Stepdad treats me different

[Anonymous]

Your situation does suck, I'm sorry to hear it. Both of your parents failed you and your SD is not willing to support you. The good thing is that you are young and can build a life for yourself from here.

Don't let the negative and unsupportive people in your life bring you down. Try as hard as you can to surround yourself with positive people. Can you join an MS support group? I have several friends who are living with MS and seem to be doing well (I know that it depends on the type of MS and your personal condition). Live as frugally as possible and go to community college at least. Get a degree that has earning potential. Look into military, nannying, computer based interships where you can gain skills.

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

This feels exactly like my life, my dad is a homeless drug addict so my mom needed someone to help pay the bills but all he really does is be punish me and treat me like a burden.

[Anonymous]

Kudos to you for getting into therapy and working hard to make it on your own, despite tremendous obstacles. Your parents are terrible, and their choices reflect their own deep deficits, not yours.

Your sister may receive more material comforts and get away with everything, but from what you describe of her behavior she’s a damaged person who will struggle to function on her own or have healthy relationships. You have a much better shot — a good shot, actually. You’ve learned to be self-sufficient and you are a strong person and a survivor. Even with the horrible role models that are your parents and the abuse you suffered, in you somehow had the wherewithal to get yourself into therapy. Do not internalize what your SD says; stay on that path to a healthier life, OP. You deserve it.

[Anonymous]

Op, go to healthcare.gov and apply for health insurance. It’s open season till Dec15. You probably qualify for Medicare or if not then a cheap subsidized plan.

[Anonymous]

Check into the armed forces. Talk to the Army, Navy, Coast Guard and Marine recruiters.

Also consider the National Guard. It is one weekend a month
and 2 weeks a year.

Mom had one 20 year old caregiver whose Mom was in prison.
She was on her own and had been for a long time. She was in the Army National Guard
and loved it. She is now in Afghanistan working in the Morgue (her dream occupation....originally she worked on diesel trucks). When she left for Afghanistan her Dad
was going to prison.

My sister is a retired US Marine and my brother in law
is retired Army. My sister had a great job flying around
Europe in business class for the US Marines and meeting
people from former Soviet bloc countries that wanted to join Nato. Both my brother in law and sister loved their careers.

Talk to the recuiters. Don't do anything hasty but see
what they have to offer.

[Anonymous]

Surround yourself with uplifting people. Even if you don't buy into the church thing check into some of the churches that
have young adult groups.

[Anonymous]

Diagnosed with MS? Check into the Terry Wahls protocol.
She reversed her MS through diet. She has some books out there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Check into the armed forces. Talk to the Army, Navy, Coast Guard and Marine recruiters.

Also consider the National Guard. It is one weekend a month
and 2 weeks a year.

Mom had one 20 year old caregiver whose Mom was in prison.
She was on her own and had been for a long time. She was in the Army National Guard
and loved it. She is now in Afghanistan working in the Morgue (her dream occupation....originally she worked on diesel trucks). When she left for Afghanistan her Dad
was going to prison.

My sister is a retired US Marine and my brother in law
is retired Army. My sister had a great job flying around
Europe in business class for the US Marines and meeting
people from former Soviet bloc countries that wanted to join Nato. Both my brother in law and sister loved their careers.

Talk to the recuiters. Don't do anything hasty but see
what they have to offer.

MS will disqualify you from military service, so I don't think this is a viable solution.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My sister has verbally abused us since childhood. She constantly calls us a B and tell us we ruined her life by moving with them. My parents don't say anything to her. When she gets mad, she screams and cusses out my mom and her dad. They still met her get away with it.

Because they know their selfish acts did ruin her life. Your parents are bad parents. Just keep chugging along and stay in school. Don’t count on them for anything.

[Anonymous]

OP, I'm confused. You say you got a $5k bill for emergency medical treatment because you are not on your stepfather's medical plan. Yet you are also in therapy, and have been diagnosed/treated for MS, etc. Do you have health insurance or not?

You say you are living on your own so if you feel you are not being treated fairly and are upset by your treatment, just distance yourself from them all.

[Anonymous]

Your issue seems to be primarily a problem with your stepdad and how he treats his bio children with your mom compared to you.

This may not be fair, but it's not unusual. Some people will fundamentally treat their own biological children differently/better. Especially when it comes to money.

[Anonymous]

The person you should have an issue with is your mother. She is ultimately responsible for your upbringing since your father is in jail.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My grandfather's parents abandoned him and his four brothers when he was about 10, leaving him in an orphanage. He worked to pull his brothers out, one by one, raising each. He went on to a successful career, with a wife and three successful children, then left 11 grandchildren.

Get a grip. Move on and make something with your life. Have you thought of joining the Armed Forces, to qualify for college funding?

I love all the coddled boomers telling a 20 year old to pull herself up by her bootstraps a-la Horatio Alger.

[Anonymous]

Call the phone number on your medical bills and negotiate them down. Get loans to go to college and/or go to community college then transfer to a university or college. YOU CAN DO THIS! Think positive and set goals. Don’t let anyone get in your way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You need to grow up fast OP. You have a very unsupportive family. Come to grips with it. You'll have to make it pretty much on your own.

If you ever have kids, try to be a better parent than yours were.

and know that it isn't your step dad, but also your mom.

the fact that she isn't the earner is one thing.

the fact that this seems to give her no say (or maybe she really does prefer the newbaby) is something else.