Family Drama Stories

All I want is your presence, not your presents.

Very rarely am I good with words, and this time may be no different, but I wanted to share my feelings from tonight. As I pack my apartment again, I think about the next steps and what is coming. I am moving to a larger space in a new area. Thankfully, I will still have friends and family nearby, but I feel so empty about the situation. I think about all the times I have moved in the past 10 years and how each time has been essentially me moving myself, alone, with no help (at least not from friends or family). I think about the move from New England to the South—wow, that was a big move, right? Why wasn’t anyone here to help me? When I moved from the South to New England, at least Dad went with me; he experienced the drive with me. So why didn’t anyone welcome me back? Was everyone happy I was going so far away? Why has no one come to visit? Why am I the only one trying? Is this what love looks like?

Now I am moving again, and my brother is coming to help. My brother and I have had a rocky relationship for years, but we have both matured immensely, and I am grateful for his friendship. I never thought we would be close. I am thankful that he has offered to help me move. I didn’t have to ask, but I made sure to tell everyone in the family. He’s the only one who offered.

Still, no one has visited. No one else offered. Why don’t my parents see how much it hurts that I have been back in the South for 9 months and not once have they reached out and driven to me? Why do they tell me they were coincidentally going to visit when I tell them I have plans for a weekend? Why didn’t they offer to help me move?

I have driven over 10,000 miles to see my family and set up the business, yet no one has even driven 10 miles to see me. My dad came all the way to Wichita (4 blocks from my new apartment) to pick up a friend’s child, but he can’t do that for me? Nana says that if anything were wrong and I needed help, he’d be here immediately, but why do I need to wait until I need help? I asked for help paying for a resume service, yet he made me feel like he wasn’t willing to help, only willing to “pay me back” for the driveway. Seriously?

Do they not know how it feels to call my brother and hear my mother in the background because she has visited? Are they closer? Yes. Do they have kids? Yes. But there is no excuse for not visiting a child over 9 months when they are only a few hours away. Hell, they didn’t visit for 7 years in Maine except when my brother and I FORCED them to get on a plane to visit me. We paid for the entire trip; Mom and Dad had to do nothing. Always citing money and time, they were able to buy all this fancy quilting equipment and build another building to expand out of their own pocket, yet they didn’t have time or money for me.

Why am I so much less important? Why did no one ask if they could attend my graduation for my Master’s degree? What do I have to do to make my parents happy or proud of me? Why do I care anymore?

Do they resent me for being gay? Lord knows I have learned not to bring anyone around, as I feel like it’s always a shit show. And then my mother sits me down to talk about how “she feels they have done a good job of accepting me being gay.” Why do my tears sting my skin every time I cry? What have I done to receive such treatment? What do I have to do just for them to try and meet me halfway?

I guess I really won’t get anywhere from this, but I wanted to type it out. I cry, it hurts, and I don’t know what to do to change it. I can’t have a healthy relationship with anyone because I don’t know what that looks like. I am broken. I have always been broken. Who am I?

All I want is your presence, not your presents.

my name is miriam and im almost 12. my parents are divorced and they can't agree on anything. im Jewish and my mom wants me to have a bat mitzvah at 13 and my dad wants me to have a bat mitzvah at 12. and none of them are willing to be flexible so now i'll have to study twice as hard. like this is supposed to be my breaking point, the end of my childhood, but what's the point if you have to do it all over again? and lately I've been struggling with suicidal thoughts because of family problems (ill go into that another time) so i don't really know what to do atp

so today my brother asked my dad if it was fine for him to go to the beach with my mom instead of going to the gathering with my dad. my dad for some reason flipped out and got so angry. he called my mom and screamed at her for 1-2 hours. my mom was already at the beach but didn’t have time to enjoy anything whatsoever. later on the dinner table my dad was telling my siblings and i about how his dad (my grandfather) threw a hammer at him for disrespecting him. my dad explained saying “i never once regretted what my father did to me because it made me a real “man””. he went to the nearby table where my brother placed his electronics, picked his nintendo up and slammed it into the ground. everything shattered and my siblings and i were so shocked and scared. my mom as well. some of my sisters started crying and yelling at my dad which caused me to cry aswell. my dad took my brothers phone and slammed it on the floor aswell. my dad acted shocked that we were crying. he said we are over reacting and whatever. they explained to him that these aren’t normal things that he is doing. and that we have been suffering from him ever since we were kids. he told us to say what was in our hearts. what we have been holding for our entire life. when it came to me? i just couldn’t say anything. i told him that. that i have nothing to say. but in reality i wanted to tell him i much i hated him and how much i wanted him to die. but based on what he did to my sisters. i know if i say something he will just keep going and trying to make me the wrong one. when it came to my youngest sister to speak she said that what he is doing is so childish. my dad looked like he wanted to kill her. talking about how “rude” she is. mind you we were all crying at this point. after everything that happened he took the rest of my brothers electronics and went down to his office. we started bursting into tears next to our mother and then we heard a slam, then another. he actually broke my brothers ipad and playstation. we went to my oldest sister’s room and stayed there while my mother went to talk to my dad. we sat for about 40 minutes when he came up to the room and sat down acting like he did nothing wrong. talked to us calmly. about how he wont changed. and this is our luck that we got a dad like him. before he left he told my brother that he will take my brother’s tv and break it as well. he also said that what happened and what we did to stand up for my brother is “wrong” and that we should repent. my mom later went down to the living room to go away from all the disasters but my dad followed her there and started fighting again. this is when i’m writing this. it’s currently 3am and all i hear is screaming. tbh i’m kind of relieved to hear my mom scream. i’m always scared that one day it will stop. and i would come down with her laying on the floor with blood everywhere. i just feel like my dad would do something like that.

in my dad’s defense he said that my brother is not a “man” because he can’t “talk/speak” well like the other kids. but then he told my sister that she should stop comparing him to other dads because it will only bring her pain. and i’ve had a habit of recording anytime my dad screams. so as soon as he started i hid my phone under the table and recorded everything. as you can tell it’s not his first time doing something like this. not to this extent ofc but once when my brother was 9-10 my dad wanted to teach him how to ride a bicycle. after a while of my brother failing my dad hit him over and over until my brother peed himself.

i’m so tired. so tired. i’m still i minor and so are my siblings except my oldest sister. my dad claims that what he is doing is the right way of teaching us. he sees us as a disappointment. i don’t know what to do. my mother tried divorcing so many times but she couldn’t. i’m dying inside. i want to die and end it all. but then again. i would bring shame to this family for killing myself. because in my dad’s eyes, he did mothing wrong.

so tell me is my dad wrong? is he abusive? if so what kind? am i being brainwashed washed into thinking this is the only right way? what can i do to stop this? i’m so tired and i son’t know what to do.

As long as I can remember my parents were big drinkers and were almost always high on drugs. Thi sled them to having a bad tempe. If I were to do something as a kid, they would get pissed off and start throwing thingsand yelling. I remember one night, I believe I was 9 when I was playing with my cup that I finished drinking the water out of. My parents had just came back from the bar, around 3:00 am. They were drunk and I remembered they’re eyes being bloodshot red. I was using my cup to set on my head for fun but it made them mad. They told me to, “shut the hell up, you mistake.” I quote.

Okay so, I don’t know how to write but I really need to let this out. My dad leaves to visit his hometown like ALL THE TIME, it’s like he’s not even a part of my life anymore. He just got back from one of his trips like a week ago and he’s planning on leaving again. One time he was supposed to spend TWO WEEKS down there but instead it was SIX MONTHS, he came back for a week then left again for another like 2 months. AND ITS NOT EVEN THIS THAT MAKES ME MAD, whenever he comes back all he does is yell. Like two days ago I woke up and he IMMEDIATELY forced me to clean the house or else my phone would be taken away, not to mention HES NOT EVEN HERE HALF OF THE TIME. He would also get into fights with my mom, calling her a pig when the house is a mess even though it’s HIS FAULT THE HOUSE IS DIRTY. I’m so tired. I don’t feel comfortable around him anymore, I always feel like I’m going to get yelled at. I’m honestly debating if I should just stop interacting with him..

My father has been such a raging asshole recently. Not just to me but all of his kids. Everything i do is wrong. I was hanging out with my sister while cleaning my room, we had the rats out running around while I cleaned. And he came in and yelled at me and her for letting the rats roam in my room. So I put them away. Then he started yelling at me about how my room was a mess. (I was literally cleaning as he was yelling at me) so I gave up. And layed in bed. Then he was yelling at my sister's for everything. I was trying to eat the dinner he made, but it was triggering my sensory issues (we bread) so I kept cringing so he told me to throw it away if I was gonna keep making grossed out faces and yelled when I said it was good I just didn't like how it felt so I was trying to eat it. He then took it away. And then right before I went to bed I was waiting to use the bathroom but my brother was blowdrying his hair, so I was just waiting, and when he asked what I was doing and I said "waiting for the bathroom" he yelled at me for not knocking on the door? And now he's yelling at me because I was 15 mins late to school this morning because I woke up late because I've felt sick nonstop for the past like 2 weeks and I've been having trouble staying asleep. So I'm exhausted. But seriously. Why have you been acting like that? What the fuck is the point? If your pissed off about something just stop taking it out on your kid. Especially your kid with the most violent and destructive tendencies because I don't know how much I can take before I take it out on him or myself. I'm not only pissed off I'm scared.

When I was a kid I was really good friends with my siblings, we all had good fun together. Well until one day in the summer. Me and my younger sister were playing a game of tag inside. And note of this: even though I was young I had and still have a porn addiction. So me and my sister were on my bed, tired from playing around. And I thought it would be a good idea take advantage of the situation. So I requested her to unclothe herself, and she did. So I continued to touch her cat with my finger, even going down to lick it.

I did end up getting caught afterwards, and the police did get involved; but I didn't go to jail or anything because of my age. And during that time I felt sick, I felt horrible. So I suppressed my feelings and forgot about it, only remembering it like 3 times a year or so.

Now, I'm 18 and I completely forgot about my incident; but one of my sisters friends met someone I knew. Telling he about what I did back then. He texted me about it yesterday, and of course I lied, I'm still in school. But the problem isn't that I lied, the problem is the flow of emotions coming back to me. I feel so disgusting, why did I do that, what is wrong with me. I'm scared he'll find out the truth, because I know that what I did was really bad, and I know that the public will think the same.

I've changed, I know I have, and I think my family knows that as well. But I cant help but feel like a monster, I wasn't to change the past.

I tried looking as this being a wakeup call by a god or something, like some higher being telling me to change my ways. But all I can think about is the future, I don't think I'll ever talk to my family again when I move just out of guilt.

Thanks for reading this.

Basically the title. I moved out recently and its like my brain stopped lying to itself that my past situation was "okay" and "thats just how family is". Now i am just so angry and sad and cant stop replaying the handful of memories my brain hasnt blocked and wondering how I could have prevented them from happening. Like if i was just better behaved, wasn't so stubborn and just kept my head done the treatment wouldn't have gotten worse. If I brought home the grades she wanted she wouldn't have had to remind me how much i burden her and that the least i could do is be a good kid. If I didn't let her find out I am lesbian she wouldn't have had to say that no daughter of hers is gay and then treat me the worst she ever had till I convinced her I liked men again. If i was just the daughter she wanted she wouldnt have had to hurt me, humiliate me, ignore me for so many years.

I just feel like its all my fault. She wouldn't have had to do that if I was good and I know thats true because she told me. She said she did what she did for my own good, "tough love" or that she was "preparing me for the real world" but to this day no one has made me feel so worthless other than her. But its my mom, so there has to be some truth to it right? she always said no one knew me like she knew me, and its why she had to do what she did. I just feel so broken and dirty, like something is wrong with me.

all ive wanted was for her to love me, for me to finally be perfect enough that she doesnt have to doubt me.

Ive spent almost all my life trying to prove my mom wrong and now im questioning if she had a point.

My mom has always been a drinker. Ever since i was a kid i remember at every barbecue, at every kid's birthday party, at every get together there was always alchohol involved. As a child it was normal to me, i thought thats how it was for all families. Every other day your parents and their friends would get together and get belligerent drunk, and every once and a while there would be an altercation or something. It was just the culture. And it sucked as a child, it was never okay, but it was the way things were. I wasn't going to stop it, i was a kid. I'm an adult now and drinking repulses me. I look back on all the horrible things i had to witness because of my families alchoholism and it makes me so fucking angry. Watching my mom's friend try to throw my uncle off our deck and through our fence, watching my aunt throw herself into a barbed wire fence after jumping out of a moving car going 40 mph, watching the barflies drag my mom up the sidewalk to our house and explaining to me that they're pretty sure she had a seizure so i had to keep an eye on her to make sure she was alright. I was 15. The first time i drove a car was to drive my dad home after a night of drinking, he had to push the pedals for me because i was too small to reach them. The first car accident i was in, i was the designated driver trying to get my mom home from the bar and we were almost in a head on collision. My entire face was bruised because i wasnt wearing a seatbelt. I've watched my mom have seizures, fall and crack her head open, give herself black eyes and swollen lips, and tonight her heart started acting up to the point where we thought she was having a heart attack. I'm just so goddamn tired of it, and maybe its bitter but i have no sympathy for her. In her drunken haze she told my aunt she had lung cancer and I don't even know what to say. She probably lied, is it even worth it to ask her in the morning? I think its more likely shed drink herself to death than die of lung cancer. Sorry if this isn't coherent, i'm just fucking angry.

Guys, Im in my early twenties, I recently became histamine intolerant, and none of my family members are empathetic. I developed this chronic condition due to 3+ months of stress and insomnia that led to gut inflammation. I currently couldnt eat anything spicy or delicious and lost weight. Feeling sick and tired physically and mentally. Due to these histamine sensitivities, I couldn't sleep well due to persistant itching for a few whole nights. Then I tried explaining the condition, why I'm researching intensely about histamine intolerance, and the reason for avoiding certain foods. But everyone at home calls me stupid and dumb for not eating everything and that I'm an idiot to research food sensitivities. I even infinitely explained to them about how the symptoms abate whilst I'm on an elimination diet, but still they laugh and mock at me for caring for myself. I m very assured that even a child would understand my situation. They were even laughing at me at the clinic while I was conversing with the doctor. I recently requested them for stress reduction supplements to sleep well, but they hope that I can be cured without anything, but I no longer have the strength to endure this. I cry every time I wake up and feel the venomous cortisol rushing and inflaming my body, causing pain. I dont mind being ignored and abandoned, but I'm tired of them laughing and mocking my problems. There is no sleep , good diet or basic understanding .. It's okay

i dont even know where to start. if i think too hard about everything i cry. i cant live in this world. i cant finish school or get a job. why do i have to pay for my existence? i think my dad was right. he is right. i say he isnt and my mom says he isnt but he was right and thats what makes me so sad. he was right for yelling at me. i should join somr school clubs ti put on my resume for college. i should work out. i am just lazy and spoiled. my mental health and anxiety and dysphoria and whatever the fuck isnt that bad. i think i may be pretending. i can function better than people who have it worse. save your time for someone else. my life isnt bad and people would kill for this. everyone says i am kind and sweet and just a golden child. i know i am the favorite. i am whiny. i am barely autistic. im not trying to be like “ugh🥺! im so unfixable and depressed and ugly and nothing is gonna get better” im not. im self aware on that. sure i cut myself sometkmes but i only do it when im really overwhelmed and about to snap. i think i am a realt disgusting individual. i feel like patrick bateman and kilgrave but not in that stupid sigma male stuff. yk. i fear it is all just a mask and i wonder what i am capable of. the atrocities i dont want to commit or do i? i dont want to grow up and becomr a pedophile or a serial killer. maybe its just instrustivir thoughts but i know better. i know yhe eevil runs deep in me and i pray to god and whatever gods. i still think santa is real. i know his spirit is. i go back to hell and evil and i cant stop. i want to be pure and i pretend so hard. i cant even cry. i have so much rage and hatred but also so much kindness. i wonder what is real. im tired. im anxious. i hate mu body. im going to kill myself if i have to live like this or look like this. my feet and ass and boobs and eyes are uneven. i cant stand how noticrable it is. so are my curves/sides and hips. bc of scolosis. i have so much acne and i have scars and stretchmarks. i dont think my body is built to be loved. i think love is a sham for me to get hope. i am deep down evil. i am so possessive and greedy and spoiled and nasty. i know this is true and i can hope for a fairytale but i will not get that. i dont rven know what to say. i can feel everrytjing in me. i hate human bodies im so scardd of getting old and having to think about the futurre.just let me live. but i cant. i am a snake eating its own tail forever

I’m a 13 year old gay boy and my whole family is homophobic and I am scared and this has kept me up for many nights the thing that scares me is mostly what I’m gonna do when I’m an adult I do love my family but what about when they find out I’m gay and I’m an adult will my family never talk to me or will I just marry a woman for them to be happy it’s terrifying I don’t know who to talk to so this is my last resort somebody please help me

My sister and her friends often talk about their serious problems with each other through text. My sister sometimes allows me to read what they say, but whenever I see her talking bad about me I feel hurt even though I'm the problem. She wouldn't be complaining to her friends if I didn't offend her but she never tells me how she feels so I don't know when my actions genuinely hurt her. I'm a little upset she allows them to talk bad about me and say my dreams are worthless and never going to happen, but do I have the right to feel offended when I caused this? I'm worried to talk to her because I'm afraid she'll tell her friends or not take me seriously.

Well, the mall incident in Malaysia. I got too excited, so I went far away from my mom to a side of a mall’s store where she couldn’t see me, then my brother found me. My dad said I could’ve gotten kidnapped, trafficked, organs sold, & raped. I know, I just forgot for a moment because I got too excited, but I blame myself. My dad then, in the hotel, proceeded to hit me, yell at me, call me a bad word & then he said I didn’t care about the family, I went because I got selfish, he blamed my liking to art, & then he said he only cares for me because I’m his child, not because he loves me, even saying if I were a neighbor’s kid, I’d be a bad example to him. I know he was angry, but I think he was right. That I’m unempathetic, that I’m selfish, & I don’t care about the family. Well, I do love them, I felt bad from what I did, I felt dumb, but is he right? Afterwards, I got tired, scared to talk to him, scared of getting lost in a mall, & I always ask my mom how I can help her. Maybe it’s just teen stuff, maybe my hormones & my overreaction are making me sad & tired.

In Malaysia, I got too excited at a mall and wandered away from my mom, causing concern. My dad, fearing dangers like kidnapping, got angry, yelled, hit me, and said hurtful things, like blaming my love for art and claiming he only cares because I’m his child, not out of love. His words made me feel selfish and unempathetic, even though I regret what happened and love your family. Since then, I’ve been anxious, cautious, and focused on helping my mom, wondering if it's just teenage emotions or if there's truth to his criticism.