You are here

Adult stepson

Lizz's picture

Gosh, I don't know where to begin. I am new here, first day so not sure how this works exactly. I hope this is a safe place to show I am human and have human emotions, some right some wrong. Basically my husbands 30 year old son has been causing some trouble. I find myself being very angry, resentful and hurt not just by his son's actions but in not being defended by my husband. 

I am a clean freak and have been clinically diagnosed with both OCD and severe ADHD. They do not go well together. My husband and I married about a year ago and we dated for two years before that. I saw some warning sign that I should have paid attention to, but his son was always very nice to me. The warning signs I saw were that his son would just stop talking to him for whatever reason, and most of the time my husband had no clue why. So, my husband would text him over and over again. "hey are you okay?" Hey is there something I did" "Hey whatever I did I am sorry" "Hey would you like to get together for dinner so we can talk" Sometimes it has been for a couple of weeks and this time for 2 months. It was actually quite nice, but I have found myself losing respect for my husband. The reason his son knows he can do this is because he has two sons my husband loves, and his son holds them as pawns.

This is a very long and drawn out ordeal so I won't go into details. Basically his son was extremely rude to me and I was a little rude back.  There are a lot of people who don't understand how much OCD and ADHD can affect a persons life. My OCD comes in the form of a clean house. I get up every morning before the sun comes up and I clean for hours every day. We just bought our dream home and it has fairly new white carpet on the staircases and upstairs. The grandsons were told, just like my grandsons were told to not use the front staircase as it is very white and I had it cleaned a few days before. I asked them to use the back staircase that leads to the gameroom so if they could take off their shoes it would be great. Well, they didn't and tracked clumps of mud all the way up the stairs. At that point I expected his son or his wife or both to jump up and apologize and take the kids shoes off. NOTHING! I said oh no, now there is mud. What did his son and wife do? They rolled their eyes. His son said oh just leave it and when it dried you can break it off. Uh no. So I swallowed my tongue and cleaned it. We went outside and we have some acreage, we live in Texas. We have an adorable potbelly pig, chickens a parrot and dogs. He proceeded to tell me that pigs were nasty and I can't believe you got one. I said well actually she is not nasty. She potty trained in one day, she doesn't shed, bark, get on the furniture or chew. She doesn't smell , unless she has gas which I admit is when I let her outside. She mostly wants outside but may come in for an hour or two. She has the intelligence of a three year old...hey wait!! Why am I justifying the fact I have a potbelly pig? It is none of his business. Basically I had a couple of glasses of wine, not a good idea when already agitated. So, I just told him he was wrong and she wasn't dirty.

Anyways it got worse from there and he ended up leaving and not talking to us for a blissful two months. When he decided he wanted to talk he let us know we were going to talk to him and he was coming over because we both needed to hear something, uh no. We can meet somewhere but I don't need this angry grown man yelling at me in my home, or anywhere frankly. So my husband met him and he unleashed threw things in my husbands face that happened when he was 14 etc. Said he basically doesn't respect women because they hold grudges pout etc. Not very self aware huh? Then he proceeds to text me really mean hateful stuff telling me what I will do and say or he will not allow me to be around his family. Now you guys don't know me but I would never allow my kids to talk to me like that and of course my husband didn't defend me and ask him to stop talking to me that way. I swallowed my pride apologized for my part but he continued to rant. I apologized again, fell on deaf ears. Now I am really mad, hurt at my husband and getting angrier by the day. The clincher is that the son called my husband and my husband said why don't we go to the zoo? His son said okay and my husband said "Well, can Elizabeth go? Then my husband actually comes to me and says Jake said you can go!!

I said OH could I please? Seriously. How do I get over the anger and resentment I have towards my husband and his son? If I tell his son like it is then he might walk away for good and my husband would blame me. If I stay quiet I feel like a doormat and have lost respect for myself. I would love to hear your thoughts. Sorry so long!  Thanks

simifan's picture

You have every right to be angry at DH & SS. SS acted abysmally. I have very little respect for a man who doesn't defend his woman. I'd be NC with SS & DH would have a long ways to go before he would regain my trust. After many years here, I think it becomes a when not an if when a man refuses to back his wife. 

Lizz's picture

It is nice to hear that I am not the bad guy for once. It is funny because my husband told me I was costic to Jake and I admit I said some things back to him. I didn't mention half of it because it was too long. My husband and I have a strained relationship anyways because we are both headstrong and always have to have the last word it seems. I mentioned counseling and he stopped behaving the way he was. We have actually gotten along an entire week. The conversation about the zoo happened this morning. I am sure you guessed by now I won't be going. 

 Since I am new here I don't know what all of these initials are. SS is stepson DH divorced husband?? What is NC? Thanks again!

diver111's picture

DH is dear husband

NC is no contact

SS is stepson

Rags's picture

You married a dumb ass.  Your DH should have jerked a knot in is idiot progeny's tail so tight that that idiot manipulative immature POS couldn't shit again.  Ever.

A man's loyalty is to his wife.  Not to  his ill behaved spawn.  At least that is the case with a real man. IMHO.

This relationship should have ended at "Jake said you can go."  If I were you my reponse would have been"Enjoy the zoo. Your key won't work when you get back."

Lizz's picture

Wow, I thought maybe I was being petty, but I was actually being pretty nice. He is being manipulated but I don't know that he will ever see it. I am trying to get over my hurt that he didn't defend me and I find myself getting more and more resentful. My husband told me he doesn't want to lose a relationship with his son or his kids. I told him that if he wants me to be a part Jake will have to apologize and then I get to defend myself to him. My husband said it would it would ruin the relationship forever, like I care. The problem is that then my husband will resent me for losing that relationship.

Rags's picture

Go on all of the activities, set your own boundaries, and bare Jake's ass when he goes toxic.  DH does not have to be involved in you enforcing your own boundaries with Jake.  Jake in all likelihood will not apologize. Which really does not matter IMHO.  Make his life a living hell by publicly and brutally baring his ass.  "Hey Jake, are you planning on raising your own children to be as toxic and disrespectful to you and your wife as you are to your dad and I?"

Have a few scripted zingers to fall back on, adapt them according when Jake changes his tactics and bare his ass.  Lather........... rinse............. repeat.

Your DH'd lack of balls really is relevant IMHO.

Good luck.

Kes's picture

Agree with what the previous two posters said.  I will add that your DH is being manipulated by his son, who uses the silent treatment on him until your DH is apologising for things he didn't do.  I used to get exactly the same from my exH, it is a horrible technique that narcissists use to control people.  Your DH is unlikely to change, so I would advise you to consider your options for the future, in the light of this.  Remaining in such a dynamic will always be extremely stressful.  

Lizz's picture

I am so stressed all of the time. The problem is that I do love my husband and he has apologized to me, yet still doesn't tell his son he doesn't talk to his wife this way. I can't stand this jerk he calls a son. I feel terrible that I feel this way. I also am not as young as I used to be and my husband is a good provider and we have many things in common together. We bought our home and have put a lot of time and money into it. It is really hard but I just want to say thanks because sometimes you just need someone on your side.

CLove's picture

Until he stands up to his toxic son. Emotional Terrorism is a powerful deterrent to this however. Let him have his relationship and you disengage. He can suck up to his spawn somewhere else. Focus on your bios, no more presents bought by you no more gatherings organized by you for Toxic Spawn.

Lizz's picture

Thanks, I guess I feel like he is betraying me when he goes with his son after the way his son talked to me. The last thing he said is "I don't want you around my family" I believe he actually thinks I care. I love his kids but in the end I have four of my own grandkids, they will do just fine. I don't need the drama!

 

CLove's picture

But in step world, it is rife with divided loyalties. Yes he should stand up for you and SS mistreatment of you, but he would lose the access to his grands. You in turn lose nothing. He is being held hostage by an emotional terrorist. That sucks for him.

The men see it as "thats my child! That will always be my child!" And then they get hit with "your going to choose your WIFE over your CHILD?" I get that all the freatking time, when conflicts arise and in the past when SDnow22 Feral Forger would disrespect me. Typically she would do it in an underhanded way. Then I would address it with her, and things would escalate, and now she has accused me of "traumatizing her in her past".  And if I tried to involve DH who logically should be having his wifes back on things and required his toxic spawn to be respectful, he would be accused of "choosing his wife" and what a horrible father.

We still get that to this day, and she hasnt lived with us in 4 years. Im disengaged. I dont feel that he is betraying me by going to visit with her (she only texts when she needs something, and of course thats my fault too! Because I took him away from her!!!) rather I encourage it. Then I cannot be blamed later for isolating him and controlling him.

Loxy's picture

It's pretty clear you married a weak man who doesn't have your back and he's not likely to change given he's been upfront he doesn't want to risk losing his son. So you have to decide if you can live with that or not. I personally wouldn't but we are all different. If you do decide to stay with DH then I would advise a complete disengagement from your SS. Tell DH he must catch up with SS outside your home and have nothing to do with him. 

Lizz's picture

His son probably thinks he got it all out and now I should be fine. He doesn't realize you can't talk to people like crap and once you have gotten out all of your anger then everything is okay. He will regret it because he isn't welcome to our home. No more cook outs by the pool, no more getting to see and be around the variety of animals, no more playing pool in the game room, no more target shooting with our new set up, no more riding the tractor (which he acts like an idiot on) and no more parties as he won't be invited. My husband has been a jerk, and has apologized and promised he will take up for me if it happens again, but he has provided me with a beautiful life, financial security, and we are raising my son. By the way I have four kids and my husband actually said to me that I have the most poite kids he has ever met. I said thanks, it's because I disciplined them and they respect me and others. He is good to my 15 year old son. So there are good qualities. Thanks again it has been nice to vent in a safe place