Can I ignore a Facebook "friend" request from a relative?

Helenback
Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:07:39 +0000

Sorry to shatter illusions Spideygirl, but I tried that approach for literally 20 years with the in-laws. I even went so far as to ask a brother-in-law that had always been unpleasant to me to be Godfather to my son. My approach, my philosophy regarding this was that family is first, and though we may not always be personally in sync the important thing was that our children grow up feeling part of something bigger and loved by lots of adults. I felt that I could overlook his behavior, that I could be above it, and that by consistently offering my kindness, respect, love because that is the sort of person I wanted to be. It did not work. I was the only person in the family to ask him to be a godparent, and yet, three different times when I mentioned him being my son’s godparent he acted surprised. “Really? I’m his godfather?” That can’t really be any clearer, can it? At a certain point you sometimes have to back away from people or you’re just asking for abuse.