Hello all! First, let me just say that English is not my native language, so if you see something misspelled (like my username!) or some expression that doesn't make much sense, I apologize in advance. It took me a few days just to read all of your posts. It makes me feel a bit better knowing that I'm not alone, but still doesn't make the pain go away. I started at about a month ago my process of estranging my parents. I’m 31 years old and it took really a lot for me to realize the truth and face that I was left with no other choice. I’ll explain you why this happen, but first, I have some serious challenges to face and learn to cope with during my estrangement process. Challenge 1: I work in the same company as my mother! Even though we do not work even in the same building, we still have random encounters, such as accidently cross in the canteen, or in the parking lot. Challenge 2: unlike my brother, that went to work in a foreign country (something like 2400km~1500miles), my house is only at 8km (5miles) from theirs. And no, at the moment, moving it’s not an option for numerous reasons. I’m learning how to deal with this, still at an early stage. And, finally, Challenge 3: I have no insurance coverage for the therapist, so I had to reduce the frequency of the appointments, to ease the life on the household expenses, especially since we are in a financial crisis and taxes just keep skyrocketing! Regarding the estrangement. What caused it. It all comes from long years ago, since I can remember. My family is pure and simply dysfunctional. My father is a spoiled selfish guy, that believes that mankind exists just to serve his wishes. He believes that he belongs to some sort of superior race (yeap, nazi style!) and mistreats everyone around. Even though we try to remind him that his own mother used to belong to the what-he-calls-the-inferior-race, he uses his selective amnesia skills. He is a looser that doesn’t try hard for anything, even though he was lucky to find a job that pays way above the national average. He is smokes weed and axis for many years now, what increases his paranoia and delusions. When people ask me why don’t smoke weed and stuff when I go to Amsterdam, here’s why! My mother, on the other hand, used to belong to family and, some day, her father vanished, leaving my mother, her 3 brothers and sisters and her mother with no money. At the time, my grandmother didn’t work. So, in a blink of an eye, she went from an economical stable life style to a situation where she had to work for survival of the whole family. My grandmother didn’t work and she was dysfunctional herself towards my mother. That turned my mother into an extremely jealous person, possessive and what people call a “weekend alcoholic”. In working days, she controls herself more or less, but on non-working days, she drinks like very few do even on college parties! Well, I’ll tell you a couple of episodes that describe the emotional abuse that has always reined around my family and how they act. When I was around 8, my brother went to first grade elementary school (he had just turned 6). At school, he had problems articulating sentences, he didn’t use the words in the right place in the sentences. His teacher told my parents that he was mentally challenged and should be followed by the correct therapists. In that very same day, my father started to mistreat my mother and brother, making them to run away from home for a few a days. In the meantime, he tried to turn me (an 8 year old!!!) against them! Well, after things cooled down, they returned home and my brother went to therapy. And guess what, after taking tests, he was found to be way more intelligent than the average kids of his age! And as he was on an age where we learn how to articulate speech, his reasoning was way faster than his ability to speak, so he was clumsy while talking. Now, as he was not “retarded” after all, he was already a fine kid, worthy of my father’s love and attention. Other episodes happened while my mother is alone at home with us. As my father took shifts on his work, he was not at home sometimes during weekends or in the evening. My mother stated to drink and she fires her anger towards us. She did it countless times. Yelling, threatening that she would abandon us (even when we were at ages around 10 ou 12 years old), etc. She and my father just love and hate each other. In a minute they are kissing, in the other minute they are fighting, screaming, throwing things at each other, etc. But in the middle of all this, I was always the one in that family that tried to put out the fires. The one that took it all, that tried, at any price, reach a few more days of cease-fire. And then, it came the day I met the woman with whom I went to live together. First, her family belong to the “so called inferior race” (note: inferior race are not just a matter of skin colour, also people of lower income, lower education, etc.). Second, they realized I don’t belong to them only. Since then, things just got worse and worse. My mother just kept on calling me (sometimes drunk, sometimes sober) yelling at me, insulting my wife, insulting me, etc. One day, we organized a dinner at our place with both our parents, to give them the best news ever: my wife was pregnant. When we told, her parents jumped off the seats happy. My parents, for a few seconds were in shock, as if they were told that someone died on a car accident. And since the pregnancy and the child’s birth, things just kept going, with me always trying to put out the fires. Until one day, some weeks ago, it all exploded for the last time. I arranged with them to spend Sunday afternoon with them, together with my daughter. And, as we only arranged for the afternoon, in the morning, we went to the beach with my in-laws. While I was at the beach, they called to confirm at what time would we meet. When they realized that we were “committing the offense” of spending the morning with my “inferior race in-laws” and only the afternoon with them, they started once again, screaming, mistreating me, etc. And that was it. It was the day when I said enough. After getting home, giving diner to the baby, putting her to bed, etc., I just started to cry like I’ve never, ever, cried before. It was just way too many years of this. I don’t see myself in the role they tried to bring up. I don’t believe in “superior” or “Inferior” races. I don’t believe that women are worse than man, gays are worse than straight, Africans are worse than Europeans, etc. I don’t believe that people are there to serve us. I believe in equality, peace, love, caring, etc. I believe that if we want something we have to work for it. I believe we should help those in need. I believe that you can be either a good or a bad person regardless of whether you are son of a king or from a single mom in a ghetto. And I want my life! I want to be myself! I don’t want to feel the adrenaline rushing in my body when the phone rings because it might be them screaming at me for no reason again. I don’t want to be with them just because they brought me to the world and feel entitled to mistreat me and take it all on me. I don’t want to feel the anger I feel inside of me towards them, because I just don’t believe in anger. Anger only brings more sadness. Now, I’m doing therapy, starting my estrangement despite the additional challenges I have to face. Sorry for the XL text, but it’s the first time I write about it. For those who did it, thanks for reading it. Honestly!

A pillow case dress for children is made with the selvedges sewed together to make 1 side seam. With 45 inch wide material that would only be snug on most adults. If you have a piece of 45 inch material try it around your hips and see if it's too snug. If it is you'd have to go with the fabric width as the length and cut off the excess. So pick a fabric that can be used that way. Lay the fabric out and take any pattern in your size to cut the armholes. Only cut them 3/4 of the length of the pattern because you will not be joining the armhole at the shoulder. Good luck

AGAIN....Chip woke up last night sick in the bed..OMG first I stood him on the clean part of the bed and stripped him down, after I gloved up, than into the tub with him, got him all squeeky clean and dressed sitting with a plastic pumpkin halloween bucket LOL..gloved up again and bagged up all his bedding giving hubs orders on how to wash these at the laundramat. He had to drive 15 minutes to get to the all nighter..but he washed them in one of the big machines all together as everythings white, when they were done he loaded them into the van in a clean bag wet , went back in and started the washer again on hot with chlorine bleach in the main wash soap dispenser and left after it started...I seperated the bedding at home doing 3 loads and of course Chlorine Bleach in the last 7 minutes, lol notice I added a few minutes to the bleach time. I sprayed Lysol spray on the plastic mattress cover, thank god I still use them on the boys beds, let it sit 20 minutes and went in and scrubbed the plastic cover, dug out a crappy batman sheet set that's pilling and a old quilted mattress cover falling apart..of course once he laid down in the clean bed he puked again..I started all over again except this time I threw awa y the old crappy bedding, I knew there was a reason I saved this stuff, disposable sick bedding LOL..another bath..PJ's and underwear in the trash since they were just so gross...and off to the ER for Zofran. Of course I scrubbed the bed, every inch with antibacterial wipes and its all freshly made with a child feeling much better and all tucked in after another bath, this one because the stomache illness is just so gross....I bought another large Clorox reg. Today and have Tims bed all set up with old disposable bedding, because when one gets it they all will. Do you all think I'm to parinoid by sending the bedding to the laundramat for a prewash? LOL.. I also ran in the Dollar Tree and bought two 10 packs of toothbrushes for a buck a pack...disposable toothbrushes for the next week LOL.

I don't intend to be rude but I think any one of us would be mortified to know that 'a friend' started a thread in a pubic forum to discuss whether or not posters (strangers) know someone as 'odd' and possibly 'personality defected' as Oakley's friend. He likely long ago realized that unless he stayed with safe topics such as the weather, Gunsmoke and history it may be broadcast far and wide by said friend (who admits she has been 'watching' him for at least a year). This thread takes talking behind someone's back to an entirely new level, so ungracious, and so unfriend-like.