Dear Prudence,
I’m 30 years old and come from a family of origin that has had some … issues to say the least. My parents divorced when I was a teenager and after rocky starts to both their single lives both found new spouses I felt I was lucky to have as stepparents. However, my stepmother’s behavior as of late is becoming a bit problematic, including gossip, drama, and triangulation, all fueled by drinking. As building healthy boundaries is something I’ve been working on, I called ALL my parents out on their toxic behavior recently (related to a specific issue—not just out of the blue). All the other parents accepted what I had to say and moved on, but since then my stepmom has totally stopped talking to me. She thinks I’m mad at her, which I wasn’t, but now as Christmas and my birthday have blown by without hearing from her, I am getting kinda mad. Should I allow a toxic person to just slip right on out of my life if she reacts this way to boundaries? Or should I go back in with a new boundary/feelings talk—knowing it may make things worse?
— Ghosted by Stepmom