Unsupportive Father: How Much Blessing is Needed?

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Thank you, Easter, but it is currently more prudent to stay where I’m at until I’m ready to move out once and for all…

I never intended to leave my parents’ house until I moved into my husband’s. Or, went halvsies with my bestie. But she’s not even close to ready, and her mom is great to live with, so she’s in no hurry to leave. In fact, if it were just mom I had to deal with, I wouldn’t have any problems at all.

But really, this wasn’t supposed to devolve into how I need to get out of the house. 🤷

Then again, I’ll have to move closer to the Potential Suitor at some point in order to continue the relationship - he’s tied where he’s at, and I’m not - so there’s that possibility, but probably not until next year at the earliest. Unless Dad decides to make good on his continual ‘threat’ to throw me out - but he hasn’t mentioned that once since I now actually know a man, into whose arms that threat would now drive me. :rolleyes:

And I do have a nest egg of sorts, so there’s hope for the future. I just can’t make any plans until an opportunity presents itself. That’s how I got my current job, which is inherently part time due to my duties, not being transient or temporary. I’ve actually been there three years and dabbled in other departments, so my resume will look pretty good and stable based on these factors.

I was the first applicant and was basically hired on the spot. Trained on the job, a job invented hurriedly to fill an immediate need, and a job I whose parameters I defined to the point that my I original supervisor asks ME how best to do my own job if I’m not available.

Then I filled in at need in other departments, doing basically anything within my qualifications to do. I even did menial office work for the administrator of the entire building. I covered the Fourth of July in laundry… I did weekends… I did outdoor lawn work…

My job is cleaning and maintaining the carpets and upholstered chairs in a nursing home facility. But I’ve also buffed and stripped vinyl floors, use a steam cleaner, and assist the maintenance guys wherever needed.

So I am basically a professional carpet cleaner with expertise in other specific cleaning tasks. Plus all of the above. I’ll have so many references, it’ll be ridiculous. :rolleyes:
Yes, you are going to have some excellent recommendations! Your boss is going to be sorry, if you move on before your boss does!

Keep socking away money in that nest egg in a purposeful “pay yourself first” way–between what you give to your savings and what you give to charity, you should feel a pinch–and when the time comes to leave home you will have far more options. If you can get anything at all into a tax-deferred retirement account, do it. You won’t get that growth time back. Hard to do, I understand, but such an advantage for those who manage it. Make the most of your parents’ gift of free room and board!

I’ve known people who move straight from Mom and Dad’s to their married home and did fine; they know how to communicate in a setting where no one is going anywhere. (One did comment to her mother: Mom! Husbands are* a lot of work*!!) Based on the way you operate at work, I think you’ll do fine with a place of your own. You may be living with your parents, but you’re not in a state of “full dependence.” If something needs to be done and you don’t know how to do it, you apparently teach yourself how. You are not afraid of manual labor. People ask you how to do things. That is not the way the dependent kind operate!

As for finding living situations without “connections,” though, I have moved in with students I’d never met in my life and also rented a room from a woman I’d never met before I interviewed for the place. Both worked out really well. The truth is, it is almost better to move in with roommates who are NOT your close friends. It is a lot easier to voice complaints and work out how to split chores and share the refrigerator etc without the emotions getting out of hand, since people don’t impose on roommates they don’t know as well as they do when it is a friend. The temptation to take advantage is actually a lot lower. If the arrangement doesn’t work out, you move out, try again, and don’t lose a close friend in the process. As for moving in with your best friend, my advice is this: Only if you just married him. Yes, sometimes it works great, but I’ve seen too many best-friend roommates who are not even friends by the time they parted ways, some very sad stories. Better to be there for each other when, some day, one of you has a roommate and you need some distance from your roommate, your little apartment, and all the things stressing you out at home.

I did the long-distance thing for a long time. It worked out great; we’ve been married over 25 years. Based on my experience, I’d say that before you are married you need to keep your own interests in mind when you move. Find yourself work you like and make sure you are in a place you want to be if you break up with Potential Suitor before you move. Not a few people move to the place they meet their actual spouse only after moving there for someone else, breaking up, but staying because they like the place and their job. It makes the decision about whether to continue the relationship more free if you don’t have this “but what will I do, if we break up?” hanging over your head. If you’re in a town you like fine and have a job you like fine, you’ll live. You’ll figure it out. Not having that fear of failure will make you far more confident when you make a decision. If you wind up married to Potential Suitor, you’ll know it was not because you foolishly moved somewhere that your other options were bad. You’ll know you married him because you chose him as the best among some pretty good options you left for yourself. That will feel the best and give yourself the most confidence.
 
I see where you’re coming from with the best friends thing.

But we’re charmed.

As in… We have never had an actual fight. Ever.

We’ve been each other’s first, best, and only true friends since I was seven and she was six. We have compatible personalities to the point that we work out everything without even thinking about it, and with zero conflict. (We’ve had spirited debates, but never anything that led to real emotion or anything approaching resentment.)

We’re a non-romantic Golden Pair. (Our two personality types are even widely known as such.) It just works. (Think Holmes and Watson… But females.)

If I could live with anyone (other than parents and sis) who I wasn’t sleeping with, it would be her. I have no doubts on that score. But that’s looking less likely these days due to her particular circumstances. :confused:
 
I see where you’re coming from with the best friends thing.

But we’re charmed.

As in… We have never had an actual fight. Ever.

We’ve been each other’s first, best, and only true friends since I was seven and she was six. We have compatible personalities to the point that we work out everything without even thinking about it, and with zero conflict. (We’ve had spirited debates, but never anything that led to real emotion or anything approaching resentment.)

We’re a non-romantic Golden Pair. (Our two personality types are even widely known as such.) It just works. (Think Holmes and Watson… But females.)

If I could live with anyone (other than parents and sis) who I wasn’t sleeping with, it would be her. I have no doubts on that score. But that’s looking less likely these days due to her particular circumstances. :confused:
I’m not so sure Holmes was the world’s greatest friend, but I get your meaning. (Maybe Poirot and Hastings?)

If you have debates and can tell each other where to get off, you’ll probably do OK. It is the friends who never have fights and think they always agree that I worry about, based on my experience with other pairs who were as thick as thieves before they became roommates. Think about the difference between real sisters and women who imagine they are like sisters, and you’ll know what I mean. If your friend is like a real sister, yeah, you’re probably OK.

Come to think of it, that’s a lot like looking for a husband. If you never have fights, that works if neither of you is the kind who fight, but otherwise…hmmm. If you know how to have a serious disagreement, if you know you can think the other person has a wrong-headed opinion in spite of being an otherwise-fine human being, that’s actually a very good sign, not a bad sign because you’ve (gasp!) had a dispute.

Your dad may be protective, but I think you can take care of yourself, even around your dad. You don’t need his blessings to find yourself a husband, you shouldn’t give him that because you are the one who will have to live with your decision, and respecting a parent does not mean you always agree with him. Your consent to marry is yours to give and yours alone. It is up to you to gain the knowledge you need first-hand in order to make that decision. Square up your shoulders, firmly tell your dad, “thanks, but I’ve got this one” without thinking him too much out of the ordinary for butting in where he doesn’t belong. His will be the first of many such opinions you’ll get in your life, particularly if you become a parent! I’d say listen to what he has to say, consider it, but do not say anything to him in reply that implies you welcome unsolicited advice. You can consider his advice without thanking him for it, and he does not need encouragement! Thank him for caring, don’t thank him for chiming in when you didn’t ask and for heavens’ sake do not put up a defense to his critiques.

You have a great friend, a sister, and your mom. Learn to be firm with your dad, don’t beat yourself up for his poor way of looking out for you, debrief with your best friend when you start to waver or when you mis-step (yes, mistakes will happen), consult with your mom, your sister, and anyone else in your circle who allows you to hear their opinion and still prefer your own, and you’ll do OK.
 
Awwww… Thank you, Easter. That’s pretty much what I’m trying to do. :hug3:

With my best friend, yeah, we’ve argued, and even seriously disagreed. But we always stop short of anger and circle back around and we know how to drop it before anyone gets hurt.

And the PS and I have already been through disputes. We’re learning process and behavior and how it all works out. We are not merely dodging things that will blow up later.

And I do use her as a sounding board and trusted second opinion. If not for her, I’d go bonkers. :eek:

Oh, and she’s the one who compares us to Holmes and Watson. I’m Holmes… Of course. :rolleyes: I told her someone wasn’t sure we could live together, and she laughed just as hard as me. 😃 She says I’m pretty much the only girl who doesn’t annoy or bore her, other than her mother. :rotfl: For her part, she always listens and is always interesting.

Like we say - we’re Golden! :cool:
 
Just a little humor: this is based on truth.

When my husband and I got married, we had apartments where pets were not allowed. My younger sister, who liked to make wise cracks all the time said, “You can always keep your husband as a pet!”

She said that because he wasn’t working at the time, and I had expressed my irritation at the fact that finding work was not easy.

My sister’s boyfriends were not always perfect, either.

She used to like to say: “When your nose is runny, and you’re with your honey, don’t think it’s funny, 'cause it’snot.” (emphasis on snot.)
 
Just a little humor: this is based on truth.

When my husband and I got married, we had apartments where pets were not allowed. My younger sister, who liked to make wise cracks all the time said, “You can always keep your husband as a pet!”

She said that because he wasn’t working at the time, and I had expressed my irritation at the fact that finding work was not easy.

My sister’s boyfriends were not always perfect, either.

She used to like to say: “When your nose is runny, and you’re with your honey, don’t think it’s funny, 'cause it’snot.” (emphasis on snot.)
I’m not sure what you’re trying to say here. 🤷
 
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