1) Be able to actually talk with your kids. Im not a parent but I am a kid without good relations to any of my families because they all made the same mistake. If your kid trusts you enough to talk to them, don’t mess it up by making the situation worse. Respond in a respectful manner. Respect goes both ways. 2) Support them. I am a female who grew up with over 8 brothers, but wasn’t allowed to do what they did. I wanted to be a mechanic growing up and I still do. My parents told me it was a mans job and to find something else. Supporting your kids will get you far in a relationship with them. 3) Make sure THEY feel loved. The problem I had most growing up was that I always felt like the second best. That I would never truly achieve anything. That I was a burden because I was curious. One way to avoid that is actually spending time with the kids. Doing and/or trying stuff they would like. Make sure they know you care about them.

As someone without the best family life, I feel like I may be able to help out here. My way of going about dealing with toxic people is to let them know it. Blocking them out of your social cue isn’t going to stop them or help you (at least in my opinion.) I personally tell them face to face what is bothering me and if they keep doing it, I let them know what will happen. I had to tell my own grandmother that if I left her house in bad terms, we wouldn’t speak again. With that being said, I’m about to move out and cut contract. Sometimes it’s easiest to just get it over with. I hope this helps!