Daughter wants to shut down parental insults
How do I deal with the pain of feeling used -- but not wanted -- while I'm here, trying to fix my marriage?
-- Feeling Rejected and Used
Dear Feeling: If your family's home is so crowded, maybe other family members aren't all that thrilled about having another person in the household, especially one who is "working on herself." Are you being used? Because your family members may feel they are being used.
They might be trying to clue you in about the household strain your presence has caused.
Have you conveyed your gratitude? Are you going the extra mile to be helpful? Or are you so focused on your situation that you have forgotten that other people also have needs and problems?
Trying to see this from their perspective might help you to communicate, thus making it less like Hell and more like home.
Dear Amy: My heart broke when I read the letter from "Worried," the young girl whose father died.
I was in elementary school when my father died, and reading her letter I could remember the anxiety and confusion I felt.
I thought your gentle and encouraging response was right on.
I hope she has more adults in her life who will treat her so kindly.
-- Still Grieving
Dear Grieving: Me too. Thank you.
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(You can contact Amy Dickinson via email: askamy@amydickinson.com. Readers may send postal mail to Amy Dickinson, c/o Tribune Content Agency, LLC., 16650 Westgrove Dr., Suite 175, Addison, TX 75001. You can also follow her on Twitter @askingamy or "like" her on Facebook.)
