Some people believe opening your door to family will mean building a little fortress of solidarity against the storm, a place where you circle each other, share the burdens, and maybe even split the chores. In some cases, though, you just end up expanding the guest list for your own private disaster.

Our hero took in both their cousin and grandma with the wild, naive hope that mutual support would blossom. Instead, it turned out to be a lesson in how quickly expectations can turn sour. The cousin arrived carrying not a helping hand, but a diploma in emotional manipulation, specializing in suddenly appearing helplessness and waterworks at the slightest mention of responsibility. Bills, caregiving, and even basic decency all fell to the one who answered the door in the first place, while the newly sheltered houseguest invested all available energy into bringing over her boyfriend, draining the fridge, and contributing nothing except complaints and the occasional dramatic speech.