the insanity continues over stupid halloween.

My poor DH got to have a 40 minute fight in front of the elementary school with BM this morning. So much wrong I can't even put it all down.

This sucks. Here's the background.

Halloween is one of the holidays I'm starting to dread and are hoping ya'll can give me some advice.

Not exactly step related but I'm sure many of you folks have been thru this and I'd love some advice.

I have 2 bd's 5 & 6. My ex is a mess. We divorced 5 years ago and he continues to have issues with alcohol and the law. Over the last year, he's lost visitation during the week because he lost his drivers license. Most recently, I've discovered that he has active warrants for his arrest for driving and other convictions. Because of active warrants, I had to set the new rule that if he is actively wanted by the law, he doesn't get to see his kids on his weekends. (I had to watch him get hauled away on probation violation when I was married to him- my kids do not need to see that!)He rarely calls and is getting less and less involved.

I went to my first counseling session a few weeks ago, completely overwhelmed with my world as a mom, wife, step mom, FT employee etc. and pretty quickly, the therapist, who is also a step mom, suggested that DH and I come to therapy togehter. DH and I have experienced our own troubles over time and he agreed to go to my next session to see how we could make things better.

So DH and I try to both be involved in all the kids stuff. I've always tried to go to conferences for the SK's so I know their teachers and understand what's going. DH comes to my BK conferences. But I hate it!

OK folks, bear with me. Much rage, small keyboard, horrible, evil, manipulative BM!

She has no sense of boundaries whatsoever! Although there are several years of history that set me up for the heightened annoyance but in the last 24 hours, she has:

I think I've needed a forum like this for a while. I'm completely overwhelmed with being a sm. It's been 2 years and I keep waiting for it to get easier and it's not. My kids aren't faultless but I'm exhausted from constantly fighting with, negotiating with and hearing sass back from 2 kids who are not mine. One sk is manipulative, dishonest and rude to everyone she encounters. The other is argumentative, disrespectful and jelous that I'm in the picture at all. BD wants to make them happy for the 2 weeks a month they are with us but I'm bone tired from dealing with it all.