I think dads get tired of receiving ties as gifts, and I like to think outside the box when it comes to presents anyway. Not to mention, anytime I got my dad something pricey, he’d get upset that I spent that kind of money on him. Plus, dads love handmade things.

I’ve rounded up some awesome affordable gifts and some DIYs that you can give your dad this Sunday. Click through and see what you can get for your pops!

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I mean, moms give us life. That’s amazing! They also feed us, wash our clothes, take care of us when we’re sick. They offer sage words of wisdom and are there when you need a good cry. Moms do a lot for us, and this is their day of appreciation!

You should appreciate your mom everyday, but this is a day totally reserved for her! If you haven’t made plans for your mom next week yet, it’s okay! Your mom doesn’t expect you to give her a crazy and extravagant day. But this is your chance to pamper her!

Click through for your complete guide to mother’s day!

If that’s your case, you may want to take a look here in the Gurl comments. There’s a good chance you may find a fellow reader who can relate to your situation or has ideas that could maybe help you establish a more positive bond with your parents by sharing their personal experiences, situations and relationships with their parents.

Here’s what you have had to say in the past about your relationship with your parents and how to deal with them when you don’t always see eye to eye.

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How would you describe your relationship with your parents? Do you have any helpful tips for teens about dealing with your parents? Tell us in the comments!

How To Deal With Strict Parents

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If your parents had affairs, history may repeat in your love life, too. | Source: Shutterstock

Lots of things affect your relationships and love life–where you live, who you hang out with–but your parents’ marriage and any affairs they have actually have one of the most profound effects on how your own love life turns out when you get older. Studies show that’s even true if your parents’ affairs went down when you were too young to understand what was happening at the time.

This is especially true if your parents are or are getting divorced as the result of an affair.

One expert, a psychologist named Judith Wallerstein, explained that the impact of divorce (especially from affairs) can be lasting and traumatizing no matter how old you are when your parents split up. “It affects personality, the ability to trust, expectations and the ability to cope with change,” she said.

This is because what you see your parents do and how you see your parents interact at home becomes the standard for you–if that’s what you see and perceive as normal, then that’s what you’re most likely to reenact in your own love life later on.

One couples counselor revealed that when one partner has an affair, she always asks if his or her parents did the same–and the answer is almost always yes. The experts also revealed that adult children of divorced parents who’d had affairs can be more promiscuous, have more short-term relationships and more sexual partners, and keep sexual pleasure separate from emotional attachment. (Frankly, as long as all partners involved are safe, healthy, happy and respectful, that’s not necessarily a bad thing–we’re not here for that slut shaming nonsense.)

What’s more, the more your parents argue in front of you–especially for guys–the more likely, experts noted, that you’re prone to affairs when you grow up.

Does this all mean you’re doomed to a crappy love life if your parents split up or had affairs? Nope! But it’s a good thing to know if you start noticing patterns in your own behavior, because it can help you–and potentially a counselor–see the root causes and help address them. Plus, if you’ve witnessed your parents having affairs and the fallout it can cause, you may swing in the opposite direction and be less likely to stray because you’ve seen the damage it can do. Just because your past influences your future, it doesn’t mean it controls it!

Do you think your parents’ relationship plays a role in your own love life? Do you think you’d be more prone to have affairs if you knew your parents did? Tell us in the comments!

Why do we always blame the other girl for affairs?

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No, we’re not just friends. We are d-a-t-i-n-g. Source: Shutterstock.com

I don’t really know what the current status is on the whole Miley Cyrus – Liam Hemsworth situation, but as far as I know, they are still together. That’s why I was intrigued to hear that Miley’s dad, Billy Ray Cyrus, referred to them as “great friends” when asked about the duo during an interview with Nightline.

Now, it’s not odd to me to say people in a relationship are friends. This particular comment just really reminded me about my own parents who always seemed to think my boyfriend and I were just “friends,” even when I was really upfront about us dating – and had been dating for a while. So why wouldn’t they just accept the use of the “boyfriend” title?

My parents were never passive-aggressive or mean about my boyfriend, but I just don’t think they realized I was in a serious relationship because I didn’t really date for a long time. I think their reluctance to call him my “boyfriend” spawned from that and instead he just was considered one of my good friends – who you know, I talked about a lot and went out on dates with… Instead, my mom would keep dropping hints about family friends who had single sons and wouldn’t ask me about my boyfriend. It was weird.

So how did I get my parents to acknowledge my boyfriend wasn’t just another one of my friends? The most straightforward way is just to talk to them. They might not even realize that they’re being dismissive of your relationship until you point it out. Like with my parents, it could just be an innocent thing, rather than them not liking the guy. You’re their baby and it may just be weird for them to acknowledge that you’re growing up and dating. I know, it’s not really fair, but at least you can understand where they’re coming from.

It also probably didn’t help that I was dating my boyfriend at college, so my parents didn’t really know him and barely ever saw the two of us hanging out. I can see why it didn’t seem “real.” That’s why trying to make your boyfriend more present is helpful. Invite him to hang out and get to know them with you! The fact that you want him to meet them can clue your parents in that this guy is special.

Meeting his family can be another way to help your parents see him as your boyfriend, because it may dawn on them that to this other family, you are their son’s girlfriend. His parents could very well be going through the exact same “weirdness” your parents are!

There is also the chance that maybe you’re not picking up on something he does that really bothers your parents. As I said, with my parents it was less about my boyfriend and just more about the whole dating situation, but you should at least be open to hearing them out if they are worried about this guy you are seeing. They want what’s best for you and might see something you’re missing.

Really, just give it some time. My boyfriend has now been around a while and gotten to know my family so I don’t get those “your friend” comments any more. It can be really annoying, but there could be a lot of reasons to explain the parental behavior. Rather than writing off your parents as just not understanding and being awful, try and see if there’s a way to work it out so they can learn to say the “boyfriend” word.

Have your parents ever just not acknowledged the person you were dating? What did you do about it? Did you ever find out why they were so reluctant? Tell us in the comments!

If you have super strict parents, you must read this.

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If you have the kind of parents who set a lot of rules and are basically just super strict about everything from grades to boys to friends, trust me when I say that I feel your pain. I love my parents to death and owe them everything, but when I was in high school, they made my life incredibly frustrating by being ridiculously strict.

My freshman year of high school was when my parents started getting super strict. At first, it was all about demanding good grades from me (which, fine, I can understand). A’s were the best, B’s were sometimes acceptable, C’s and D’s – never. F’s? Forget about it. This was manageable. I could deal with being forced to do well in school. Fine, whatever. But at some point, my parents decided that they didn’t approve of my friends. Actually, they hated them. This made things difficult, to say the least.

For one thing, I was never allowed to go to anyone’s house unless my mom called to talk to their parents first. As I’m sure you can imagine, this was humiliating. My mom would call my friend’s parents to check up on me to see if I was really going there or to see what we were doing.

The worst moment of this checking up on me nonsense? One night, I was going to hang out with a friend we’ll call L and a bunch of other girls. My mom particularly disliked L and insisted on speaking to her parents before I went there. Trying to avoid the situation, I lied and said I didn’t have her number – so instead, she dropped me off and wouldn’t let me out of the car until she spoke to them. That was when L had to awkwardly explain to my mom that her parents couldn’t talk because they were taking a bath… together. I was never allowed to go over there again. Seriously.

Major sad face | Source: ShutterStock

I could go on and on about all of the times that my parents embarrassed me in front of my friends by being super strict and overprotective, but I won’t, because the memories are painful. Moving on to their attempt at ruining my first real relationship.

When I was 15-years-old, I started dating a guy we’ll call D. D and I got very serious very quickly and my parents didn’t like it. They didn’t approve of D, who was your typical insufferable emo teenager (my mom wanted me to date the blonde, tall, good-looking captain of the football team. No, this is not a movie – just my sad life).

D and I were obsessed with each other, but my parents weren’t having it. They quickly made a rule that I wasn’t allowed to see D during the week, only on the weekends… and even then, they’d find an excuse. Since we couldn’t hang out together Monday-Thursday, D and I would talk on the phone for all hours of the night. We literally used to fall asleep on the phone together. This was, for some reason, my parent’s worst nightmare. Even though it didn’t affect them in the slightest bit, they decided it had to stop.

So, what did they do? Oh, what any rational parent would do – collect all of the house phones (this was before all teens had cell phones) and hide them in their room, obviously. Guys, they would literally disconnect our phone connection every single night and hold all of the phones hostage so I couldn’t use them.

Many more things like this happened. There were points of my high school life where I literally wasn’t allowed to do anything. My parents and I fought on a regular basis, which I don’t even think needs to be said.

We get along much better now | Source: ShutterStock

So, is there a happy ending to this story? Thankfully, yes. At some point during my senior year, my parents realized how completely insane they were being, took a chill pill and relaxed. They got to know my boyfriend and actually started to really like him. They started to accept my friends and realized they probably shouldn’t keep me away from them. My 11 PM curfew disappeared, replaced with… no curfew. I know, it was a dramatic turn.

The worst part about all of this? Okay, there are two worst parts. One: I was never even a bad kid. For real. When considering the other things most high school kids do and go through, my parents should have been on their knees thanking me for being the daughter I was. I got good grades, I never once got detention in my entire life, I had a part-time job all through high school, I never did drugs, I very rarely drank, I was in all sorts of after school activities… I mean, I was even voted Most Shy in high school, for crying out loud!

Sure, I did a few bad things because everyone makes mistakes, but for the most part, I was a great kid. It actually hurt my feelings that my parents were so suspicious of my very move, enough to feel the need to restrict me from doing anything. I worked my butt off to impress them and to do the right thing and it was never acknowledged. It was the worst. I get that they love me and just wanted what was best for me, and I appreciate their intentions… I just wish they had gone about it a different way.

The second worst thing? I have a younger brother and sister and guess what? They have literally always been allowed to do everything they want – and both of them are harder to handle than I was.

If you have parents similar to mine, the only thing I can say to you is this: it gets better. Usually. I mean, maybe not for everyone. But for most people, it does. My advice? Try your hardest not to rebel. Try to reason with them in the most rational way that you can. In the worst case scenario (like mine), you just have to wait it out. Hopefully, your parents will eventually realize that they can trust you… and then they’ll apologize. Hey, it happened to me!

Are your parents strict? Have they ever embarrassed you in front of your friends or boyfriend? What rules do they give you? Tell me in the comments!

Your complete guide to dealing with stress

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Homophobic parents couldn’t put a damper gay and lesbian students for their prom! | Source: Shutterstock

A group of homophobic parents and one homophobic teacher–who didn’t even teach at the school or in the town in question–tried to block LGBTQ students from going to prom. Dude, WTF?

But! The school principal and awesome students didn’t let that happen. Did we mention the students are awesome? Because they’re awesome.

Here’s what happened.

On Sunday night, a group of students, parents and staff from Sullivan High School in Indiana met at a church to discuss whether gay and lesbian students should be allowed to walk in the march to prom. Some people (including a few particularly zealous students) opposed this, but the principal, David Springer, told them, “Anyone should be allowed to go to the prom. Of course, a girl could go out with another girl or if they didn’t have a date or that was their choice.”

That led to another group pretty much being like, “Well eff that then, we’ll have our own prom without those pesky homosexuals!”

A teacher from another school–dude, why was she even there?–actually said, when asked if she thinks homosexuals have a purpose in life (uh, what kind of question is that?), “No, I honestly don’t. Sorry, but I don’t. I don’t understand it.” Yeah, she obviously doesn’t–because she’s regarding them as some bizarre “other” as opposed to people and human beings who just happen to like making out with people who have the same equipment down there. What difference does it make?

Thankfully, just about everyone realized that this woman is clearly an idiot, and even the church came out and was like, “Uh, no.”

“Our church has no involvement in this whatsoever. It’s a community thing where people have met here,” the church pastor Dale Wise said.

Students agreed. “You should be able to go with whoever you want. You shouldn’t be discriminated against for what you are, what you believe in,” Sullivan High School junior Emily Butler said. Smart girl!

Another student had certain conditions for gay and lesbian students to attend prom, but we sort of think these should apply to everyone: “As long as they aren’t sitting there and kissing on the dance floor and grinding on each other, stuff like that, I don’t have a problem with that, I don’t see what’s wrong with it. Prom is for everybody. It’s a high school experience.”

Be honest: No one really wants to see anyone else, male or female, gay or straight, making out or dry humping on a dance floor. Or anywhere else other than a video feed on a laptop in the privacy of their own homes. Let’s not have double standards here, sweetie.

Meetings are still being held to determine whether a separate, “no homo” event will be held.

Listen, if you don’t agree with homosexuality, that’s your right. But to treat homosexuals, who science has proved time and again are born that way (you go, Gaga),  like second class citizens in a public school–paid for by taxes by both straight and LGBTQ people, because, well, taxes are universal–is not only ignorant, but also simply morally and possibly legally wrong. If you want purely heterosexual proms, go to a private school and pay for it yourselves.

Do you think the homophobic parents in this story are right or wrong to want to ban gay and lesbian students from prom? Would you have a separate prom if you knew gay and lesbians students would be at your prom? Do you think a separate prom should be held for only heterosexual students? Do you think gay and lesbian students are being discriminated against in this story? Tell us in the comments!

Are you homophobic? Then you might be gay. No, seriously.

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Source: Shutterstock

HUH? I had the same reaction until I read what happened. So Aubrey, being an only child, is pretty close with her parents. Except they’re too close. If you think your parents are overbearing and overprotective, they don’t even compare to the Irelands.

According to HackCollege, Aubrey’s parents reportedly “drive over 600 miles to her college in order to ‘surprise’ her, they also installed tracking software on her computer and cellphone to monitor every site she visited, email she sent, and phone call she made.”

Uhhh…creepy?Source: polyswag

Aubrey said in a court hearing that “It’s just been really embarrassing and upsetting to have my parents come to my university when I’m a grown adult and just basically slander my name and follow me around.” She tried multiple times to break away and be more independent, but her parents pushed back by accusing her of drug use and sexual promiscuity. They also told the school that they thought their daughter had a mental illness and threatened to take her home.

Well, Aubrey decided to stand up for herself and her freedom so she filed a civil stalking suit against her parents in September. They responded by demanding the money they paid for her tuition be returned, but mediators sided with Aubrey. Her parents called her a liar and said that Aubrey was just “a good actor.”

Judge Jody Luebbers and the court ordered that the Irelands stay at least 500 feet away from Aubrey until this September. In an interview with ABC News Aubrey said, “I never wanted this to happen,” and that “it got to the point where that was basically my last option.”

Yowza. So if you think you have helicopter parents, they’re probably not as bad as these folks. Unfortunately, this got to an extreme level but props to Aubrey for taking a stand and doing what she needed in order to be an independent person. Hopefully her parents will realize how they were negatively impacting their daughter’s life.

Do you have really overbearing parents? How do you handle it? Would you ever file a lawsuit if you were in Aubrey’s situation? Tell me in the comments!
 

Jennifer Lawrence doesn’t have this problem, her parents are precious

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Our favorite ladies over at Crushable tipped us off to an Entertainment Tonight segment from last night’s SAG Awards where JL’s parents gushed about how they have an amazing daughter – but not in a super braggy way, you know? Like in a, just two super sweet and proud parents speaking the truth way. Check out the video below:

Basically, Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence and I should hang out, because talking about how amazing JL is has become one of my number one hobbies. Yet again, this snippet into the world of Jennifer confirms that she remains the most down-to-earth gal going. Who hasn’t been pretend embarrassed at their dad when he actually says something really nice?!

I find Jennifer so relatable, that I’ve convinced myself that this exact interview could easily have been my parents at my high school graduation. Only instead of a sweet award my actor friends gave me, I was holding a diploma, and instead of a designer dress, I wore a shapeless graduation gown. Also, instead of ET being there, it was just my math teacher. But still, the basic feel-goodness is the same!

It was nice to get to hear from her parents, especially since I remember being really touched by what Jennifer said about her family in her Golden Globes acceptance speech. As a girl with two brothers myself, I especially appreciated her shout-out to her siblings: “I wouldn’t be who I am today without you being mean to me, but then really supportive and loving constantly.” That basically sums up my relationship with my brothers. Seriously, JL, call me if you want to have one big family hang-out!

Did you watch the SAG Awards last night? Does seeing Jennifer’s super normal and nice family make you like her even more? Tell us in the comments!

Check out what Jennifer had to say about acting.

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