A child deserves food, water, emotional support, a roof over their head, and everything in between. When you decide to bring another life into this world, it’s up to you to give them all of the tools they need to live a happy and healthy life.

Without you, their parent, they may be subjected to physical and emotional misgivings. If you neglect them purposely, they will spend a lifetime wondering why their parent chose to subject them to what a child should never go through. Emotional neglect is the gift that just keeps on giving.

The 18-year-old daughter in this next story dealt with 10+ years of emotional neglect when her mother remarried and her biological father abandoned her. Her new stepfather’s children, her stepsiblings, never treated her like family—they actually made a point to let her know that she isn’t. The stepsiblings are older than her and still decided to take their anguish out on a child who had nothing to do with either of their parents remarrying. Now, the daughter refuses to cater to her mother’s wishes and exists in an environment where she’s unwelcome. Her mother tries to turn the tables as a result…