Dee, I SO get this! It is very much along the lines of my two so-called step-daughters. They are two of the most selfish, hateful young women I've ever known. They're ages 27 and 25. For the past 7 years since my husband's divorce, they stayed around, taking everything they could get from their Dad. Even when I came into the picture, we had Christmas Eves together which now we believe only happened for what they could get. Example: Two years ago, he bought the oldest daughter (a single, working mother) a new computer, loaded to the max with all the bells and whistles. When she finally got it hooked up 3 months later, she gave him her email address on the same day as the hook up. He excitedly emailed her and she never returned it, even though she later admitted to receiving it. They've never "had the time" to call, never responded to his calls to just say hi, forgotten his birthday, groaned loudly about Father's Day where it was never convenient or was "no big deal" as they would say. And thank you's??? Forget that...never happened. This has gone on forever. Finally Frank came to his breaking point when the oldest daughter threw a dramatic fit at him on her birthday when he wanted to treat she and the granddaughter to a day at the fair. That was 1 year and 4 months ago. Everyone stopped talking at that point. We went through the holidays with no word even though he sent cards and gift certificates...never a thanks...nothing. Last year he went to each daughter privately and tried to get to the bottom of this. The meetings were sweet and full of tears and he never heard from either one again. Later we found out there had been lies to make him feel bad, etc. We also found out that the younger daughter was ripped at him because he didn't offer "enough" money toward her $30,000.00 "princess wedding." She threw us out of the wedding plans and UNinvited us to the wedding which was last August and probably one of the worst days Frank has ever endured. The older daughter banned us from her life because her grandfather had only left money to Frank almost three years ago and NOT her!!!! These two have stomped on his heart like I've never seen before. After the wedding, I've watched him become more hardened than ever toward his kids. He took them off his life insurance, out of his will and has pretty much written them off from everything. They feel they're entitled to everything and the only thing that speaks to them is MONEY, plain and simple. It's sad to see him have to go cold toward them just to protect his feelings and he's a very sensitive man. And this same man has been the one that has driven miles in snowstorms to fill their cupboards, create a birthday or Christmas for his granddaughter when times were tough, get the younger one out of scrapes she's gotten into, fix cars in the freezing cold so they'd have wheels...arrrrrrrghhhhhhh! Okay, I'll stop but I realize the intense feelings that selfish children can make happen. I'm so angry at them...you wouldn't believe it. But their sole allegiance is to their mother who has effectively taught them to lie, cheat and steal...whatever will benefit their entitled little pointed heads. She can have them!