I no longer want my niece anywhere near my daughter and no one in my family supports me or understand why I feel this way.

Believe me when I say this, there is nothing wrong with you and everything wrong with them. No one needs that kind of negativity in their life. Let me tell you the story of my brother, who I wish I hadn't tried to keep in my life for as long as I did. Sorry for the wall of text coming!

My brother is 8 years older than me and was my bully growing up too, even went as far as trying to drown me. My parents tried stopping him and warning him that it would end bad for him but he didn't listen and continued to bully me. One day he was pushing me to my limits like he'd never done before. I had had enough and kicked his ass.

He left me alone after that for a while. Maybe 4-5 years. Then it started again. He has a severe God complex. One day we were visiting my mom on Easter and he was spouting off stuff, and I basically told him he wasn't God and to back off. That threw him over the edge and he attacked me. I again defended myself, held him up against a wall until he calmed down as he tried to fight me. My mom finally got him to chill out, but he went running home in anger.

Things were calm again for a few years. I let bygones be bygones. Started talking to him for my mom's sake, against my better judgment. Started visiting each other to try and rebuild the broken relationship, but you could tell something was off. A couple of years later, he was getting into an argument with someone he'd never met before because he perceived a slight that never existed. He was emailing this person and CC'ing our whole family. I told him to leave me out of it. It wasn't something I wanted to be involved or associated with. Again, that sent him over the edge. I blocked all forms of communication with him, I told my parents I don't want to know or hear anything about him. I completely cut him out of my life.

My dad understood, he knew how my brother treated me over the years. It was harder for my mom because she didn't want her kids fighting. I was done fighting some egotistical, sociopathic maniac, hell bent on trying to take me down for nothing more than being born 8 years after him.

He's tried to cause problems for me since that last incident. Telling my sister that I told him I thought she was a piece of shit. How was that possible since I stopped talking to him, and why did my sister believe him when she knew I wasn't talking to him? I couldn't tell you. I even went as far as shutting down my Facebook account to stop the harassment.

I don't know what I could really say so you feel better but I feel in my case, cutting my brother out of my life is definitely better for me. It's better for my mental health to not have to deal with the abuse. It's better for my family to not have to see him treat people the way he treats people. It's better for my daughter to have one less extremely negative influence in her life.

TL;DR My brother is a dick and he's now out of my life for good.

/r/Parenting Thread Parent