Feeling drained by older sister’s divorce and now she wants to move in with me.
I need advice on how to establish boundaries with my very sensitive sister. My (22f) sister (32f) got divorced 6 months ago. Bit of background on divorce, my sister gained about 100 pounds and never lost it which not only seems to cause problems between her and her husband but just in her own life alone. I love my sister and feel badly for her, but my parents and I all also know she is highly sensitive and arrogant and very difficult to get along with.
She has always been fairly obsessed with me. Even before her divorce she texts me 10+ times a day even texting more when I don’t respond. She loves to loudly say in front of other people that I’m the pretty sister or that I’m lucky im not fat. It’s so weird When we’re home at our parents she tries to hug me constantly and is very cheesy. Like we’ll be having a casual convo about something as normal as the weather and she gets serious and says something like “I’m really proud of you. Always remember that.” And it’s incredibly awkward and out of the blue. The last time I told her I didn’t want a 3rd hug in a night she lashed out and called me a bitch.
With her divorce I tried to be extra friendly and kind to her. I hung out with her a lot during the divorce as we live in the same city. But now she wants to MOVE IN with me or at least move into my building. I don’t want her around me all the time and my parents won’t say anything to her for fear of riling her up. I need space from her and no offense but I also don’t want to live with someone in their mid 30s post divorce who is also a chronic homebody. I’m 22 and want to have fun. I know I ultimately won’t be forced to live with her or anything but how do I also start to slowly establish some social boundaries between us.
Posted Apr 1, 2026, 8:27 PM UTC