Once our children leave the nest, it’s hard to imagine them coming back. However, this is what happened to Claudia’s stepdaughter, who lost her job and needed to move back in. She refused unless her stepdaughter agreed to pay rent, creating heavy tension in the family and escalating the situation. Feeling distressed, Claudia wrote to us asking for advice.
This is her letter:
My 32-year-old stepdaughter lost her job and wants to move back in with us. She’s a lazy person who always takes advantage of her dad’s kindness. So, I told her she would have to pay rent to live here because her dad’s house is not a free hotel!
She smirked and then shouted, “You’re very wrong. This is MY dad’s house; you have no say in this!”
When I told her dad, he declared, “Throw away your mother’s things from the spare room then and make room for my daughter.”
To my horror, he added, “Your mother comes and stays with us every once in a while, rent-free, so why shouldn’t my own daughter be allowed to?”