But while it appeared that history was repeating itself when, after falling out spectacularly with her father, who had controlled her finances and life for years, her own two sons publicly shunned her, criticizing her parenting skills and refusing to even respond to text messages. However, the frost is reportedly beginning to thaw after a Mother’s Day phone call between the troubled singer and her boys Sean (18) and Jayden (17), has led to the possibility of a reconciliation. Family feuds are not exclusive to the rich and famous and as everyone knows, a simple argument can spiral totally out of control and result in siblings not speaking to each other or adult children refusing to speak to their parents.
It can lead to months, years or even decades of hurt on all sides, with one or both parties refusing to make an effort to patch things up. Sheila McBride* knows only too well what this is like as she has been in the midst of family arguments for the past five decades. “My husband has four siblings and it was clear to me from day one that he was the black sheep of the family,” she says.
“His sisters have always been dramatic, bossy and self-centred, while his younger brother moved away to America at the first possible opportunity. When I got married, we moved into the home house and together, took over the running of the farm. “But, over the years, there was always an argument about something or other relating to how it was being run and how we were looking after his.