Topic : 04/18 Ask Dr. Phil and Robin

dr. phil, i have a question for you.  i have one older brother and 2 younger brothers.  my mother treats them so much more different than me.  my oldest brother has his own business. but my first younger brother has 2 children.  i gave birth to my moms first grandchild.  for the first few weeks after i gave birth she helped me out so much.  she let me and my boyfriend stay at her house for 2 weeks so she could help us.  that was what she wanted us to do.  but when my brother had his 2 children, she doesnt have much to do with my daughter anymore.  i get the impression that my daughter is a bother to my parents when i bring her to see them.  they dont attempt to come to see her or me and we just live 10 minutes up the road from her.  she passes by my house on her way home everyday and she doesnt stop.  is there some thing that im doing wrong.  she doesnt make me feel welcome or my fiance' when we come to visit her house.  she tells me that its all in my head and i need to see a psychiatrist.  is this true.  she told me when i was in the military that i wasnt going to make it.  she has never told me how prowd she is of me,  for anything ive done.  to me it seems like my oldest and my first youngest brothers are her favorites out of all four of us.  i dont know what ive done to deserve to be treated like the outcast of the family.  but im at the point where i dont want to visit her because i dont feel welcome, and i dont want her to treat my child like she doesnt belong there.  i have tried to talk to her but when i do she says its my fault, its in my head, and that she doesnt treat us like that.  what should i do dr. phil.  p.s.  i love your show and i watch it every day.  thanks,  confused about family.

Is that the way most people dress their boys in the south _now_? I think our country is getting more and more blended for many reasons, the internet being a huge reason.

Southern or not, most people don't dress their boys like that anymore...maybe I'm completely wrong...but obviously since she has gotten comments from people it might be an idea of the past.

There is nothing inherently wrong with dressing a boy like that. But that woman isn't raising her son in a vacuum.

The southern young man with the motorcycle worries me. He has chosen to buy for a first bike one of the fastest machines on the market, what we call in the south a crotch rocket. These bikes are very unsafe and in my opinion are designed to entrap a rider. The rider, when aboard the bike fits within the contour of the bike. If the bike wrecks and slides on its side the rider will not usually be thrown from the bike but actually drug along with it until it stops. My son in law was killed last year from the inexperience of riding this type of bike. My advise is to buy something that is not so powerful, ride it for a couple of years then if you must, buy a crotch rocket. Doctor Phil this like going from a Volkswagon to a Lambroghini or from a 100sl honda to a 250 elsenore. This boy will get seriously enjured or killed from riding this bike as a first bike. I have like you Dr. Phil ridden bikes since I was 15 years old and the safest thing to ride is a dirt bike although I own a BMW and Yamaha street bike. The thing to stress is to ride on the street, if you must, just for wind in you face not for the horsepower beneath you.. Sam Pardue

     I dressed my two little boy, how 30 and 32 years old, in rompers untill they were potty trained, sometime between 2 1/2 and 3 years old.   They looked so much neater in them.  Their little (what I call beer bellies) didn't stick out, as most little ones have.  I am from the mid-west, not from the south either.  I even sewed some one-piece outfits myself.  I also liked to have snaps between the legs so it was easier to change them.

Come on down and take a look on Sunday mornings at any church in the South---not Texas, and see the nice clothes that little boys wear.   Yes, little boys are CURRENTLY dressing in beautiful, heirloom clothing.

I agree that little boys can/should be dressed in clean, bright, attractive clothing, but good grief, ladies. Not everyone needs to dress their children in handmade clothing--and not everyone can afford to dress them in such designer duds. I think support  can be offered minus just a *little* of the condescension/ignorance your post shows. I grew up wearng hand-me-downs (often my brothers) and it didn't make me a lesbian! Even though I am a "damn yank"....  Be careful of those stereotypes, my dear.

I am a former Atheist (although I am not Robin). What would be wrong with doing something special for your mother such as attending church with her? You don't have to believe. You just need to know that it's GREAT do put oneself out for others and do what they want to do every so often. It won't hurt you (you won't get struck by lightening when you enter the church:) and your own mother doesn't need to be told where you stand on religion UNLESS she asks. Most mothers who suspect that their children are doing something they don't/won't like don't really want to know anyway! I would say "do the Christian thing" and put a smile on your mother's face by attending with her (she may be lonely and just want company because she loves you). You can be nice as an Atheist, too; I know I was!

Yes, I am defending the previous posts.  I think the only stereotype that exists speaks for itself from your post entitled "Holy Crap".    This in itself is sacrireligious, which is irreverance toward God.   I don't think anyone is condemning hand-me-downs or lesbians but simply making others aware that the little boy's clothing is appropriate for his age and is regarded to be very nice clothing in the South on Sunday mornings at church.  And, hey, hey; it's not necessary to name-call and say that those who support that feeling are ignorant; the only ignorance seems to lie among you uneducated and uncultured regarding boys' clothing.