Husband constantly sends online shopping packages to cousin’s apartment, protests when they refuse to keep hiding them from his wife: ‘I marked it return to sender’

Is it fair to expect a family member to help you keep a secret?

We all know that relationships are complicated, and there is no way that we can prevent ourselves from hurting other people’s feelings all the time. We’re all capable of making mistakes, being disappointing, or simply not living up to the expectations of others. It is impossible to enjoy the benefits of having loved ones if we can’t accept that there may be some difficulties as well.

This goes for every type of relationship, but it is not uncommon for many to believe that family members owe it to them the most when it comes to accepting and covering for their less-than-perfect behavior. There is an assumption that you should put up with just about anything just because you are related. This isn’t true, of course, and instigating boundaries with these kinds of relatives is nothing short of a necessity. If you don’t, they will continue to take liberties with your kindness and acceptance until it turns into a problem that is hard to run away from. That is when the real conflict starts, and more often than not, it does not end well.