The holidays are supposed to be spent with the people we love, so why would we attend a celebration where we feel we’re unwelcome?

Toxic family dynamics often take center stage during the holiday season. Mom’s boyfriend’s anger issues are exercised during the mashing of the potatoes, cousin Larry finds out what the Thanksgiving «walk» really is, and tattles on the older teens, and we end up feeling like the black sheep of the family who doesn’t know how to take a joke.

If that felt personal, it’s because you’re not alone. When you actualize the chaos in front of you and see your family for what it is, you realize that your attendance at a holiday celebration will only scorn you more.

In this next story, a woman explains that she will not attend her mother’s Thanksgiving celebration because it will happen in her girlfriend’s apartment. The woman and her mother’s girlfriend do not get along after a rocky start to the woman’s mother’s relationship with her. We’re all protective of our family members, so it’s safe to say that the girlfriend won’t be receiving the woman’s blessing any time soon.

Scroll below to read about the fallout, including guilt tactics from the mother and her girlfriend.