Emotionally abusive FIL
I just needed to vent and also am open to different strategies for how to deal with this. My partner and I live with his parents while we save up to move out. I've noticed a pattern however in that, every couple months, his dad takes out his anger on my partner whenever his dad is in a bad mood, especially about finances and threatens to kick me out as an added "fuck you" to my partner.
Just today, his dad went off on a 20-minute tirade about how lazy both my partner and I are and how we don't financially contribute to the household (even though we have offered several times to financially contribute and are turned down each down -- my partner's mom is the main financial "bread-winner" here and she aways refused whenever we offer saying that she just wants us to put it toward saving to moveout when we can since we desperately want me and need to) and he said that if I don't have a job with more hours by a certain month, then he's kicking me out. He also called my partner "a 10-year old child" because my partner's gaming room wasn't as neat as his dad wanted (keep in mind, nobody uses that room but my partner).
It just seems like my partner's dad takes it out on my partner and me as collateral and then my partner is spinning out and upset and talks to his mom about it and she agrees that the dad is being an asshole but then nobody continues the conversation or talks more about it. And everyone acts like nothing happened the next couple days or weeks until his dad's next blowout.
I just feel so emotionally unsafe here because it just feels like my housing/shelter can be taken away at any moment due to my partner's moods. I know I can't say anything to him or he absolutely will kick me out.
Any advice or fellow stories or anything to help me feel better about this? Thank you so much for reading.
Posted Aug 5, 2025, 10:08 PM UTC