Dear Amy: I’ve been dating my boyfriend for the past year. I brought my pets and we moved in with him this past December. He’s an amazing guy – the absolute best!

The issue arises with his house. He owns a three-bedroom house.

Last July his sister and her family moved in with him.

This took the total number of people from two adults, three cats and two dogs to four adults, six kids, three cats and two dogs.

My cats have reached their limits with the children and avoid them.

My dogs love to try to be around the kids but because one is a puppy, they complained and now my dogs regularly have to stay outside or in the garage.

I have absolutely HAD IT with this family.

I feel like my boyfriend and I have become prisoners in his house because there is constant drama and chaos.

When his sister’s family has fights, we basically have to sit in our room, or in the garage (we ended up converting it to a bedroom) while they slam doors and stuff inside the house.

And if we even TRY to start to bring stuff up, it’s World War III.

How do I tell my boyfriend I’m sick of how they take advantage of him and disrespect his house and belongings?

I get that they were there when I moved in, but I want them GONE, ASAP, but I don’t want to be the bad guy!

– Woman, Standing on the Edge

Dear Standing: Even though you maintain that this family has encroached upon your boyfriend – and you, by your own account the family already lived there when you moved in. (They moved into the house in July, and you moved in in December.)

You have framed this as an issue of them crowding you out, but you made a choice to move in when they were already there.

I point this out to emphasize the fact that you don’t have a valid reason to put your foot down about this crowded house.

This arrangement obviously isn’t working out for you or the animals you are responsible for.

Your boyfriend might be overwhelmed, but if he wants his sister and her many family members to find other housing, he needs to tell them.

He sounds like a very generous person, but if he, you, his family members, their children, and the animals are all miserable, then things need to change.

Getting his family members to move out might be a difficult prospect, especially for someone like your guy, who hides in his bedroom.

You, however, are an individual with choices, and if your living situation isn’t healthy for you and your animals, then you should find housing elsewhere.

You can email Amy Dickinson at [email protected] or send a letter to Ask Amy, P.O. Box 194, Freeville, NY 13068.