Falling in love is one of the greatest things in the world. Sadly, it is then usually followed by one of the worst experiences in the world...introducing your new love to your insane, or embarrassing, or toxic family, or vice versa. Which is worse—being the one with the terrible family, or having to meet one? Read these jaw-dropping stories before you decide.
1. Run White Boy, Run
A girl I had been on a few dates with had invited me back to her place. Score, right? Well, when we got there, I realized she had failed to mention one huge thing: her entire family lived there. I was introduced to her mother, father, and siblings at midnight when we got back to her place. The thing is, it got so much worse than this.
She told them, "We're going to my room to sleep together" and her dad said, "You brought protection, right man?" I kind of nodded in a daze. So we went back there and did the deed. To be honest, she was actually amazing. Afterward, I got anxious thinking about having to do the "walk of shame" as I passed her family on the way out, so to avoid all of that, I tried to duck out at 3 am.
Her dad was still in the kitchen, eating tamales. He asked me to sit down and I was like, “Oh God,” but then he served me up a delicious tamale—and told me the whole truth. He said that his daughter liked to hurt men like me and that if I had any sense, I would keep the memory of the night close and never speak to her again.
I thought it was just her dad who didn't approve at first, but then her brother came in and said, "You need to run white boy, my sister is crazy." I nodded sagely but I didn't end up taking their advice. I really, really should have. The relationship lasted about a month and ended with my car windows being destroyed by her during the middle of the night.
2. Queen Of The Family
Well, there were a lot of reasons why I ultimately broke up with this guy named Tom, but his family was definitely one of them. The cast of characters included the mom, dad, brother, and sister. The mom was great—she was a total salt-of-the-earth type and a lovely lady. The rother was great too, though kind of distant from the rest of the family. I figured out why quickly.
His father was the biggest piece of trash I ever had the misfortune of meeting. He treated his wife like garbage for no reason. She was a lovely woman, well put-together, an excellent cook, and had a full-time job...yet, he just looked at her like she was gum stuck on the bottom of his shoe. He hated Tom just as much; again, for reasons that I could never figure out.
My boyfriend was a DOCTOR—so educated and successful—and because he was in medical school until his late 20s, he wasn't married. He concentrated on his education instead. However, to his father, something was "wrong" with his son because he wasn't married. He would hassle him about it all the time. He’d tell him he was "a homo" (his words, not mine) and how he had "no life" and he needed "to get it together."
Then there was Tom's sister, Julie, the queen of the family who could do no wrong. As far as the father was concerned, the sister walked on water. Everything was about her—piano lessons, pageants, private schools, etc. She grew up being a spoiled little princess and also acted the part. For example, my brother and his wife were in a very serious car accident while on vacation. They were vacationing where Julie lived, which was a six-hour flight from where the rest of us did.
They were hospitalized for their extensive injuries, and their luggage ended up at the rental lot where the car was towed after the accident. This lot was about a 10-minute drive from Julie's house. We asked Julie to go pick up the luggage and made arrangements with the rental company so she could just go in and grab them quickly. My brother needed his extra glasses (his glasses were destroyed in the crash and he can't see without them) and my sister-in-law needed some stuff out of her luggage, too.
Julie said she'd do it "if she had time" but she was "really busy." It didn't matter that my brother and sister-and-law nearly PERISHED in a car crash. It was all about Julie and her busy, important life. Eventually, she did go pick up the luggage, but I later found out the disturbing truth. It was because her mom called and screamed at her basically for being a selfish witch.
She got the luggage, but not happily. It spoke to her character, and not in a good way. There were other issues that ultimately ended the relationship, but his family certainly didn't help matters.
3. A Little Too Close For Comfort
My best friend left her husband after five years because of his mother. She was insane, but it was really the spineless husband who refused to stand up to his mom. This is the crazy stuff she did: She threw a tantrum because she didn’t like the wedding invitations. Like, she ripped up 50 invites and they had to order more.
She also told my friend that she looked pregnant in her wedding dress. Then, when the bride was walking down the aisle, she got up to change seats and blocked the groom’s view, only moving out of the way at the last minute when it was too late. Throughout the wedding, she was hanging all over her son and openly pouted when he wanted to dance with his own wife.
She took wine bottles after the wedding and bragged about it, even when she didn't pay for anything except the flowers. She interrupted their wedding night by banging on the door and telling them she wanted to spend more time with them…He then ACTUALLY left to go hang out with his mom on the night of the wedding, while the bride stayed in bed, mad.
She tried to move into their home right after they got married and that caused a fight. She ended up not moving in luckily, but she still had a spare key to their house for emergencies. She used the key to walk into their house unannounced whenever she wanted. Finally, she constantly accused my friend of cheating because she worked late.
There were a ton of other reasons that built up over the years and he always deflected. She finally had enough and left.
4. A Long Way Down
It was my ex-husband and ex-mother-in-law who were the main problems. He allowed himself to get sucked in by her and excused her for the dozen major offenses she committed that resulted in our divorce. I was so distraught by her that I even straight-up told her, “When we have kids, you will not be in their lives,” just to get her to understand how serious her bad behavior was.
She purchased him a plane ticket home when I really needed his support most—that was the catalyst for the divorce and the final straw. No one told me or discussed it with me. I found out when my aunt asked me if I was taking my husband to the airport that weekend...She showed me the message where, aside from the whole ticket thing, his mother told my aunt to “control me.”
I cried on my way to work and told my boss I needed a short shift so I could drop off my husband, who was basically leaving me. He offered me the day off, but work was a needed distraction. Besides that, my mother-in-law took the car keys when I visited once and left me no car to drive for that weekend. Controlling much?
She once told me that the only reason my ex-husband was interested in me was that I had big breasts. I heard her. At the time, I was young and had given her no real reason to dislike me. It was hurtful. I cried. My husband held me, and back then before we went downhill, he marched upstairs and demanded that she apologize to me.
When he left on that plane ride, I told him I would be serving him divorce papers. Everyone freaked out and she sent me a big, dumb Facebook message making excuses. I sent her one back firmly, but not rudely, addressing all her points. I told her he was now her problem, just like she always wanted. Months later, she replied and apologized while taking some responsibility.
I only know that because I read it two years later when I knew I wouldn’t be as angry. Besides that, my former sister-in-law bailed on my wedding the DAY BEFORE without telling me and that started a whole other issue. Her girls were meant to be my flower girls, so it felt like a slap in the face. She wouldn’t talk to me for a couple of years, even to ask for recipes. It was petty.
Oddly enough, we are on good terms now and I think we could still be friends. She tells me the lies he tells his mom to make me look bad. He really spiraled, and I still hope he can get it together at some point in his life. Today, most of them think I’m sleeping around the entire city. I have a stable job, I fly planes, I have amazing friends and a new loving relationship.
I travel, climb mountains, and have generally built the life we were supposed to have on my own. On the other hand, he fell into depression, his mother pays his rent, and apparently, they get into fights because she won't pay for him to move across the country.
5. Get Out
We had dated for about three months before I went to her house. I didn't complain that it took so long because she was fantastic; however, I always did suspect something was amiss because I never saw where she lived. She explained that she still lived with her parents to save money and pay off student loans, which made sense to me.
When I was finally invited to pick her up at home, I arrived at a very nice place in a quiet neighborhood. I didn't meet her parents because they were not home at the time. The "you-just-missed-them" timing continued for another four months or so. Once I went into the house, it was clear she lived with her parents and was an only child. Seven months in, and I was already falling for her.
Just before we went on an out-of-town trip, her car broke down. Not a problem. I let her know that I was heading her way and would be there in about 30 minutes. As I was getting close, I sent her a two-minute warning text. No response. I parked in front and waited like she had asked me to do on all occasions. I spent five minutes waiting, but no one came out. I send her a text—no response.
I then headed for the door. Her father answered. He was a quiet man—nice, but incredibly quiet. I introduced myself and we shook hands. Then her mother appeared. In my head, I was thinking: "Mother and daughter are clearly related," since they looked the same except for their age. Then she spoke, and my face went pale. Her mother was the devil incarnate. She spewed hatred with every breath.
She turned back to her daughter and threw something at her; something heavy that thudded off the wall and then the floor. The mother proceeded to yell and curse at her daughter while her father and I stood quietly at the door. In retrospect, he was probably so quiet because his wife would have boiled him alive if he didn't follow her directions perfectly.
Within 30 to 45 seconds, their daughter broke free by running out through the garage. Her mother watched her go, then turned and charged at me. She stuck her hand in my face and began wagging her finger. The vitriol then about deflowering her daughter then spewed out. It sounded like scary Bible verses, except they weren't.
They had the right shout-about-it preacher cadence, though. I can't remember all of what they said as it all came out too fast. I was amazed their daughter turned out as nice as she did. The mother never had a nice thing to say about anyone other than herself. I tried to imagine life with their daughter, but I would always be haunted by the thought of her father, who was the shell of what must have been a man at some time in the past.
Each time I saw him, I faded a little bit inside. She never sounded like her mother, but she eventually became EXTREMELY manipulative as time went on. I eventually noped out of that relationship after many failed conversations. Life is now good.
6. The Crazy Is Coming From Inside The House
Everyone in my family is a worthless pile of trash who would diss the Pope for attention. I mean, there is something seriously wrong with them and I have no idea why I didn’t turn out like them. Long story short, I brought a girl home who I was dating and it went exactly as I thought it would. The first thing out of my stepdad's mouth was: "Doesn't he have a tiny Johnson!? You should come over here and sit with me."
It was like an old-school cartoon...I could have sworn I saw dust kick up with how fast she took off out of there and never spoke to me again.
7. Happily Never After
My first wife’s parents had no concept of boundaries. Her older brother was in and out of rehab all the time, and her sister did shady things to pay for her habit. We foolishly thought that we'd be able to keep them at arm's length, but she felt guilty and let them pull her back into their dysfunctional messed-up lives. After a while, I couldn't take it anymore and we split.
8. Looking A Gift Horse In The Mouth
We were together for 10 years and his mom cried all the time. She made everything about her. For example, one Christmas, her children pooled their money to buy her an expensive TV for Christmas. Her response was chilling. When she opened it, she burst into miserable tears, saying it wouldn't fit in her favorite TV cabinet. She then kept repeating how disappointed she was in the presence of everyone for the rest of the holidays.
She also referred to her daughter-in-law as "the vessel" that provided her grandchildren.
9. Love Thy Neighbor
My adoptive parents kicked me out my junior year of high school for being gay—they had already known for a while, but my then-boyfriend coming over Christmas morning to exchange gifts made them “deal” with it. They told me to break it off or get out. I declined and came home one day the following January to find out they’d changed the locks.
My boyfriend’s mother found out that I was staying with my aunt and what my parents did, and immediately drove me over to make my parents let me get clothes and items from my room. She then let me stay with their family. A few weeks after that, my parents showed up with officers, claiming they were holding me against my will and brainwashing me.
We told them our side of the story and it ended up in court. I went through the process of getting emancipated while dealing with them and finishing off high school. I haven’t talked to them since I graduated, over a decade ago. I still hear about how crazy and manipulative they are from the stuff they do to my brother when he complains about them, but I won’t see or speak to them under any circumstances.
10. Mommy Dearest
I dated a guy for just shy of four years but ended it because his mother REFUSED to let us have a future together. His mother was basically his owner. She told him where he was allowed to go, what he could spend his own money on, and who he was allowed to see. The dude was 32 when we started dating, by the way. I was his "rebel phase."
He managed to carve out four hours a day, just once a week, to see me (and it was always at my house). He insisted, during that whole time, to get pizza delivered, and always got a separate pizza to take home for his mom. The guy despised pizza and would force down half a slice, but his mom wanted it, so that's what we had.
I met his mother once, about a year in. He invited maybe eight people around for a D&D night and he tried to sneak me past her. I ended up bumping into her later in the night and introduced myself. Her reply shook me to my core. I went to shake her hand and just she stared at it, grunted in disgust, and left the room.
As cliché as it sounds, I really did think he was my soulmate, so I put up with it. We'd talk on Skype every day and text each other constantly, so I guess I'd convinced myself that things would eventually get better. The final straw was when I ended up in hospital. I called him in pain and asked him to come down since I was really scared.
He told me he couldn't because he needed to take his mom to her bridge club.
11. The Black Sheep Of The Family
My wife helped me come to the realization. Out of myself and my two brothers, I was the only one to have never been behind bars, yet I was the only one my parents didn’t buy a car for. And actually, it wasn’t just about getting a car—they refused to even teach me how to drive. I had to move out of the house before I learned how.
So one day, I had my wife (girlfriend at the time) over to my parents’ for Christmas dinner. My mom offers me a glass of champagne about two months before my 21st birthday. No big deal, right? My stepdad proceeds to throw a temper tantrum about how I’m underage and not in his house and all this. Well, a couple of months later, I found out he bought my little brother, his biological child, a bottle of high-end bourbon for his 18th birthday.
When I was in the service, they had a whole bunch of deep-sea fishing trips and pro sports games they would go to without even so much as asking if I could come. They didn’t come to my boot camp graduation that I offered to pay for. They didn’t see me off when I was deployed. They weren’t there when I came back. Great times.
12. Simply Shameless
If you have ever seen the show Shameless, his family could have inspired that show. Man, where do I start...So, he was my first love—we were 15 when we started dating. He had two older brothers who were complete wastes of space. Neither of them had a job and or any intention of getting one, yet they were both in their 20s.
Their mom worked at a school, but it was a rough place. The dad was eerily quiet and worked for a phone company. Both of them were separated and would not speak to each other at all unless they were drinking, which happened every weekend. I often used to stay over on Fridays as he lived near my place of work and I usually had early weekend shifts.
Every Friday night, the brothers would invite their friends over to drink and play video games. The dad would go out with his brother and return extremely out of it, which would always end up in a fight somehow. It would usually be enough to wake me, but I’d just go back to sleep. Then, Saturday night would come and everything would go downhill...
The mom and two brothers would go to the local working man’s club. It was some bizarre family night activity they did every week. They would get in their cups and return home at around 1 am in a state. I’m talking kick-the-front-door-because-we’ve-forgotten-the-key kind of shenanigans. The eldest brother was a nasty drinker and would usually end up starting a fight with someone—either in the house or in the street.
The dad would then get out of bed and they’d all end up arguing. Things would get smashed. The middle brother would come and wake my boyfriend up as they couldn’t sort it out themselves. He would sometimes go downstairs and try to settle things down, and other times he’d tell them to get lost. If he didn’t go down, they would keep coming into the room and try to drag him into it.
One time, the eldest brother came upstairs and pulled me out of bed by my hair. He claimed he thought it was my boyfriend and it was dark. I don’t know how many statements I had to give to the authorities about the domestic violence in that house. At some point, I was on a first-name basis with several officers...it was embarrassing. The older brother, in particular, was straight-up bloodcurdling.
One day, my boyfriend and I were getting it on in the bedroom. Afterward, I went to put on a T-shirt before I went to sleep, and when I opened the closet door, I found his older brother in there. He’d been watching us the whole time. He said he’d only meant to scare us, but yeah right. It makes me think this wasn’t the first time either...
I felt so sorry for my boyfriend because he really wasn’t like them at all. He was so different, but his family was trash. At the same time, I could kind of see he just was never going to get away from them. He didn’t have their anger but he had no ambition. He was at college, but he put no effort in and he didn’t want to do really anything with his life.
I wanted to go to university and make something of my life. I tried so much to motivate him, but he just didn’t have it. I tried for three years, then I realized I had to walk away.
13. Busting A Gasket
I married into a toxic family. My husband realized it when his sister insulted me, out of the blue, to him for an hour. She then blamed him for making her husband hate the entire family. Meanwhile, everyone else in the family who was within earshot of all this all claimed to have not noticed or heard anything. It was loud and long. They knew.
He was pretty shell-shocked by the whole thing. It was ignored and NEVER resolved or discussed. It's a very large family. I have been the black sheep ever since even though I wasn't even in the “fight.” I would actually take responsibility for anything if I knew what made her so mad at the time. I apologized to her and she has never even admitted anything happened.
She was having a really tough time in her marriage at the time, however, and is now divorced. We didn't live in town, so each visit was a nice, pleasant time and we all got along fine prior to this. Really changed out entire dynamic.
14. Do What You Love
The family’s actions were 90% of the reason for the breakup. I was a high achiever in high school and college. I was at a top 20 university majoring in STEM and was one of the best in my class. Everyone, including my girlfriend and her parents, thought I was going to get some super high-paying job because of my major.
However, I really wanted to be a public school teacher. My dream has always been to run a school one day. When I told my girlfriend that, there were a lot of tears. Her parents fully expected her to become a stay-at-home mom. They acted like I was throwing my life away. Her dad spoke to me one-on-one and told me I could never propose until I was "financially stable," even though I had been working for two years, paying for everything for both me and my girlfriend, had no debt, and was still saving $1,000 a month.
When my girlfriend talked about spending an extra semester in grad school, her mom said openly, "We're not a bank; we can't always support you and your boyfriend obviously can't either." There were also a lot of texts from the mom to my girlfriend about "rose-colored glasses. "He makes you happy now, but when push comes to shove, he won't be able to be there for you."
For years, after making the decision to become a teacher, her parents would ask me, "Oh, so when are you going to get a real job?" or "When are you headed back for grad school?" That one was especially silly since I already had a master's degree. It got to the point that I started applying to jobs in my STEM field. I actually had two offers that would double my salary.
Ultimately, I decided I'd rather keep doing what I loved than be with someone I loved. Recently, I was told by a mutual friend that the mom said, "Thank God they broke up. He had such potential but just no work ethic."
15. Mother May I
My first memory is of my parents fighting when I was three years old. I remember my mom looking at my dad and yelling, “This is why we’re getting a divorce.” They separated when I was two, but took some time to figure out custody, as well as the actual finalization of their divorce. My mom was always so angry and would scream, throw things, and tell me consistently she didn’t want me around.
I finally had a breaking point with my mom the day before I turned 17. We got into a huge fight and I realized that she was just taking out the aggression of her past on me. I realized she had been blocking out what she put me through, and finally brought it to her attention. I know her mother was awful, and she kept perpetuating this cycle.
What triggered the whole realization was when I dated someone for the first time when I was 16, and my boyfriend’s mom treated me like her own. It was the first time I felt welcome in a home. She made sure I ate because she knew I wasn’t eating properly at home, she always had a bed made for me in case I ever needed a place to stay, and would always check in with my boyfriend to make sure I was okay when I went home.
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16. Money Matters
My ex-husband. His whole family had such a different concept of money and work compared to me. They were constantly living above their means and buying ridiculous things. Then, when something important came along, they had to scramble and borrow. For example, one time his mother borrowed cash from me, a teacher, even though she lived abroad in a fancy penthouse with a pool.
She told me she’d deposit it in her father’s account and I could get it from him. When I asked him, though, he said that she took it back. We’re talking about like $100 here. I was just baffled. I thought my ex was different...until he blew $3,000 of our wedding gift money on a trip he took without me.
He just said that it was no big deal and that he’d put it back someday. That was the last straw.
17. Holiday Cheer
Not me, but my girlfriend. After a year of being, together I invited her over for Christmas. After all the gift opening, my family sat down for food and we were all laughing and having a great time. Then I looked over at her, and she was quiet and just looked kind of shocked. We get in my car afterward, and she said “Is this how Christmas is every year?”
I told her yes, and she said “This is nothing like my family’s style. We open gifts, get into arguments, and then take the gifts back.”
18. A Dubious Stamp Of Approval
I’m a girl, and my best male friend growing up had some issues. We’d been friends since middle school, and although he had other girlfriends through high school as we grew up, we still remained really close. His family, who were very traditional Italian, loved me. I spent so many nights at their house and went on family trips with them.
When I was 17, I got my first boyfriend and everything completely changed. I went over for a normal hangout after school one time and his entire family ganged up on me while he ran to his car. They accused me of using them for my own gain, and that his sisters married their high school sweethearts, so we also had to! I was dumbfounded that they said that we obviously weren’t “just friends.”
They just seemed to have this idea that we were soulmates. I explained that we were, just not in a romantic, marriage sense. Besides, I was 17!!! I didn’t even stick with my then-boyfriend for long. They harassed my family after I distanced myself and called me all types of names. We’ve caught up years later, but it hasn’t been the same since.
19. Forgive And Forget
My mother threw a fit about how my son is so involved in his dad's life. This hit home, because my mother and father have been separated for a long time because she did the same thing to him with us. She decided that I was “neglecting” my son because I didn't want to limit what he does with his dad. I'm sorry if I won't repeat my family’s mistakes and that I want my son to have a father.
20. Cult Classic
My ex’s mom heavily recruited me to join her cult. I would be forced to bow down—literally prostrate; like head to the floor kind of thing—to a “guru” and donate a lot of money monthly to fund his lavish lifestyle. Even my ex knew she was nuts, but she wasn’t willing to stand up to her. Ultimately, it just became too much of a problem.
I couldn’t hang out at their house, and we had arguments over not standing up to her. I broke it off, and thank goodness.
21. Monster-In-Law
My father-in-law is beyond toxic. My wife always said she wasn't close with her dad, but we would see him for Christmas every year. We lived in southern California, and her family lives in Michigan. My father-in-law once took a trip to southern California and never told my wife until the day he was flying home. On that call, he told my wife that she "was ungrateful" for not driving down to see him.
She had just had a spinal tap for a meningitis scare and couldn't drive by herself. Then when my son was born, my father-in-law dropped off another family member but said he needed to run an errand. He didn't come back for a few hours. When he did, he just said he had to leave. Didn't even talk to me or my wife. Oh, but it gets worse.
For my son’s second birthday, he said he and his wife would be out of town for a wedding. Turns out, the wedding was the next day, and “out of town” meant 20 miles from our house. The third birthday, he just didn't show up. When my mother-in-law—they aren’t married anymore—got diagnosed with cancer, my wife called him, and all he had to say was "Huh, crazy” and hung up.
When my mother-in-law passed this last January, he never even checked in on his daughter. My wife calls him out now, and I've told him off a few times and "ruined Christmas" after he tried to say my wife wasn't a good daughter since she never visits.
22. Beyond Belief
I dated a young woman who came from a family of extremely devout atheists. Yes, devout atheists. Their entire thing was telling everyone about their atheism, how stupid all religious people were, and how logic and reason were the sole measures by which we should be judged. Simultaneously, they were also afraid of cell phone radiation, insisted that the Paleo diet was the only real way to eat, and didn't believe in personal privacy.
They also didn't believe showering every day was necessary and saw it as their place to judge everyone who didn't conform to their very narrow lifestyle choices. Like, I'm an atheist—but those people were freaking crazy. I got sick of the criticisms and having to debunk the asinine beliefs they were instilling in their daughter, so I left.
23. Lean On Me
I was waiting outside the toilet at my mom’s house for my partner to come out. I was with her because she has severe depression and anxiety, and wanted someone there. My mother came out of her room and exploded, asking me why I'm sacrificing so much and telling me that my girlfriend was faking it to manipulate me, horrible things like that.
Worst of all, my girlfriend heard everything and broke down really badly. I haven’t taken her to my mother’s since.
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24. Always Be My Baby
His parents were divorced and he mainly stayed with his mom, probably because she let him slack off. We would have pretty much the same arguments about our relationship that would get quite heated without ever getting resolved. I would come over to his house and while he was in the other room, his mom would come up to me and rant over very personal things I had told him.
She told me that I needed to pick my battles and do better for her child. I thought it was really strange of her to overstep boundaries, especially because he told her things that I would tell him in confidence. He had some serious mommy issues and she would talk about herself in the third person, calling herself “Mommy,” like “Mommy wants you to vacuum your room today.” So weird.
25. Light Bulb Moment
My partner’s father refuses to have more than ONE light bulb on in the living room after dinner when it's dark outside. We just sit there in this large room, barely able to see one another, with only one 15-watt bulb going in a lamp in the distance. One time, I got up and turned on another lamp so I could read something, and he got up immediately—without a word—and shut it off.
26. Monster-In-Laws
A guy I really thought I would end up with had extremely prejudiced parents. I’m black, and his dad would regularly call me names. I've even heard him call me “worthless” under his breath on occasion. Although my boyfriend never completely defended the names, he often downplayed the seriousness. It got to the point where dealing with his parents’ behavior was mentally exhausting. It made thinking of a future and raising a family around them horrifying. I had to let that one go.
27. Gifter’s Remorse
My husband’s family gathers around the Christmas tree and opens gifts one by one...and if you don’t like your gift YOU GIVE IT BACK TO HIS MOM TO EXCHANGE IT. This was horrifying to my brother-in-law and me. We were used to opening ugly sweaters, smiling, and saying thank you, all while planning the Goodwill run in our heads.
While mortifying, my mother-in-law does it because she wants to buy exactly what you like while still having presents for you to open. At this point, my husband almost never returns stuff. Once I opened a pink shirt and took half a second too long to just say thank you to get out of the horrible tradition. My husband said without blinking, "Oh mom, she hates pink. You should do black or gray," AND HANDED IT BACK TO HER.
28. Sister Act
I was dating this woman who I was madly in love with. She was a great person and had a beautiful soul. We just clicked. The biggest problem was her sister. Her other siblings were terrible too, but her sister won it all. She used to steal stuff from the church, but that's not the issue I want to talk about—I want to focus on what caused the break-up because it was horrific.
Every year, like clockwork, she would show up and drop off a baby. The first one had serious problems because of her rampant substance use. Then, another year passed and she had another baby. Then came the third kid in as many years. It just became too much that I had to leave. I didn’t want to be a father to those children, and my ex absolutely wanted to keep the kids.
I get it, I really do, but she and I never talked about having kids ourselves. I mean, she was on birth control for a reason! So in the span of three years, we had three kids in our hands and I was not in a position to be a father to any of them. It still bothers me to this day. I feel like I was robbed in some capacity, but I also realize that I was the one who left.
29. Not His Cup of Tea
I do marriage therapy. I once had a client who had been a soldier stationed at Guantanamo Bay. He met a local while he was serving there, and they fell madly in love. They decided to get married so she could come with him back to the United States once his tour was complete. They were both very excited to start their new lives together.
In their new home, she was working on cooking American dishes for him, and was making spaghetti one evening. He comes home from work while she's making it. He watches as she puts the meat in, puts the canned sauce in, and then pulls an unlabeled bag out of the freezer and adds it to the sauce. I ask them what was in the bag. I still can’t believe the answer. It was so disturbing that it’s unforgettable.
At this point in our session, she's hysterically crying in her broken Spanglish. She's trying to explain that she didn't know any better. Through the hysteria, he informs me that her mother and grandmother had told her that if she wanted to keep her man, she needed to put her menstrual blood in his food. It was so hard to keep my composure when I heard that.
I was trying hard not to gag from laughter. Apparently, this is a very serious superstition in her family’s culture. They both described that they were madly in love, but he just couldn't let this incident go. They ended up getting a divorce over it. Having done this job for 14 years, I have found it 100% accurate that truth is stranger than fiction.
30. Stay-At-Home Friend
I broke off my friendship with my best friend growing up because she gave in to the pressure of her nutty family and gradually turned out nasty as well. There's very little you can do from outside. I didn't even realize how completely messed up that family was until her mother passed on unexpectedly at 44. At that time, the father and his entitled firstborn son turned my 17-year-old friend into their cook, nurse, maid, and cash cow.
I tried to help her get out of there, but she wouldn't listen. She just closed herself off. It was like watching someone being immersed in a cult. Eventually, she turned against me. The last interaction we had was her going off at me about how I DARED to have a baby when she was infertile...By the way, she wasn't infertile; she had a fully treatable condition that would allow her to have kids eventually. From what I know she's on kid number five and counting.
31. Brother Beware
I was dating a twin and one time, we were being intimate in his room while his brother was asleep on the couch. He had one of those bathrooms with two doors, one going into the bedroom, and one going out to the living room. After we finished I went to the bathroom, you know, as ladies do. I was still completely nekkid.
His twin brother came into the bathroom from the living room. I didn’t realize it was his twin at first, and I grabbed him. He didn’t stop me at all. In fact, he pulled me more toward the living room door to go out of the bathroom with him. That’s when I realized it wasn’t my dude. I told him to stop, and pulled away and went back into the bedroom.
I told the guy I was dating the next day that his twin brother followed me into the bathroom, and tried to get me to go with him, while still completely unclothed, out to the living room. He acted shocked and was bothered that his brother did this, but I still can’t help but think this might be something that they do, like take turns with girls. I don’t date him anymore.
32. Dress To Impress
I was dating someone whose parents had super strict rules about their kids' partners. She was of Vietnamese descent and was only allowed to date Japanese, Korean, or white guys. Her dad straight up said he knew how bad Vietnamese men were, as he was one. They also expected their partners to be studying business, accounting, law, or medicine.
I was tolerated since I was in the military at the time. However, her oldest brother, who was a lawyer, married his long-time white girlfriend who was a nurse. Not only did they disinherit him for this, but her second oldest brother (who was a doctor) was essentially shunned out of the family for supporting them. Her other older brother, who was getting his master's degree at the time, was basically trying to lay low and not anger anyone.
Suffice it to say, she was under a lot of pressure. Considering how close she was to her older brothers, plus her parents’ expectations for her to get a good corporate job, I realized our relationship was causing her too much stress and anxiety. I'm still in touch with her, and some of the family drama has subsided, but I still kind of regret how it all ended.
33. The Spy
I went through a nasty break up with my oldest kid’s mom that lasted several years. We were never married and she was crazy as heck, so she told the hospital she didn't know our kid's father just so she could have leverage over me. You know, like a sane person does. Years later and after several investigations, she lost custody.
Over the next several years, we kept getting oddly specific complaints about things going on in my house and my daughter and her step mom specifically. Dumb stuff like matching clothes or details about how we do time out. Then my mom passed. When we switched her Facebook to memorial mode, I saw that she had been talking bad about me for years to my ex and was essentially spying on me for her and twisting information.
I'm guessing it's because she felt bad for a mother that lost her kid, but it was still a jerk move. It's been two years and I still refuse to visit her grave with my siblings; I haven’t shed a tear for her since.
34. Here Comes The Pride
My husband and I almost broke up right before the wedding. We were a mixed-race couple and really, really, really didn't like me because of it. About a month before the wedding, it came to a head when I called his mother, aunts, and grandma "witches." I had a good reason to say it, though—they said it was a good thing my grandmothers were both gone because it was two fewer women of my race in the world.
My husband cut them all off for a long time and didn't invite them to our wedding. He started talking to them again only after his sister-in-law passd on last year—he thinks life is too short to be angry at the people you love. He established rules with them, though: No one talks about me, about our marriage, and I don't have to have anything to do with them if I don't want to.
It works for us. He wishes we were closer to them, but his family spent the better part of our relationship harassing me while I kept my mouth shut. I don't like blowing up at people since it only makes me look bad, and having already lost my temper with his family on past occasions embarrasses me. Fortunately, he's been very supportive of me.
If he hadn't been so great, we wouldn’t be together now. His mother sent me a letter recently apologizing for their behavior, but I think my pride is too great to accept.
35. Kind To Be Cruel
The first time my husband spent time with my parents was when I realized I was in a toxic family. When we left, he was like, “Wow, your parents have literally not said a single positive thing about you. All their ‘funny’ stories about you growing up are really just awful.” I kind of just figured that was normal. Lots of eye-opening times later, and I don’t talk to my parents anymore for a slew of reasons.
36. An Act Of God
I dated my ex for three years. One of the biggest barriers between us was that her family was very Catholic and I am not. Her parents seemed to think the relationship wouldn’t last, but as it continued for longer and longer, they started to take more drastic actions. At first, they tried to convince her that the difference in our lifestyles would not be compatible.
Then, they got her uncle, who is an Archbishop in the Catholic Church (two steps away from the Pope) to let her know that she will essentially be condemned and will end up in the Bad Place. Her mother went into a "catatonic state" in which she didn’t get out of bed, eat, or drink for three days. Finally, it got to the point where I realized I SHOULD NOT marry into crazy.
37. Communal Readings
My mother loved to read the texts I sent to my boyfriend out loud to my family at dinner. It was extremely embarrassing, even though my boyfriend and I were only middle schoolers, so the texts themselves were innocent. Talk about privacy violations!
38. Under The Influence
My friend in middle school had a mother who was very controlling. She acted nice and sweet but would try anything she could to distance her daughter from me so that “she could be around more popular girls” or something along those lines. I wasn’t exactly the most popular; I was a quiet, nerdy girl with ADHD.
My mom revealed this to me one day and it crushed me.
39. Postcards From Heaven
My girlfriend’s aunt passed on years ago in a car accident, but she isn’t supposed to know that. Her parents still haven't told a soul, and they definitely did not want their young (at the time) daughter to find out about it. Despite the fact that it has been so long since it happened, my girlfriend’s mom still makes fake holiday cards every year claiming to be from her dead sister.
She always mails them to my girlfriend, fully not realizing that my girlfriend has known about what happened from the aunt’s children for years. It’s a super crazy situation. Any time my girlfriend mentions the aunt’s name, her mom just tries to change the subject immediately. I don't know who they think they are helping here.
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40. Bad Role Models
Her mother was an incredibly bad influence on her. The mother was as mad as a box of frogs and a really poor judge of character, so she would pick nut-job men who would actually endanger her life on a regular basis. I would then be expected to bail her out of trouble. I once got a call at 3 a.m. to fetch this woman on the side of the highway.
She was an hour out of town in the middle of nowhere, on a weeknight. This sort of thing used to happen on the regular. Eventually, I just gave up.
41. Bad Suggestions
After my twin brother lost his life in a car crash, my parents sat me down. When they began talking, my blood ran cold. My brother's girlfriend had been especially devastated by the loss, and they were worried about her, so they'd come up with what they thought was an ingenious idea. They wanted me to date my dead brother’s girlfriend.
42. Nice To Know You
My ex. On top of him cheating, his family was pretty crazy—especially the dad. I have a physical disability, and both his parents were pretty ableist. They would address me with horrible names at times and talk smack every chance they got. They also kept saying I was the reason their son is "on the wrong path." I remember first visiting their house and his dad never said a single thing to me the moment he saw my disability.
Honestly, the relationship was doomed from the start because of his parents.
43. Surprise!
I heard this one while moving for deployment. This guy signs over power of attorney to his mother before leaving. She misused it in the worst way possible. As soon as he was out of the country, his mother files for divorce from HIS wife because the mom and wife never got along. This dude is in the middle of the desert and didn't know until he came back three weeks after the fact.
44. Small World
Yes, a family ruined my relationship…because we found out we were related. As a result, I now refuse to date anyone from my state as I feel like I'm probably going to be related to them.
45. (Don’t) Meet the Parents
We grew up on a ranch. My brother’s girlfriend came from the city, but during visits to the ranch, she would dive right in, helping our mom around the house and participating in all the stuff we did—horseback riding, ATVs, etc. She claimed to love it. My brother was so happy his city gal was compatible with the ranch lifestyle he grew up in.
He just loved that she was able to connect with him that way and more importantly, with his family. They dated for about 18 months before marrying, made many visits to the ranch, and all seemed well. She insisted that she wanted to have her wedding at my parent's home, and my folks went all out for it, had both families there, and everyone had a great time.
The next morning, we had a send-off breakfast for the couple, and they headed to the airport for their honeymoon. My mom and the bride's mom were visiting later, and the bride's mom mentioned she's glad my mom had no hard feelings that her daughter and my brother would no longer be coming out to the ranch. My mom's jaw dropped.
She was like, “What do you mean?” Bride's mom said, “Oh, I thought ‘Laura’ told you that having the wedding here was her gift to you to have your son home one last time with all his family here.” My mom went as white as a sheet. We all were stunned. We were confused as to whether my brother knew this, and more importantly, had agreed to it.
My other brother texted our big bro saying, "Is it true that this is your last time visiting mom and dad?" And big bro texted back, “What are you talking about?” Middle bro said, "Ask your new wife." Needless to say, the honeymoon never happened. It turned out that his wife had been hiding her belief that that a man leaves his family behind and becomes part of the woman's family.
It was fully her intent to never visit my parents again, to spend all holidays at her parents' home, to have any future children only have relationships with her family, and on and on. My brother literally had no idea these were her beliefs/desires. To this day, I don't know if she was evil or just clueless. They remained married for about a month until the divorce was final, but my bro never saw her again after the day-after-wedding-day.
46. Thoughts And Prayers To This Family
His dad was a very old-school pastor and his mom was a very timid, religious nut job hoarder. I was only allowed in his parents’ house one time—when I had to use their bathroom before a road trip. When I went in, you couldn’t see the floor or countertops because everything was covered in junk. The worst part was that all of the kids grew up knowing they had to lie to their parents about everything.
For example, the kids weren’t allowed to live with their partners before marriage, so all of the older children rented apartments that they never actually lived in just so they could live with their significant others. The kids weren’t even allowed to go on dates with their significant others alone. They had to lie and say one of their siblings would be going with them.
Oh, and the parents forced one of the siblings to stay with her abusive husband because they didn’t believe in divorce. Meanwhile, they just all acted as he’d never beaten her within an inch of her life, multiple times. Dodged a bullet getting out of that family for sure.
47. Two Is a Marriage, Mom Is a Crowd
Not me, but a friend my mum has divorced her husband because his mother still coddled him at age 40, with his consent. They lived with his mother. By coddle, I mean that she would walk straight into their room after his shower and powder his back for him. They couldn’t lock their bedroom door because his mother would come in as and when she wanted.
If they locked the door, she would knock repeatedly asking what they were doing. What would they be possibly doing??? Playing poker???
48. Let It All Hang Out
My first girlfriend when I was 20 was a “character,” but her family was on another level. The first time I met her aunt, she came to the door in a very sheer bra and panties, then hung out with us like that for a couple of hours. She never put any clothes on. Nobody else seemed bothered by this either. I should have realized that was just the start.
Later, I saw her aunt and uncle naked in her backyard, basically getting it on by the pool while my girlfriend’s mom snapped photos. I could go on, but I think this is enough information to convey how crazy these people truly were.
49. Two Against One
Mary and her twin sister Susan came from a conservative and sheltered family. I was Mary's first boyfriend. Mary wasn't going to school because it was summer break. She also wasn't working. When I first started going out with Mary, Susan would text her nonstop. Susan would make up excuses that her stomach hurts and ask Mary to come home.
I tried to talk to Susan and she made it seem like I was stealing Mary away from her. I made a compromise with Mary to see her at least once a week. I was making time for Mary even though I was working full time while she had no job/school. In the end, Susan's jealously made it impossible for Mary and me to develop any kind of healthy relationship.
They were both 23 at the time and would spend most of their time cosplaying. The weirdest part was they would often dress as the couples in the anime and even Photoshop themselves kissing/making out. So, yeah, I was attracted to Mary's kindness, since she was actually a really caring person. But it turns out there was a reason why they both never dated.
50. Bubbling To The Surface
I was visiting my boyfriend in a different state once and he got into a fight with his brother where they almost came to blows. His brother walked past me after the fight and I was actually worried that he was going to hit me for just being there. It was the first time I'd ever been in a situation like that. Never again. Also, his mother and stepdad were there the whole time, but they said and did nothing.
They were just passively letting the boys work it out. What a terrifying situation. Oh, and by the way, the argument was over soda. My boyfriend had apparently taken his brother's soda…What the heck. It’s like $5 for a 12-pack. Such a stupid argument. If I knew where anything was, I would have left and bought them both giant cases of soda to shut them both up.
51. Something Stinks
I have been with my boyfriend for over a year and everything has been great—except for one thing. Every single day, at least once, he will tell me that I stink and smell of B.O. When we met, I showered every day, applied regular deodorant in the morning, brushed my teeth three times a day. Now I am so paranoid about smelling bad that I shower at least twice a day.
I also apply new industrial-strength deodorant every few hours (I have a reminder on my phone), perfume, and I brush my teeth anytime I eat or drink something that isn’t water. I feel like I’m going crazy. I didn’t think I smelled bad in the beginning and I don’t think I smell bad now, but I obviously smell bad to him, right?
I’m that weirdo who keeps “sneakily” smelling their own armpits. I have been to the doctor and he has said there is nothing medically wrong. It has honestly gotten to the point where I literally shove my armpit in friends’ faces, asking if I smell bad. They all say I don’t smell like B.O. at all. One friend even said I smelled too clean, like a lush store.
I am getting so paranoid. He won’t cuddle or anything when he says I smell. Then something unexpected happened. I waited for him to make a comment this morning so I could talk to him. It was less than an hour after waking up that he said “god you stink,” even though I had already showered and put on deodorant. I snapped and asked what exactly was he smelling because, at this point I’m one of the cleanest people on the planet.
I said if I still smell bad to him, then we should just break up. He got all panicked and upset, and he made a mind-blowing confession. I eventually got it out of him that this is what his father always said to his mother. Apparently, his father told him that it was a sure-fire technique to have a woman never leave you because “she will feel too low to cheat, will love only you, and will always be clean.”
Needless to say, his father is wrong. He’s packing his things and moving out of my house today.
52. Mommy’s Little Boy
My first boyfriend. He was a momma's boy, but his mom liked his older brother more and made it blatantly obvious. On his 21st birthday, she rented us all a limo to bar hop, and she insisted on going with us. At 1 am, we are all properly sloshed, and she went on a rant about how my boyfriend was a piece of trash for having more fun than her.
She started talking about how he isn't half the man his older brother is. Apparently, since she rented the limo, she should be the one having the most fun, and since she wasn't, it was all his fault. She proceeded to throw empties at the two of us, then pulled the limo over and made everyone get out with the exception of her and the older brother. She drove away, leaving us on the side of the road in a bad part of town at 1 am.
What a super fun way to end your 21st birthday, right? Basically, every single night at her home ended in something similar, with her berating my boyfriend and comparing the two brothers. The worst part is, he'd always make excuses for her. I tried to get him to distance himself, but when she found out, she was so angry that she went to my work and caused a huge scene.
I worked in a high-end boutique hotel, so they fired me the next day. I broke up with him shortly after. He was actually a nice guy, and surprisingly, so was the older brother. I have no idea why they put up with her.
53. Blood Under The Bridge
When I was 23 (five years ago), I was engaged to Ryan. Our engagement ended when my stepsister Kelly begged me to leave him. Her reason why was disturbing. It was because she slept with him and they loved each other, but Ryan was too afraid to break up with me because he didn’t want to hurt me or my family. When I confronted Ryan about it, he denied it.
He said Kelly had been trying to come on to him for some time and he never mentioned it because he didn’t want to ruin our relationship. He begged me not to believe her, and so we continued how we were. Kelly grew resentful and made nasty comments about how I was forcing a man who didn’t even love me to marry me because I had low self-esteem.
A month later, she sent me a video that ruined my life. It was of them getting it on in my bed, and multiple screenshots of him telling her he loved her, how he wished she was the girl he was marrying, how he hated that I wouldn’t let them be together. I was devastated and angry, but my best friend convinced me not to go nuclear on them.
Instead, I quietly moved out when Ryan was at work the next week. I contacted my dad and my stepmom and asked them if I could move in temporarily. I removed the money I had contributed into our joint account for wedding expenses and transferred the rest to him before closing the account. Once I got settled in, I sent all of the screenshots she sent me to all of our relatives and his.
Ryan tried to get back together with me multiple times, but I ended up blocking him after I found out even worse news. I discovered he had proposed to her with the same ring he gave me. Now, Kelly is my stepsister from my mom’s side. I have another stepsister and stepbrother from my mom’s second marriage, as well as a half-sister.
They all went to the wedding. Whenever I tried to express that I was hurt by the fact they were just supporting Kelly/Ryan as though what they did to me meant nothing, they would shrug it off and say they couldn’t cut them off completely because they were family. I haven’t spent a single holiday with my mom’s side since, and neither has my older biological brother or sister.
I only see my mom and half-sister when I invite them over to my place, as Kelly/Ryan moved in with my mom and my stepdad a year after they got married. Our relationship is very rocky, but I’ve grown closer to my dad/stepmom and their children, who have all been very supportive since this all happened, so it’s not all been bad. But fate just dealt me another curveball.
On New Year’s Day, my boyfriend (now husband) proposed to me. We had a small engagement party, which I invited my mom and half-sister to. They never turned up because I was “excluding half of our family.” I never invited my stepdad or stepsiblings because they were pretty hurtful when it came out that Kelly/Ryan were sleeping together.
They claimed it wasn’t their fault I got in the way of “true love” and made me out to be some sort of vindictive Disney villain for being angry with them. We were planning to have our wedding ceremony this summer, but in late February my husband suggested we postpone it until next year. I ended up finding out I was pregnant a month before our original wedding date, so we had a courthouse wedding on that date with the plan to hold the ceremony next year.
Only my dad’s side of the family were aware of both the pregnancy and the wedding. My stepmom likes to knit, so she’s been making some stuff for the baby. Recently, she posted about the things she had made on Facebook with a caption talking about how excited she was to have another grandchild soon. I was tagged in the post.
I have zero issues with the post. I never told my family I wasn’t going to inform my mom’s side. It wasn’t that I intentionally hid it from her, she just never seemed very interested in my life/relationship so I never brought it up. My mom called me an hour later to demand to know if I was pregnant and how she couldn’t believe I hadn’t told her she was finally going to be a grandmother.
She has since invited me and my husband over to her house multiple times. I’ve declined every single time for the obvious reason. My stepdad, who I’ve barely spoken to in 5 years, has reached out to tell me how excited he is to meet the baby and my husband, same with my siblings. Even Kelly reached out to my husband to congratulate us. I was furious.
The next time my mom and stepdad called me, I finally laid into them. I told them I didn’t want them to keep inviting me over when they knew I would be forced to see Kelly/Ryan if I came. I told them how hurt and angry I still am over what they did to me and how my “family” dismissed my feelings. I told them how they wouldn’t throw Kelly/Ryan away, but they were so quick to leave me out to rot.
All this while I was going through the worst betrayal I’d ever experienced in my life. I told them I wasn’t even sure I wanted people like them in my child’s life. My mom was crying and kept saying I was being cruel, and I couldn’t deprive her of her first grandchild. The thing is, my baby ISN’T her first grandchild. My sister has two adopted daughters already, who my mom doesn’t even try to bond with.
She kept wailing about how I might be the only person in our family to even give her grandchildren. My stepdad got angry and defensive. He claimed I was petty for holding onto something that happened five years ago. He pointed out how I had found someone else, so I should understand how love works and sometimes two people just can’t help themselves.
You love who you love, basically. He said Kelly/Ryan were happy together, so I should be happy for them the way they’re happy for me and my husband. The ironic thing is, my sister told me Kelly/Ryan looked like they were on the verge of divorce and they argue constantly. She says my siblings all hate him but pretend they like him for Kelly’s sake.
I ended up hanging up because I was so angry, and when I get angry, I start crying. I didn’t want them to think they got to me. Since then, I’ve been receiving texts and calls nonstop from my mom’s family. They’re all essentially telling me I should be over things already. It’s gotten to the point where my husband and I have switched phones so he can screen my messages for me, and I don’t have to read them.
54. Let’s Get Down To Business
After 10 years of marriage, my father-in-law admitted that he never wanted a relationship with me and that if I had something to say to him, I had to go to my husband who would then decide whether or not to appeal to his dad. If he wasn't so serious, I would've laughed. He said that I dishonored him. In all honesty, all I could think of was that darn song from Mulan.
55. Family Feud
I have agreed to carry my sister’s baby for her, as she is unable herself and lacks the financial resources to pay a surrogate. I am happy to do this…or at least I was. The baby is biologically my sister’s and my brother-in-law’s. This child is made from her last and only viable egg. They had tried many times before, but they all failed.
So I am 6 months along at the moment and I met a lovely man recently and we are in the early stages of a relationship. He knows about my situation and is very accepting and considerate. Before agreeing to carry their baby, we had some firm rules in place. They asked me to stay away from any bedroom contact with men.
I agreed and I really didn’t mind, nor do I mind it right now. The agreement was no bedroom intimacy of any kind, and I have not done anything with anyone, as was agreed. But this is where it started to unravel. A few days ago, I introduced my new boyfriend to my sister and brother-in-law, and at first everything was great.
They invited us for dinner last Saturday, we had a great meal and a great time together. They all seemed to get along—that is, until he had to leave. When my boyfriend had said his goodbyes, he then came over to me and hugged and kissed me. It was quite passionate but not in a vulgar way, nor was it for a long period, literally seconds.
As soon as he left, my sister and brother-in-law jumped down my throat. They were talking about how I broke the rules, and how disgusting and wicked I am. I genuinely was shocked, since I had not expected such a reaction for just getting a kiss. I decided not to argue or even get into a conversation with them and just walked home.
I live about a 30 minutes walk away, and by the time I got back home I had an email waiting for me. Its contents made my blood boil. The email contained our original agreement but now it included a section with “No kissing of any kind,” and they want me to sign the new agreement. I don’t want to sign it at all, not in the slightest.
I have been more than accommodating and considerate of all their original requests, and I feel like they are now crossing boundaries and acting as if I am some kind of farm animal they own and control. However, I don’t want to create any further animosity between us. They have been calling and texting me since then and I have yet to answer.
I understand their anxiety and worry from when we originally made the first agreement, and I viewed it and still view their initial request as acceptable. I wasn’t in a relationship at the beginning of all this and they were worried about potential STI, and I understood and I was already taking a break from men at the time. Still, I am doing this completely for free and without any reward other than helping my sister have her first and only biological child.
56. Getting The Full Picture
Her family’s disapproval put a huge strain on things. In general, her parents didn't really want her to date, and instead wanted her to focus on her coursework, which is reasonable given that we were in a pretty intensive program at the time. I think one of the issues was that my ex never brought me up, so it came as a surprise when I accidentally "met" her mom after she came to visit one time.
I say "met" because I didn't really meet her mom face-to-face. She was in another room when I came over to borrow something, and I made the mistake of trying to introduce myself; not knowing that she didn't know about me. Needless to say, she and my ex had a long conversation afterward about what was going on between us.
In hindsight, that's probably when my ex started pulling away, but in my ignorance, I didn't understand why—so I kept pushing and thinking I wasn't giving her enough attention. Long story short, things eventually ended.
57. Thou Shall Not Covet
My youngest brother has been staying with us. My wife and I have a 5-bedroom home but currently don't have children yet, so we let him stay here. My brother has always been...different. He's a bit of a loner and doesn't have a lot of friends outside of his online group. He's a shy, geeky kid but he's otherwise all right when you get to know him. Or so I thought.
So here's what happened. The wifi doesn't quite reach my brother's room, so he usually does his school work and other stuff in the dining room. A few nights ago, I was walking to the fridge after waking up in the middle of the night, and saw my brother working on something. As I got closer, my jaw dropped. I saw a very compromising picture of my wife; a cleavage shot as she was gardening.
He noticed me and quickly closed the window like he had something to feel guilty about. I was too shell-shocked to say anything at the time and he just smiled awkwardly and ran to his room with the laptop. When I realized that something was up, I knew I had to find out more. The next day, I asked my brother to pick up some groceries and some lunch for us.
While he was away, I went to his room and, well, it wasn't pretty. I saw a couple of my wife's bras and some of her panties, which I can only assume he used to pleasure himself. I took his laptop and screw it, decided to snoop. I knew his password, and it was there that I saw some of the most sickening entries I've read.
There were pictures of my wife in a towel, her working out, her in compromising positions, etc. All taken without her consent by the looks of it. The creepiest part? He sometimes listens in on us when we sleep together. My wife can be a bit loud, but we didn't think it would be a problem since his bedroom was in a different part of the house.
I left the room feeling like I needed a shower. It was absolutely disgusting. Now I don't know what to do. I find myself fighting the urge to pummel him into next week every time I see him. I haven't told my wife yet because I'm 100% sure she will feel violated and disgusted, so I want to find the best solution first before doing so.
I so desperately want to kick him out but he has nowhere else to go. Even if I do, what should I tell my parents? The truth? This will most likely break the family apart. I do plan on telling my wife soon but if I do, I can almost guarantee she would want nothing to do with him and would never want to visit the family if he's around.
I'm so lost right now. Still fighting the urge to beat my brother to a bloody pulp.
58. An Unfit Parent
Her mother took a loan from shady sharks in order to lend the money to her aunt at a higher rate. Her aunt then refused to pay the money back. Her mother decided to skip town and go into hiding, taking her 12-year-old sister out of school to go with her. My girlfriend was an adult and independent from her mother, but she went along with her out of loyalty.
Yes, she went with her into hiding. We were at a point in our relationship where marriage and having kids were part of the conversation, but I knew that her mother would have influence over our kids and I couldn't put them, or myself, in that spot.
59. Money Can’t Buy Class
My girlfriend and I have been together almost three years. 99% of the time, we're great. She's funny and smart and we have a lot of shared interests. But every time we visit her family, I start doubting everything. They are very wealthy, which by itself is not a bad thing, but they're also very fixated on being rich and have a habit of placing the monetary value of things (and people) over everything else.
I come from a very middle-class background. I have a good education and a decent career that I really enjoy, but I'm definitely not rich. Because of this, they view me as a loser. For example, yesterday we made the two-hour drive to her parents' in my new-ish Honda. When we got there, her mom immediately ordered me to park the car behind the house so the neighbors wouldn't see it.
She was furious we didn't bring my girlfriend’s Land Rover, which they bought for her as a birthday gift this year. The girlfriend doesn't like to drive on long trips and I'm not allowed to drive the Land Rover (per her parents) so we brought my Honda. Oh, but the plot thickens. My girlfriend’s dad has never spoken to me directly.
Even when she introduced me the first time, he turned to her and said, "What does he do?" So we went in the house and I gave her dad the usual, "Hi, merry Christmas" and he gave me the usual disinterested glance. One more example: Last year, I made the mistake of bringing a bottle of wine. It was a $25 bottle, which was pricey for me, and I even had the wine store lady help me pick it out.
My girlfriend’s mom told me to put it in the kitchen. They didn't open it while we were there, and she later admitted to my girlfriend that they'd re-gifted it to their housekeeper because it was "gas station hooch." We managed to get through the day yesterday without much drama except the car thing, which I'd normally consider a win.
But today I keep thinking about the whole situation with her family and wondering if I'm really willing to deal with these people for the rest of my life. My girlfriend and I have tossed around the possibility of getting married more than once, but I know they'll never accept me. If we get married, I'll have to see them a lot more than once a year.
My girlfriend has given up trying to defend me to her parents and just ignores them most of the time, but I can tell it bothers her, too. They bankroll a big chunk of her lifestyle and I think she's worried they'll cut her off if she pushes too hard—they've threatened to over other things. So am I wasting my time? Is this relationship doomed?
My girlfriend always tells me she doesn't care what her family thinks, but I'm not sure that's true. She always tries to downplay how mean they are to me. But I know I'll never be good enough for them, even if I'm good enough for her.
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60. Jumping Ship
I was with a girl for over two years. She was my most serious relationship at the time and I loved her with all my heart. Her family, however, was kind of...trash. They were a big family that all stayed together. I was over at their place quite often, which means I saw more than a few things that were very, very disturbing.
For example, the mother, who was morbidly obese, kept giving her obese daughter (who couldn't have been older than three years old) Pepsi in a baby bottle. Also, she complained about the fact that her child's pediatrician kept mentioning the child's weight. The kid looked like a baby that was inflated with a tube.
There was also a woman who married into the family who was nine months pregnant but still smoked regularly. When I pointed this out to my girlfriend, she chided me and said that her mother smoked while she was pregnant with her, yet she turned out fine. Meanwhile, my girlfriend was born very premature and without a sense of smell. Literally, she couldn't smell anything.
There were a few other issues as well, such as her dad being unable to handle money properly, resulting in him taking out multiple mortgage payments to pay for stuff they didn't need. When the time came to decide whether to take the next step or jump ship, I decided to jump ship. I haven’t looked back since.
61. The Cat’s Out Of The Bag
A month ago, my wife gave birth to a black baby girl. There’s one enormous problem with this. We're both white, so she was forced to admit that the child was a result of a one-night stand last year. I've started divorce proceedings, although we're still living together for now, partly for our two boys—aged 2 and 4, I've had paternity tests for them and they came back positive.
Naturally, I have no ill will towards the baby, but my family members do. What really worries me is that my two sons might pick up on these narratives. They're too young to really understand what's happening now, but I'm worried that as they grow to understand the situation that they might grow to resent their half-sister for "breaking up their parents' marriage."
62. I Ain’t Saying She’s A Gold Digger
I broke off an engagement because his family was convinced I was a gold digger. They talked my fiancé into “testing” my intentions by telling me that he didn’t want my name on his house deed once we got married. They sure expected me to help pay the mortgage, though. I would have stayed with him if he’d just told them to screw off. He didn’t.
I hated that house anyway and I would have been perfectly happy if he’d sold it so we could buy something smaller together. His parents’ house shared a yard with his property too, but I was willing to live there with him because I loved him. When he pulled that stuff, I noped out.
63. Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace
My parents objected to my sister marrying the guy who is now her husband. They treated her very badly because of it. They also showed up in a visibly sour mood to her wedding. They never to this day apologized for their bad behavior. My sister and her husband have been happily married for eight years now. It still bothers me very much to remember the way they treated her back then.
Parents, if your adult daughter wants to do something that you disagree with, then by all means let her know you think it's a mistake. But when she makes a decision, your job is to support her in that decision. Not to repeatedly harp on her about it and make her hate you for the rest of her life. That doesn’t do anyone any good.
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64. Mommy And Me Time
He had expressed to me that his mom was "crazy," but I didn't fully understand the extent of the horror. So when she invited me out for fast food, I went. After our dinner date was over, I went to throw out my paper cup, and she started to scream at me, stating that I could have kept using it. He then later told me that his mom was a hoarder.
Again, I didn't think much of it, until one day, he invited me over to his mother's place...Well, it was exactly like the TV show about hoarders depicts. It was strange because my boyfriend didn't feel a sense of shame. He was clearly over his mother’s issues and she didn't even seem to bat an eye when I came over. She didn't even apologize for the hoarding.
Better yet, she didn't have a job, so she was living in the basement that her ex-husband owned. She also rented out the top floor, but I don't think to this day the renters know how much of a rat’s nest the downstairs apartment is. I didn't end up breaking up with him over that, however. What ended our relationship was much, much worse than that.
I had the last straw when he accidentally sent a voice clip of his mom to me, saying how much of a big. strong man he is and how she wanted cuddles.
He also called him by his father's name, which was worse. Before I broke up with him, I confronted him about what I heard, and he told me that, "My mother always loves to have mommy time."
I jokingly asked how long he was breastfed, and he told me until he was nine...even though there was no milk coming out by then. I haven't told anyone this story because I am frankly ashamed that I slept with someone who probably sleeps with his mom.
65. Animal House, Literally!
The first time that I went over to my girlfriend’s house, I had no reason to suspect that anything was strange about her or her family. On the surface, they seemed completely normal. That is, until I noticed that they had installed a doggy door in their living room, despite not owning a dog or any other pet. When I asked why they had this, I was informed that it was to encourage raccoons to come into the house, because my girlfriend’s family found it fun to feed them.
They apparently did so on a regular basis. As weird and crazy as this sounds, they were all completely serious and very nonchalant about it while explaining it to me.
66. Miss Independence
Dumping me was the best thing my ex ever did for me because his family was absolutely horrible. They voted that I was too snobby to join them in marriage. They didn't understand why I took offense when they demanded I clean his apartment because it was getting messy. Did I mention I didn't even live there? They also wanted to know why I let him sign a lease with a slum lord.
He was 27 and old enough to decide for himself. Oh, and the mother got angry because I was the one who drove. He didn't own a car.
67. Monster-in-Law
According to my mother-in-law, I was the bridezilla. We had a maximum limit of 36 people, including ourselves and my son. My mother-in-law gave me a guest list that included—you guessed it—36 names. She assured me that not everyone would come, but that they would be very appreciative of the invite. I felt totally grossed out.
Still, I left the decision up to my husband, since it was his family after all. Needless to say, they all got invites. Then, I had asked for RSVPs to be given a few months before the wedding. Since the mother-in-law had used up all of the room on the guest list, I had to reduce my side to four people, with some on hold until I knew the exact numbers. I was starting to come to terms with it, but then she did something that made me absolutely livid.
I finally lost it two weeks before the wedding when I still didn’t have RSVPs. She said she would work on it and get back to me. A week before the wedding, she outdid herself in the worst way possible. She said one family also needed to bring nine other people because they were going on a family trip and our town was on the way so they would all be here anyway.
I flat out said no and called her out. I cut off the guest list and said that I was inviting the rest of my guest list and whoever hadn’t RSVP’d wouldn’t get a chair or plate. Right up to the day of the wedding, they were making changes. We got married at a Chinese buffet so that it would be the simplest planning and everyone would have something that they liked to eat.
My dress was $40 off Amazon. My flowers were $20 from Costco. We had a Dairy Queen ice cream cake for the wedding cake. Yet she still makes it out that I was the bridezilla.
68. The American Dream
I’m 33 and my husband is 35. We have been happily together for 13 years and we don’t want any children. My father-in-law, however, is desperate for grandkids. He said behind my back to another family member how he is afraid his son will leave me because I won’t give him a child. He also told me he has daydreamed about my telling him I’m pregnant. Freaking weird.
69. Sorry Not Sorry
The last straw in my relationship began when my boyfriend’s brother was being rude to me at the dinner table, to which I politely responded, “I’m not sure I agree with what you’re saying, let’s just leave it there.” His entire family's response was insane. The brother then stormed off in anger and I was banished from the house until I agreed to apologize to their father and all of their brothers for “disrespecting” a man in their home.
My boyfriend told me that I had to do this in order to be forgiven. I didn’t want to, so he ambushed me on Valentine’s Day (4 months later). He told me that we would be having a "special night in" and then locked me in a room with his brother until I apologized. I apologized just so that I could get the heck out of that room (and that relationship) as quickly as possible.
70. Wheeling And Dealing
My ex’s dad expected her to drop everything and come help him with random stuff concerning his shady contracting business. It would always be something like, "I forgot my tools, go grab them at the shop and bring them here." But the worst I remember when he didn't have a spare tire for his work truck, so he wanted my ex to drive to his warehouse, then drive the almost five hours up to Tallahassee to deliver a spare to him.
And that's not even the worst part. Nine times out of 10, she would do it. It didn't matter what she had planned—she was expected to drop everything and help him. Like, I get it; she was raised around his business, but almost everything he would call her about could be easily fixed by some freaking foresight...like keeping the darn spare tire with your work truck or getting Triple-A on it.
71. No Trespassing
She was out of town for a week with her mother, and her last paycheck was coming in from the job she'd just gotten fired from. She asked me to go to their house and check on her cat, as well as look to see if the check had come in the mail yet. I find the cat, snap a pic, and check the mailbox. Nothing there. Alright, whatever, I guess I'll leave.
Then, her grandmother sees me from across the street—yes, she owned the house across the street from the family. She says it's cool if I go in the house since they know me by this point. Okay, cool. I'll just see if it came recently, and her dad had picked it out of the mailbox. Nope, not in the pile in the living room. Okay. Whatever. I leave.
Two days later, I get a text about how her family is freaking out because somebody went into the house. I ask why they freak out since I went in the house and her family knew I did. Cue freaking out and accusing me of abusing their trust to break in while they're gone. Even though I had permission…
A week passes, the whole while I'm getting constant texts about how I'm a piece of trash for not respecting their privacy, and that her dad had video of me going into the room where they kept their guns—even though I had no idea at the time they even HAD such a room. Also, claiming that I never had permission to enter. After a week of this, she FINALLY asks her grandma, who confirms my story that I've been saying the whole time.
And then she expects me to act like nothing happened. I was afraid I was going to get thrown in jail for a false claim when I was trying to be a good boyfriend! I tried to keep going, but I quickly realized that over that week I'd lost all sense of love and trust I felt for her. So I broke it off.
72. Throw These Men In The Trash
His family was part of the reason why I broke up with my high school boyfriend—twice. His dad asked me to sit on his lap, and his brother told me I had a nice rack in front of his wife when I was 14. I stopped wearing swimsuits at their house, and I hated going to any family functions with him because his dad and brother were so gross.
73. Parental Discretion
In my experience, this one bride’s family was the worst I ever dealt with. She was marrying an Australian guy and her family made it immediately clear that they didn't want her marrying a foreigner. They even brought in an ex-boyfriend to try to seduce her before the wedding. It was ironic, because the ex looked like a barely 5'6” tall while the groom was easily 6'6” tall and looked like some kind of Greek warrior.
The worst part was that this wedding was just a formality because they actually got married in Australia. The whole point of this wedding ceremony was to make her parents happy, and the groom was even paying for most of it as a gesture of goodwill—yet her family was the reason it was a disaster. I felt pretty bad for the bride.
74. Not-So Picture Perfect
Her family absolutely hated her. She was the third child. The first daughter was a math genius and was off in Europe teaching at some fancy university. Her brother was a recently graduated chef who, along with his girlfriend, was on the verge of opening a fancy restaurant. Her father was also quite skilled in math and worked as a teacher at our university.
Her mother was a housewife. They, along with the rest of the extended family, worked together on their own fruit and vegetable import enterprise. And yet, over and over again, they would treat her like garbage little chance they got, especially because of her looks.
She was a little overweight; her only "flaw" to be honest. They would compare her to her hot cousins, to her successful brother and sister who already had their lives figured out, and they also held her responsible for things that went wrong in the family business when they knew full well she was studying AND working as a teacher part-time.
It was awful to be around them as it felt like they were trying to make us both feel horrible. For me, it got the impression that they were thinking, "Wow, of course our good-for-nothing daughter would end up with a loser like YOU."
75. Marry The Monster You Know
Yes. A coworker. She was constantly telling us stories that made it clear that the guy she was marrying was emotionally and verbally abusive. She would dread him coming to pick her up. I’m not the only one who told her not to go through with it. Sadly, it sounded like her father was also really emotionally abusive and critical, so she’d grown up with that kind of behavior being normalized.
They are thankfully divorced now. It was pretty ugly, but she seems a lot happier.
76. Give Me Just One Reason
So, the last girl I dated wanted to introduce me to her family after New Year’s break when I had gone home to see my family. I was nervous, but I really liked this girl, so I wanted to go. They were really cool, despite some peculiarities. I genuinely thought they were great...until they suddenly weren't.
Well, the next time we met up for her sister’s 50th birthday, I got the tour of their home and was shown the father's bedroom in the basement, which was separate from the mother's. They started to explain why, but I replied by saying that I didn’t need to know and that I wasn’t going to judge them for being a little unorthodox.
Well, apparently this didn't sit well with my girlfriend and it turned into this whole argument. Eventually, she called it off…I just still do not understand what was going on there? I was very honest and open with my opinion on the matter when asked, but somehow it wasn't correct?
77. Partners in Crime But Not In Life
My cousin and her husband had a pretty lavish wedding, one that seems like it should have been out of their price range. Husbands grandparents are wealthy, so the assumption was that they had paid for it. Well, a couple of months go by and on Facebook, they are posting about their new Maserati they bought. My cousin is a college student, and her husband is in “sales.”
After that, they bought a brand-new Mercedes and a yacht. Well turns out they had been running a Ponzi scheme and had defrauded people out of more than a million dollars. After they got caught, they turned on each other. Husband got nine years in federal prison, and my cousin got two years. Oh, and she gave birth to their child in prison.
Both of them are disgusting human beings so I’d hoped for more time behind bars.
78. Thank You, Next
He broke up with me and I made the choice to walk away entirely after that, despite him asking us to give it another go a few months later. His family is extremely toxic, co-dependent, and his mother is a straight-up cancer to his life. They would never, ever, ever apologize for the things they did to me.
When he tried crawling back to me, I said no. I had already healed and moved on with my life by then anyway. I loved that man and wanted forever with him, but I refused to live my whole life with people who were willing to cause great mental harm to me and my child for the mere sin of establishing boundaries. Get some therapy, people.
79. The Wrong Thing To Say
My mom had borderline personality disorder and was shot point-blank by her brother 10 years ago. While having a fight with my then-boyfriend, he blurted some something I'll never be able to forgive him for: "If your mother was half as freakin’ crazy as you, maybe she deserved what she got!" That was the end of that relationship. I knew I'd never be able to look at him the same again after that remark. Yup, toxic all around.
80. Not In The Cards
One of the reasons I broke up with my first serious boyfriend was because of his family. He came from an Indian (Hindu) background and didn’t want his parents to know he was dating a white girl. I once sent him a birthday card. His mother found it and apparently freaked the heck out. After two years, I didn’t want to be a part of that anymore.
81. Anxiously Awaiting Her Return
My ex had severe anxiety due to his parents’ divorce, and wouldn’t allow me to hang around other guys even in a group setting. I dealt with it for 3 years because I loved him so much. I eventually ended it after my best friend graduated and I was told that I wasn’t allowed to go say goodbye to him before he left for college. I did it anyway, and came back to find my boyfriend having the worst panic attack I have ever seen in my entire life.
It’s been 5 years now since we decided to stop dating. We’re still great friends to this day. I never stopped feeling that he was a great guy. He just needed help and refused to get it, which I couldn’t handle dealing with.
82. High Rollers
Her mother wanted her to be nothing short of a celebrity. She wanted her to have a BMW Series 7 to drive, at the minimum. Oh, and she needed to have a work visa as soon as she landed in the US. I paid business class for five of them to visit just so they could basically measure me up.
Eventually, I said no even though I loved her since my college days.
83. My Way Or The Highway
My mother-in-law was a momzilla. My wife wanted a regular-sized wedding—nothing fancy, just a cozy celebration at a historic venue she loved. We had planned for about 100 guests at most, and we planned to do a lot of the work. Suddenly, my mother-in-law started to pressure us about having to invite tons of people, since she’s loaded and a social butterfly.
She also wanted us to change the venue, the photographer, etc. I didn’t care since I just wanted to make my wife happy. I did my best to adjust. Then, one day, about two months before the wedding, my wife had a breakdown crying because of all the changes from her mom. That's when I had enough. I told my wife I would handle her from now on.
I called her up and read her the riot act, telling her to cool it or we would just get a courtroom wedding and forget about the religious wedding, which was a huge deal to the family. She fought me for weeks. The whole family fought me. I told them all to pound sand. We had our original wedding; I was folding invitations and favors the night before until 3 am, but by heck we got it done.
Of course, my mother-in-law still changed the DJ and photographers without me knowing, so we had completely wrong music, and we have yet to see the pictures (16 years later). To this day, we have minimal contact with the family.
84. Mind Games
Her family is prominent in psychology, so a large part of their interactions involved trying to diagnose each other and those who came into their lives. It also didn't help that the parents had seemingly been running up a tally on how much it costs to send their kids to college and raise them. They even tried to leverage a $300,000 balance for repayment when they graduated.
Oh, but that balance was only a front to motivate their children to become financially independent and marry into money. Not only did I have to think about how we were compatible, but I was also seriously having to consider taking responsibility for paying their parents $300,000 if I wanted to marry them. I honestly wanted nothing to do with their family as a whole.
85. They’re People With Values
My girlfriend’s parents demanded that I buy a house before we could get married. The funny thing was that I already owned an apartment, but the value ($400k) was not quite as much as the value of the house she owned ($600k)—so, her parents being the snobs that they were, I had to get a house of at least equal value to hers in order to even our assets out. Unfortunately, she decided she would side with her parents over me on this one, even after I pointed out the absurdity of it.
And that was the end of that!
86. Double Standards
My ex's parents are strict Christians; so strict that the women only wear long skirts and always have their hair in braids. They also don't use makeup or have any tattoos, piercings, or jewelry. One time, we were in his room and were just going to get something when his mother rushed in. She did not know that her son had a partner, so when she saw me and looked at my clothes (which that day happened to be a maxi skirt with the slightest bit of belly visible), she yelled at us in Russian.
We quickly got out and I went home. His mother, however, found out my mother's phone number and complained about me. Apparently, I was the tar who drove her son into sins. Funny, since he had already been cheating on me for about two months.
87. You Can’t Choose Your Family
I had a momzilla; my mother-in-law. She had insisted that she was a "traditionalist, so since I was marrying her daughter, she said she would be paying for the whole deal. That was fine with my wife, so it was fine with me. My mother-in-law took no further role in the planning process. Then, very late in the game—after 18 months of planning—my wife sent her the seating plan just to make sure it would be workable.
After what sounded like a robust discussion over the phone, my wife came to me and told me that her mother wasn't happy with the seating plan. She was demanding that she sit at the bridal table, or she'd pull her money. I called my mother-in-law back and asked her to explain the problem to me. She got very emotional, ranting about how it was the "tradition" she wanted to follow.
She was threatening to withdraw her money if she didn't have her way. I took a second to consider my options and told her that it was fine—fortunately, a seat at the bridal table had just opened up. But then I continued with a slam dunk. I said that spot was mine, and I wouldn't be needing it. I then hung up the phone and handed it back to my wife. On the day of the wedding, my mother-in-law sat where she was told.
88. Rain Check On Decency
I knew my family was toxic when none of them showed up to our youngest child’s third birthday party. Oh, but it gets worse. We had this planned for about a month and a half; you have to when you have three kids and crazy lives. Less than three weeks out, my mom decides to go on a mini-vacation to Florida for three days and asked us to move the whole party.
Her husband, my stepdad, decided that since she wasn’t going to the party, he didn’t have to either. Meanwhile, one of my brothers decided to go on a kayaking trip because he felt no obligation since my mom and stepdad weren’t going. Our youngest brother is the only one with a legitimate excuse because he had work that weekend.
So, the day of the party, everyone’s asking, “Where is your family?” This is both friends and my wife’s family, who I love dearly. For the first time, I didn’t hold back and said, “Because they’re toxic and too self-absorbed.” This was definitely one of those last straw situations. My wife and I were married young, and to be honest, my in-laws have been my parents ever since then.
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89. Discounted Opinion
I was helping a friend plan her wedding. We literally had everything planned, had called in favors with friends to do everything at cost, and she had personally asked my mom to officiate. This was going to be gorgeous. She was in on the entire thing, as she should be.
Then, her in-laws got involved and she started saying yes to everything they were asking without telling me. They started asking me to get my friends to do it all for free or give them a bigger deal than just cost. When I pushed back on the price, suddenly I was making her wedding all about me and being made out to be a nutjob.
90. Thoughts And Prayers To This Family
His dad was a very old-school pastor and his mom was a very timid, religious nut job hoarder. I was only allowed in his parents’ house one time—when I had to use their bathroom before a road trip. When I went in, you couldn’t see the floor or countertops because everything was covered in junk. The worst part was that all of the kids grew up knowing they had to lie to their parents about everything.
For example, the kids weren’t allowed to live with their partners before marriage, so all of the older children rented apartments that they never actually lived in just so they could live with their significant others. The kids weren’t even allowed to go on dates with their significant others alone. They had to lie and say one of their siblings would be going with them.
Oh, and the parents forced one of the siblings to stay with her abusive husband because they didn’t believe in divorce. Meanwhile, they just all acted as he’d never beaten her within an inch of her life, multiple times. Dodged a bullet getting out of that family for sure.
91. Digital Addiction
My high school girlfriend’s family didn’t have a TV in the living room. No big deal right? Yeah. No sofa either. Or recliner. Or coffee table. Just four computer desks, one in each corner of the room, each facing the wall, and each with their own computer and two monitors. I asked her about them when we got to her room.
She said they get on their computers and talk to friends and...each other. In a chat room on the computer, with no one ever saying a word out loud. And true enough, her mom, dad, and brother were on the PCs from after school until 10 pm, when I left. I was convinced we could’ve got it on all day and they never would’ve noticed.
92. Prom Date Quiz
When I was a freshman, I made a lot of friends that were upperclassmen. At the end of the year, I got invited to go to prom. My parents made my date (who was just a friend) come over two weeks before prom. They asked him every question imaginable. They got his phone number, home number, email, the works. He was super chill about it, but it was brutally embarrassing.
93. Take A Chill Pill
A couple I knew were getting hitched and I had no warning that his mom was totally crazy. She rolls up to rehearsal late and proceeds to be inappropriate at dinner. I have to escort her out. The next day she cancels most of the guests and catering in protest, then eventually assaults the bride’s dad, who was dying of cancer. Cops got called and the venue tried to sue me over it.
94. Diary Dabbles
I kept a diary during high school, and one day my mom found it, and read it. From reading my diary, she learned that I had recently lost my virginity to my boyfriend. She freaked out so much that she called my school principal and accused my boyfriend of assaulting me. She did a lot of crazy things, but that one was the scariest by far.
95. Tough Crowd
The groom at this wedding had been married before and his best man was his older brother, who had served as best man in his previous wedding as well. He began his speech with “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back! Same occasion, different lady.” That was bad enough. Then he ended with “Cheers, and I’ll see you all again at the next one!”
Both bride and groom were both understandably furious and asked the best man to leave.
96. You’re Cooked
My girlfriend and I have been together since around March 2019. I love her with all my heart—but an issue has just arisen. Her grandfather is coming to dinner, and he is a Michelin Star cook, and said I would cook something. So, yes, I am a 21-year-old man, but look, I just cannot cook. Sure, I can make something like very basic pasta, a boiled egg, etc.
However, I absolutely cannot make anything where you have to prepare multiple ingredients. When I cook, the food is either done or it’s not done. I have no experience with "doneness." I do have my redeeming skills, but cooking is just not one of them. I have tried following recipes word for word, but just have had no luck.
My girlfriend and I are both rising seniors in college, and I have my own apartment near campus where we will be meeting for dinner. When I agreed to make something, I thought I could just mess around with something because I didn’t know the details. But then when I mentioned it to my girlfriend’s brother, who I'm friends with, he told me that their grandfather was awarded a Michelin Star some time ago.
I asked my girlfriend why she didn't tell me, and she said she didn't want me to freak out. I never cook in college. I've always just relied on dining hall/eating out/Uber Eats. I don't even have dishes! The only thing I can possibly think of is that I know a fair bit about wine, so I could definitely get something good on that end.
I really, really don’t know what I'm supposed to do. I feel like my options are: Push as hard as I can for eating out, or pull a Seymour and buy takeout from a steakhouse or something and pass it off as my own cooking. I'm sorry if I sound like I'm panicking. I just love this girl so much, and I don't want to leave a bad impression on someone she's very close with.
I talked about it with a close friend, and we want to try a test run. If the test fails, then we’ll have to just accept that I will have to say something. So the plan we thought of would go like this: I will invite a professor (who’d we’d let in on the plan) and a friend of his who is a foodie for dinner at my place with my friend under the guise that I just want to test my cooking.
We’ll order takeout from a top nearby steakhouse, and keep it under heat lamps so that they 1) stay warm and 2) maybe slightly decrease in quality to make it more believable. I’d also have to buy some cheap steak and just throw it on my stove to get the “smell” in the air and have dirty cooking dishes. I’d also have to memorize the recipe for a steak, and watch some YouTube videos to understand the nuances of jargon and cooking.
Then we see if it works. I also have decent enough experience with wine (mostly red though not white) to be able to properly taste and describe without having to fake it. If that doesn’t work, Plan B would be to straight-up tell him I’m not very experienced, and maybe ask if he can give a demonstration of some dish from his restaurant, and I’d happily pay for whatever ingredients.
He’s coming all the way from France. I’m a big fan of Kitchen Nightmares and keep imagining this is going to be like Gordon Ramsay or something like that.
97. Ring Around the Rosie
My great grandmother gifted me her wedding ring to propose to my now wife. Back when I was a little kid, she gave it to my mom to give to me one day. I had waited and dreamed about that perfect proposal for my entire life. I had not yet proposed to my girlfriend when my mom just abruptly handed her the rings and explained what they were and what I was planning on doing with them. I was devastated.
I hadn’t even proposed yet! She completely ruined my lifelong plan, the surprise, the build up, etc. I’m still very sad to this day that this moment was ruined for us like that.
98. The Pains Of Being Pure
My fiancé proposed to me about eight months ago. We decided on having a relatively small wedding, which is in two days. Everything was going great. He seems absolutely perfect and we are very much in love. I am a virgin and so is he; he wanted to save it for marriage and I wasn't fussed, so I agreed to saving it, too.
He has told me before this that in his family, the father checks the virginity of the bride the night before the wedding. I laughed this off as it seriously sounded like a massive joke. I was so, so wrong. He was super serious. He wants me, the night before, to open my legs up in a small ceremony-type thing so his dad can check me while he, his brothers, and uncle can watch so that they know I am still “pure.”
I told him fat chance I am going to do that, and he was begging to me to go through with it and saying how important it is for him. He said he knew it was slightly embarrassing for me but his mom did and it will prove how much I love him and that I have nothing to hide anyway, as I am still a virgin. I left and he was crying, it was very dramatic.
So I went and talked to him this morning I told him that his father is not going to look at me and he needs to respect that. He was adamant that it needs to happen, and then it got more brutal. He accused me of lying about my virginity. I was trying to be calm and rational, but he was not having it and just became more and more angry.
I told him if he really loved me, he would stand by me on this and tell his father no. Instead, he slapped me and said he didn’t need to prove anything. So I ended it and left him. I am currently at my friend’s house being miserable and eating pizza, which at least is pretty fun. Either way, I can’t help but think that I dodged a bullet on this on.
99. Talking Smack in Three Languages
A friend of mine divorced his then-wife because she would only speak French when her family would come over. She was Spanish, as was her family. Her family spoke English, French, and Spanish, and he could only speak Spanish and English. I guess she got bored of being married to him, and her family basically talked smack about him while he was there.
It was only when he recorded a conversation while they were there and got it translated, that he found out what was going on.
100. Welcome To “The Family”
My first girlfriend was a nice Italian girl whose family drove me crazy. I'm a white-bread Canadian; what one might call a "mangia cake," so that was the first strike against me in their eyes. Her mother treated me well, but the dad always looked at me as if I wore my shoes in the house or something. The first time I had dinner at their house, he went into a whole speech about the etymology of the word "wap," unbidden by anything I had said or done.
Oh, and we had to take her younger brother on dates with us. This one time, he made plans with some friend so we could drop him off and get some alone time…and he immediately ratted her out when he got home. Then, another time we were out on the porch with my arm around her shoulders as we watched the sunset. Her father came out and made some meaningless small talk about how the weather was so nice and that it was so nice to have such a warm evening.
I found out the next day that he beat the heck out of her for being “loose” in "public." We talked about getting her out of that house, but at the end of the day, she couldn't leave her family behind. We were only together for a few months, but the whole family situation was just something I couldn't deal with. And then came the icing on the cake.
It was my birthday and she went and gave me a Rolex. Again, we had only been dating for a few months and I had already been to her house many times, so I knew she wasn't from some wealthy family where money was meaningless. Still, she assured me it was a genuine Rolex that her father had "acquired." That was when I learned that he was a local mafia boss and more than a few pieces fell into place.
I thanked her for the gift but gave it back as I didn't want to feel like I owed any favors to anyone. We broke up soon afterward. The next time I saw her has at a friend's wedding where she was there with her (very Italian) fiancé.
101. Foot In Mouth
While my ex had plenty of issues himself, I really didn't like his dad—for one excruciating reason. His dad had a massive foot fetish. Now, that’s completely OK with me. What made it uncomfortable, though, was how unchecked it was. I would have to wear full coverage shoes at all times whenever I was at his dad's house, otherwise, his dad would go on and on about how attractive my feet were. Many times, he's shown me photos of his favorite female celebrity feet.
I had mentioned to my ex SEVERAL times how uncomfortable I was with his dad's infatuation with my feet, but he would always shrug and say that's how his dad just was. I don't miss that.
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