My parents are coming for the holidays and they plan to stay for a week. We have two boys with ADHD and my parents don't believe ADHD is a real issue. They think we are bad parents and tell us we should control our kids better. Our boys (6 and 9) are active but they are not wild. They both take medication to manage their symptoms which upsets my parents who think they should be able to be calm without it. I am bracing myself because I know they will have lots of comments about our parenting while they are staying with us for a week. Any help you can offer is appreciated because I don't want their to be any big disagreements while they are here. What do I do if they criticize our parenting?
I went on a few dates with someone and I thought things were going well. So I was surprised when he ghosted me. I have no idea if I did something that upset him or what but out of the blue he just stopped replying. I'm embarrassed and heartbroken and angry. At first I made excuses for him and when my friends asked how it was going I just said he was probably busy. I even worried about him for a while thinking he may have been in an accident or something but then I saw him posting on social media. Why do people ghost people and how do you heal when you don't have any kind of closure or don't know what you did wrong?
I have tried to give up alcohol for 30 days a few times. I don't think I have an alcohol problem but I can't go 30 days straight so does that mean I really do have a problem? I mostly drink socially but sometimes drink after a stressful day and I convince myself I deserve to drink. If I can't go 30 days is that a real problem? And what do I do about it?
I've worked on not comparing myself to other people but my parents compare me to my brothers all the time. They make more money and have more established careers. I don't deny that. But I get so tired of hearing, "Well, you should do this to be more like your brothers," or "Your brother would never have made that mistake." Sometimes I question my choices and at other times I question whether I should maintain a relationship with my parents if they can't accept that I'm different and it's not a competition. Do I need to grow stronger to deal with my parents or do I need to take a break from them to save my mental health?