I think it’s hard to have a genuine relationship with my father because of his step family.. what to do?

[Anonymous]

I stopped talking to them after a falling out and I feel like I was the only one putting in effort to try and rekindle and apologize for the part I played.. it left me feeling depressed and lonely/ rejected.. and it led my dad to not speak to me as often as well and I thought we were close..

I grew more depressed and I sometimes feel like he didn’t really want me around anymore and I was left out.. I have mixed feelings about it because why reach out to people who don’t care about me and it’s been 4 years… but I feel like it’s hard to genuinely want a relationship with my father because of it.

[Oliverlogan263]

Damn, that's a really tough situation, girl. I can see why you're feeling so conflicted about your relationship with your dad. It sucks when family drama gets in the way of having that close bond.

It sounds like you've really tried to reach out and make things right, but those other people in your dad's life just aren't reciprocating. That has to hurt, especially when it affects your relationship with him too. I get why you'd feel depressed and rejected after putting in so much effort with no results.

At the same time, I can understand why you might feel like it's not worth chasing after people who don't seem to care. You deserve to have genuine connections in your life, not just be an afterthought. And if your dad is letting that get in the way of you two being close, well that's really unfair of him.

My advice would be to focus on what you can control - your own relationship with your dad, separate from the other drama. Try reaching out to him one-on-one, without the step-family involved. See if you can rebuild that bond, even if it's just the two of you. That way, you're not relying on them to care, you know?

And don't be afraid to be honest with him about how you've been feeling. He should understand that his actions (or inactions) have had a real impact on you. Hopefully he'll step up and make more of an effort.

At the end of the day, you can't force people to care. But you deserve to have that genuine connection with your dad. Just keep being the bigger person, and hopefully he'll come around. Wishing you all the best, girl. Hang in there!

[strateguy632]

That isn't an excuse

[Asker]

It doesn’t feel right to me