Dear Prudence,
I am in my late 20s and my mother has remarried, to a man with three grown children. I met them at the wedding and spent all of 15 minutes in their presence. They seemed pleasant. My mother has a bizarre fixation on the idea that we all are going to be the Brady Bunch. She says things like “Your new sister is traveling soon” and “Remember, your new brother’s birthday is coming up.” She refuses to see me one on one anymore—everything has to include her husband’s children. My father remarried years ago and adopted my stepmother’s sons. They and my half-sister are my siblings—we grew up together, went to school together, fought over a shared bathroom together. I don’t know why my mother is pushing this but when I try to distance myself, she gets angry and defensive. How do I get her chill out?
—Not My Siblings