Overly Critical Sister Needs to Be Supportive

Summary

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Dear Annie: My sister, "Charlene," has an 8-year-old daughter whom I love very much. I have two children of my own and try to include my niece in family events and vacations, as well as allow her to visit as many weekends as she'd like. I do this because Charlene is a wreck. She has a host of overwhelming problems that stem from having OCD, including overeating, overspending, depression and keeping her apartment in such a state that it looks like the ones on the news where they find dead animals. She also is a lazy parent who blames her child for any poor behavior, even though it's her own parenting skills at fault.

My niece has some problems in school with grades, and Charlene makes no effort to help her with homework or utilize one of the tutors the school offers. (I volunteer as a tutor at the school.) Charlene is not particularly bright and often tells my niece "facts" that aren't true, then gets angry with me when I correct her.

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Extract

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Overly Critical Sister Needs to Be Supportive

Charlene and her daughter have begun to see a therapist, but after two sessions, my niece was diagnosed with a mood disorder and given medication. I don't th...

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