Do not invite the problem child. It's ok to remove your kids from your life if you need to. You have a chance to be free, take it!

I agree with the poster who said if you don't invite them and invite your other children you've created a FOREVER rift with your child.

I would invite them. You love them and they are YOUR family, so go on vacation and don't take things they say personally. Honestly there is a VERY short window left for family vacations. Within a decade the family vacation your kids take will be with THEIR families - spouse, children.

I have a tween who doesn't appreciate me and what I do for her. She may never. But I promised to love her unconditionally and I will. No child promises to love their parent. They didn't ask for us. But I wished for her and to be a mom, so my job is to love her. Barring physical abuse, I'd never cut her off. I might decide to only take a vacation with my husband if her verbal and emotional abuse was too much for a family vacation. But I would never go on a family vacation with out her because of her not appreciating what I give her or only being interested in me when I am giving her something. If she is a drag, well, she is a drag. I still lover her,

It sounds difficult, OP.

I would extend invite ( you have to be ok if they say yes) but I’d also state that while you’d like them to be with their family they did not seem that interested last year so they are under no obligation to go.

If they’d like to, then say that’s wonderful and let’s also talk about how to make it good for all. Ground rules. If they break the ground rules, they need to leave. Would that work?

Anonymous wrote:To restate the question: I have a child who is struggling and has been for a long time. I understandably am tired or dealing with the challenges of this difficult child when my other children are easier. Can I exclude the difficult child who has been struggling in life for a long time from our family vacation and still be a good mom?

I have a sibling who has struggled for a long time and, even at their best, is fairly unpleasant to be around. I am deeply sympathetic to how hard that must be on our parents, even though I also see how they contribute to this dynamic.

If it's a family vacation, you invite the whole family. Believe me, I'm happier when my sibling chooses not to join for these things, but excluding from a family vacation would likely weaken the relationship even further.

+1 to seeing a therapist with strong understanding of family dynamics, if you're not already. You absolutely get to be a human being with feelings. Good therapy can really help with setting the boundaries that allow you to be that feeling human being and treating your difficult kid as equitably as possible.

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Anonymous wrote:I think what matters more is the actual rift and reasons why. Do they feel lesser than the other kids in your eyes ? Because if so the sane route is to get some distance and the behavior is understandable. What discussion has occurred with them about how they feel?

We don’t actually know why. We have sent them to therapist after therapist. They don’t want to be in college and dropped out. Some (fairly minor) charges from traffic courts. They probably do feel lesser than the older siblings who are successful in college. They tend to just not respond when we try to discuss things.

So they chose to be adult so they can live adult life and that is paying for own vacation. If currently on drugs, consider message you are sending other children for what parents will enable.

I think the kid accepting the invite shows they are seeking connection with the family. Yes, even if it’s a nice vacation, I think most people who actually hate their families and don’t want a relationship would decline.

Clearly they are not doing well and they probably are in a dark place and not fun to be around. But in my opinion, it would be pretty cruel to exclude one child from a family vacation because they are struggling.

I would invite them and use it as an opportunity to know them better or would cancel it.

Anonymous wrote:To restate the question: I have a child who is struggling and has been for a long time. I understandably am tired or dealing with the challenges of this difficult child when my other children are easier. Can I exclude the difficult child who has been struggling in life for a long time from our family vacation and still be a good mom?

Parenting is a tough job. Don't feel like you are a bad mom for feeling exhausted.

Anonymous wrote:Middle child syndrome? I think birth order may have something to do with it.
Lost in the shuffle. Not sure which tribe of siblings they fit in with. It has been this way their whole life.

That's not a given. ~ Peacemaker middle child with a cranky first sibling

Dropping out of college and a few minor traffic violations are neither here nor there. These are all just red herrings when it comes to the crux of the issue: that this adult child treated people poorly to the point of tears on last year's vacation, and the OP is trying to avoid a repeat. A question: why are the older siblings done with this person? And how many vacations has this child's hostility ruined? If last year was a one-off, the OP might invite the middle child with the stipulation that there are standards for everyone's behavior. But if last year wasn't an aberration, then the OP has every right to prioritize the well-being of the other kids in the family.

To restate the question: I have a child who is struggling and has been for a long time. I understandably am tired or dealing with the challenges of this difficult child when my other children are easier. Can I exclude the difficult child who has been struggling in life for a long time from our family vacation and still be a good mom?

How many siblings are in this family? At least 5?

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Anonymous wrote:For people saying OP must include the adult child, at what point do you think OP is off the hook for paying for an adult child's vacation? My parents stopped paying for me after I finished college, which seems reasonable. They also took my younger siblings on spring break trips when I was in college, which I couldn't attend because our spring breaks didn't align. This also seems reasonable.

I think there is probably a natural point where the parents are off the hook with paying vs. some defined moment. It depends on the dynamics. We have an only child, and I would probably pay or offer to pay for his vacation with us up until he gets married/ has a significant other. He wants to be independent and has said he feels embarrassed when I pay for things publicly. He certainly wouldn't find it tolerable for me to pay for him in front of a girlfriend/spouse.

I would pay for any vacation with us. Not paying otherwise once they are adults.

Middle child syndrome? I think birth order may have something to do with it.
Lost in the shuffle. Not sure which tribe of siblings they fit in with. It has been this way their whole life.

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Anonymous wrote:I can’t imagine leaving out one of my kids from a vacation, even if they had dropped out of college (I don’t even see why that point would be relevant - it’s not like even a hard working 20 yr old could afford to join you on such a vacation). If you are inviting and paying for your 4 other kids to go on this vacation, to me it is clear that you should be inviting and paying for this kid to go, too.

It sucks that this kid is prickly, it sucks that another one of your kids and this kid don’t get along. I’d focus on that last point. Is it possible for those two kids to go to a couple of therapy sessions together, for the sake of their relationship generally, not this trip specifically. Also I’d set clear expectations for behaviors before the trip happens, and don’t single out any one kid or cite old incidents. E.g., if someone is verbally rude, call them out on it at that moment. Don’t take sides. If there are shared rooms, have this middle child share with the younger siblings.

It was relevant to me because we still financially support the children in college and therefore pay for their vacations with no question. The one who dropped out is self-supporting.
For our family, if you're a student, we provide financial support. That's pretty common. They can stay on our health insurance for example, but not if they drop from school. That's all.

So say one of the older kids is a college graduate next year, but doesn’t have a job in their field and is working at J Crew to make money. They likely couldn’t afford their “share” of a family vacation, are you going to exclude them, too? I suspect not. You are looking for reasons to exclude this child. I am sure there is a lot of history as to why this child acts the way they do around you.

I have no idea as we haven’t gotten there yet. I suspect you don’t have a child this difficult if you are so accusatory. Most relationships aren’t one person’s fault although the answer seems to always be “blame the mom”.

If YOU choose to treat your children with different levels of favortism then yes, it’s absolutely a “blame the parent” situation. You sound willfully ignorant of how your behavior is affecting this relationship. You’d rather bestow money and praise and vacations on the golden children and keep one locked up in the basement eating their crusts. You don’t think kids pick up on this??

Well you’re picking and choosing what you want to see. This child has gotten more resources and time from us than any other child in our family. We have tried so dang hard. Do you enjoy being around people that make you walk on eggshells? That ignore anything you tell them while you watch them make terrible choices? That choose to ignore you unless they want something? It’s exhausting and depressing. I have tried to treat my kids as equally as possible but of course it doesn’t come off that way when one doesn’t call or respond to texts. Of course I am closer to the ones who actually call and are kind. The ones that say thank you and don’t act like a-holes to other people on a trip? That doesn’t mean I am scapegoating. It means I am a human being with feelings.

This thread has stopped being helpful - so I will stop responding now. - op

Not to put too fine a point on it, but: you don’t get to be “a human being with feelings” first. You are a parent first. It has been this way since your first child was an infant; this can’t be news.

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Anonymous wrote:I can’t imagine leaving out one of my kids from a vacation, even if they had dropped out of college (I don’t even see why that point would be relevant - it’s not like even a hard working 20 yr old could afford to join you on such a vacation). If you are inviting and paying for your 4 other kids to go on this vacation, to me it is clear that you should be inviting and paying for this kid to go, too.

It sucks that this kid is prickly, it sucks that another one of your kids and this kid don’t get along. I’d focus on that last point. Is it possible for those two kids to go to a couple of therapy sessions together, for the sake of their relationship generally, not this trip specifically. Also I’d set clear expectations for behaviors before the trip happens, and don’t single out any one kid or cite old incidents. E.g., if someone is verbally rude, call them out on it at that moment. Don’t take sides. If there are shared rooms, have this middle child share with the younger siblings.

It was relevant to me because we still financially support the children in college and therefore pay for their vacations with no question. The one who dropped out is self-supporting.
For our family, if you're a student, we provide financial support. That's pretty common. They can stay on our health insurance for example, but not if they drop from school. That's all.

So say one of the older kids is a college graduate next year, but doesn’t have a job in their field and is working at J Crew to make money. They likely couldn’t afford their “share” of a family vacation, are you going to exclude them, too? I suspect not. You are looking for reasons to exclude this child. I am sure there is a lot of history as to why this child acts the way they do around you.

I have no idea as we haven’t gotten there yet. I suspect you don’t have a child this difficult if you are so accusatory. Most relationships aren’t one person’s fault although the answer seems to always be “blame the mom”.

If YOU choose to treat your children with different levels of favortism then yes, it’s absolutely a “blame the parent” situation. You sound willfully ignorant of how your behavior is affecting this relationship. You’d rather bestow money and praise and vacations on the golden children and keep one locked up in the basement eating their crusts. You don’t think kids pick up on this??

Well you’re picking and choosing what you want to see. This child has gotten more resources and time from us than any other child in our family. We have tried so dang hard. Do you enjoy being around people that make you walk on eggshells? That ignore anything you tell them while you watch them make terrible choices? That choose to ignore you unless they want something? It’s exhausting and depressing. I have tried to treat my kids as equally as possible but of course it doesn’t come off that way when one doesn’t call or respond to texts. Of course I am closer to the ones who actually call and are kind. The ones that say thank you and don’t act like a-holes to other people on a trip? That doesn’t mean I am scapegoating. It means I am a human being with feelings.

This thread has stopped being helpful - so I will stop responding now. - op

It’s hard to put yourself out there, so kudos to you, OP.

Even if only for confirmation, it likely would be very beneficial for you to talk one-on-one, individually, with a psychodynamic/family systems therapist to help work through your feelings and possible next steps.

Your adult child who's especially challenging at the moment is still your kid, who you obviously care about, and a detached professional can often offer a helpful perspective.

Truthfully, it’s not your job to field how your kids interact and get along once they’re adults, and since you’ve mentioned a few times that you’re playing referee, it also might be worth holding off on this vacation as a family (as another pp suggested), until things are calmer. Why not take a break and get away with just your spouse for some genuine relaxation?

Families can go through rough patches, and hopefully with some time and tlc for everyone, things will eventually become more stable and peaceful. Best to you.

This. The triangulation here is dysfunctional and you are stoking that dysfunction. Your children can walk away, not engage, etc. Sibling relationships are challenging, more so when one child perceives themselves on the outside with parents, but it’s not your job to referee as a parent. Don’t get involved because your biases and what not will be present and create rivalry amongst your kids.