Dear Annie: My son is in a relationship with a young woman who had three children prior to meeting. They have had two additional children 11 months apart. “Jordan,” his girlfriend, grew up in foster care. She went through some rough stuff. When she became pregnant with my son’s first child, I vowed that I would treat her children like they were part of my family. My other children also agreed that that would be the only way to move forward.

It wasn’t long, however, that Jordan said things to me like threatening to keep the kids from me. Additionally, both she and the kids are very motivated by material items. They pretty much value visits based on what they’ll receive from it. Because Jordan grew up in foster care, I understand that she places value on “things” and receiving gifts, but I am single, trying to save for retirement and also trying to get by in a challenging economy.