My Sister’s “Selective Hearing” Forced Me Into a Run-In With the Police. That’s Where I Draw the Line.

My sister, Ally , has a severe selective listening problem, writes Care and Feeding .

She has a type A personality and a 4.0 GPA during high school, undergraduate, and graduate school.

Recently, she didn't remember that I’d asked her to keep an eye on my bag while I went to the bathroom.

She was apologetic, but I found her apology cloying, annoying, and insincere. Since then, she’s been blowing up my phone nonstop.

If you’re tired of listening to your sister complain, don’t listen to her complain. Cut her off with news (or complaints) of your own, change the subject to something innocuous, or skip that coffee date with her. If she wanted your advice on how to raise her kid, she would ask you for it. It would be generous of you to keep listening.

The sadness is already there, and doing your best not to think about it only works for so long.

It's time to start working on (and working through) your grief about grandparenthood not being in your future.

There are plenty of ways to have a fulfilling and joyous life that don't include grandparenting or parenting.