty. I have a hard time telling if it is my perspective or them that is the cause. I keep thinking if I can change my attitude or work harder it could get better. I am 32 years old and I have spent my entire life trying to dig my family out of trouble or help them avoid trouble. Consequently, I have not had much of my own life. I do not blame them at all. It HAS been my decision to participate, but now I want to make the decision to do something else. I am not the energetic social person I used to be. I feel horrible because I have been raising my voice at my niece and nephews, very unlike me. I use to plan activities and games, teach and tutor them, sew their clothes, and blankets, etc. However, the financial problems and being stuck at home all day have left me feeling trapped and uncreative. Financially, I am no longer in a position to leave. If I did guilt will probably lead me back to the same situation if I don’t do something to change. I feel like this might be my last chance to live the life I want for myself. How do I manage my commitment to my family with the life I want? This year school year, I have tried to prepare them for my departure; my brother is responsible for getting the kids ready in the morning, my mom does more of the cooking, and so on. Consequently, the kids leave the house looking unkempt and my niece looks homeless (to me). Her hair looks undone and her clothes mismatched since he lets her pick her own. Last week when I picked the kids up from daycare the director told me privately that my little niece had an odor problem and the kids were making fun of her. So I have started doing school mornings with just her. I have offered to take one of the kids with me when I leave, but he refuses. He loves his children and they love them so I understand, but I do not see how he is going to do it. Most people see me as a tough and direct kind of person, yet I am total putty in my families hands. Ironically, moving here has put me in a situation where I cannot help. How do I

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I did a Spanish project about alpacas earlier this year, and my brother pointed out an alpaca farm when we were driving in a rural area a week ago, and while he seemed to have knowledge of them, I couldn’t remember anything I learned from my project to contribute to the conversation. It seems like a lot of stuff in school I learn is useless because it has no real world application. How can I start to make learning worthwhile and fun so I can make real-world connections? Thanks.

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My dad, at 55, has decided that he can’t take care of his money for himself and he wants me to do it all from now on. He’s on permanet dissability, he recieves social security, and he’s on some medicaid plan or another. The bill paying isn’t really a problem- I can set up one of my checking accounts so the money all comes out of there. And the rest of the money after his bills he wants to give to my brother and myself for our education. But what about whose name goes on what money? And I’m really afraid of his money being eaten up by medicaid and rules and costs that I don’t understand yet.

Any recomendations or bokks you’ve read that were helpful would be great! Also, if you have advice on how to help manage how role-reversal changes a parent-child relationship, that might hep too…

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My friends older brother is deaf and I would like to be able to communicate with him. Would you know what books or programs are good for learning sign language quickly without a teacher? Thank you!

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Are you a young parent? An older parent? Or do you consider yourself a normal age to be raising a child? (whatever their age is)

Do people ever mistake you for a sister or a brother? Or maybe a grandmother or a grandfather?

How does this affect your relationships with other parents?
Can you not ask things from different angles so you get different perspectives? That’s a silly answer.

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You see I am an only child, and my parents don’t have a good relationship so i will not get a brother or a sister. And I am Lonely. Nobody wants to be my friend. What should I do?

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I am 20 years old and about to finish up community college this spring. I have a three year old brother who I absolutely adore. Since he was born, I have been babysitting him/helping take care of him/and helping my mom with him whenever I can. I have 2 other siblings so my moms got a lot on her plate. I am really overprotective of the 3 year old and I do everything for him. In the fall i should be going away to college (only an hour away) and when i think about it my chest hurts…I am afraid to leave my brother.. and in the summer i was planning a trip to italy for 2-3 weeks that I was so excited about but then the nervous pain comes back about leaving my brother.

What is wrong with me? I feel like he is my child or something….i feel guilty if i don’t see him for like 3 days…is this normal?? How can i get over this anxiety?

I also always worry if I’m away from him for too long he will not remember me as well..
If you are a parent I’d really like to hear your advice because maybe the way I am acting is similar to how a parent would act..but anyone please share your thoughts<3

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