Dear Trying: It sounds like Jordan’s childhood was tainted by trauma, which means some of her behaviors in adulthood may be strange or upsetting to you. Though it’s not your job to accommodate her insults, it might help to try to understand where she is coming from -- and the best way to learn more is to ask.

When a woman's son had a baby with his girlfriend — who already had three children — she vowed she would treat the girlfriend's children like they were family. But the girlfriend's behavior is making that difficult.

It wasn’t long, however, that Jordan said things to me like threatening to keep the kids from me. Additionally, both she and the kids are very motivated by material items. They pretty much value visits based on what they’ll receive from it.