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Stepson with aggression issues, uses biological son as punching bag?!! Help?

goingcrazyhere's picture

Completely lost right now.

I have a three year old son and we are pregnant with our first child together. My husband has a 6 year old son recently diagnosed with ADHD after I pushed his parents to get him evaluated and get him in therapy at the very least after recent events made it extremely difficult for me to have him around my son. I am a clinical therapist working on my phd dissertation right now so know a little bit about mental health issues etc.

My SS and I met when he was turning 4.. His dad had just gotten seperated from his mom. My son at the time was 1. My son adores his older brother but is scared of him, has hidden it from us when his brother hits him etc. My SS on the other hand has serious anger and jealous towards my son. He is a great kid when it's just him and us but if my son is there he will find ways when we arnt looking to punch the 3 year old or knock him down, trip him, kick him, almost took a shovel to him, pulled and twisted his fingers back, pinch him, etc. The first time I saw it was when the younger one was 1 and SS shoved his head into a kitchen cabinet... It isn't all the time that he gets caught but its almost every time he comes over for visitation.

The worse part is that this is how we typically find out something happened. SS will start to cry we come in and ask what happened. He tells us my son hit him. My son says SS has hit him. This goes on for a while the stories are completely different except SS story changes every time he tells it until he finally admits ( sometimes days later that he did in fact hit or punch his younger brother) at which point at times younger brother has been punished or SS has gone back to his moms. Sadly to this day we have never caught or ever seen younger brother hit back or retaliate or even instigate it.
My son is now dealing with anxiety issues, he's 3 and very attached to me due to not having anyone but me in his life till my husband and I met and now being introduced to his biological father. He is fearful of being alone, won't go upstairs by himself and easily scared of stuff. He has told me he is scared of his brother...

For the most part my husband has been accepting and seeing that there is a problem. But he has come to set higher expectations for our 3 year old due to the 6 year olds diagnosis. This is what causes the issues... While the entire family is expected to have patience and love for my SS the second my now 3 year old who has learned to ask "why" recently questions a command by my husband... Husband is annoyed or yelling at him... Husband says he does this with both kids but he has ADHD himself and makes excuses for his sons behaviors all the time... He likes to take his son on his lap and have long winded talks after he has punched his little brother as a "punishment" and my son and I are suppose to sit there and just wait while this fiasco occurs.. The worst punishment he has gotten for hitting my son is a 4-5 min time out on the stairs where he walks there without even a response or an apology and sits and then goes back to playing or watching TV or whatever else...
Most of triggers for his aggression is when my son will ask him for my sons toy back ( after a few hours) and SS doesn't want to share or take turns with my sons toys. SS toys have been off limits to my son but recently we discussed it and said this isn't fair and have forced him to share too if he wants to play with my sons toys. The lying is not just limited to my son and getting him or trying to get him in trouble but SS also lies about how he feels and even every day mundane things. He will lie about wearing his shoes or not wearing them or anything really... He has told me in private in the past when it just me and him that he doesn't feel anything usually and doesn't really care for anyone including me, his younger brother or his dad. He has had an increase in detachment since he found out about us having a baby of our own and gets awkward and weird if anyone talks about the baby.

On two occasions my husband and I have fought in front of him (we shouldnt have but being pregnant has reduced my tolerance) and both times SS has tried to get involved in the argument and go after me by being disrespectful and rude.

I can go on and on about the past 2.5 years of trying to co parent with my husband and his son and my son... I am at my wits end and have now for the 2nd time stated I will be changing my sons weekend with us so they arnt here together... I just don't have a solution and can't afford for my son to keep going through this..

ltman's picture

ADHD is no excuse for sociopathic behavior. Get Ss into more aggressive therapy. Does bm stir shit?

goingcrazyhere's picture

I have always said it seems more like odd and ADHD his school has seen issue and he has gotten in trouble at school too for punching a girl and another classmate during soccer etc... He refuses to do work unless his teacher puts him on a special behavior plan where he gets more attention ...

Mom fought me hard to take him to the school psychologist but both mom and dad want to act like that now that he's in therapy (no meds) he's magically fixed.. Until of course my husband has seen recent events...

I think part of the problem is it's hard seeing and hearing negative reports about ur kid all the time and sometimes he picks on my sons minor behaviors just to make himself feel better or subconscoously get back at me for bringing up issues with his son...

I refrain from using words like a sociopath and antisocial personality with my husband because it won't make progress just shuts him down and gets him defensive... So I talk to him like a clients parent and just do baby steps for now...

Over the last summer there were times I brought it up because I found SS killing animals, insects mostly and a bird egg we had discovered with a baby bird in it Sad

There are clear red flags but it's a battle getting him help and getting his bio parents to see that 6 year olds can be manipulative and lying and abusive...

I'm very afraid for the baby.., it makes me anxious thinking about it... Just don't know what to do...

On two occasions during those two blow out fights I did confront SS back and told him that I don't appreciate how he treats my son and I'm not stupid or naive to what he does but it does nothing... He just doesn't care or have an emotional reaction to anything anyone says to him..

My husband has at times said to him if he doesn't want to come over he doesn't have to etc and he will say ok and not come over ( after both his parents have just driven an hour each to do the exchange)..

Strengthh's picture

My SD was diagnosed ADD at 6 years old. Both parents had the attitude ok she's diagnosed, she's on medication, our job is done. But really, both mom and dad were complete lazy Disney parents before this, and the ADD and medications gave them the perfect exscuse to continue their laziness, my SD was always aggressive towards my kids. I finally had to stop visitation in my home when she was 11. It was not safe.

This boy is beyond help unless both parents help him. And it sounds like you have two lazy parents. Also, my SD set her own visitation since she was 3 years old. I am not kidding or exagerrating. I am not surprised that your H said that. He is giving that boy adult status. Make no mistake, in your H eyes and in your SS eyes, he is your equal.

goingcrazyhere's picture

Yea I think he uses the threat of not coming to visitation as a lever to control his dad... And it works

not2sureimsaneanymore's picture

First, hi and welcome! Your story isn't one that we haven't heard before, and our advice is usually the same: Unless your husband and you are both on board with what's going on and what kind of punishments are appropriate for this kind of behavior, it will continue because both of you (but more your husband) are allowing it to happen. I can say that in our household, we do NOT tolerate putting our hands on another person, and, quite frankly, I'd go at it from the angle that your SS will eventually try to hurt someone bigger and more powerful than he is, and he might get injured, you guys might get sued, or something even worse could happen. Likewise, I don't think your husband wants his child to grow up to become someone who lacks empathy (hitting other people means he lacks the connection of putting himself in the other person's shoes and knowing what it feels like for that to happen) because he can easily develop antisocial personality disorders--if he hasn't already. This is a serious issue and I feel so bad for your little boy, and the future child that you are going to have together.

I'm sure you recognize that this is dysfunction at best and that something needs to be done about it--the punishments need to fit the crime. I'd be taking away TV time, toy time, and whatever else is your SS's "currency." And his father needs to express the disappointment in his child not by giving him long winded heart to heart talks (which may be the root of it--he wants the "attention", good or bad) but by doling out a punishment, having the boy apologize, then MAYBE having a short talk to make sure he understands why he's being punished.

I hope you find something that works for you, but, I repeat, your husband needs to be the one ON BOARD with this--otherwise he's raising a downright psychopath.

goingcrazyhere's picture

I agree I wish there was a currency that worked with him but honestly he's so use to getting things taken away at his moms and at school he hasn't responded to anything.. He got TV taken away for lying to his dad about breaking his super expensive head phones and it didn't do anything....nothing fazes him... I think mom use to spank him but I don't advocate for that and refuse to let that happen here.. I've tried stars and reward charts and behavioral plans at home but because he's here for just a weekend he doesn't care..

And your completely right about my husband too but I think the problem is he sees his own childhood in his child.. It's hard not to empathize with ur own self..

Aeron's picture

Keeping them apart is a great short term plan. But the solution needs to be your DH getting his head out of his ass and parenting his kid and stepping up and momma bearing to protect your children. SS has no qualms abusing a younger smaller kid because he's jealous..... So what exactly do you think is going to happen with the newborn?

If SS isn't corrected, this is going to get exponentially worse as he gets older, bigger and stronger. The fact that he feels it's acceptable now to insert himself into arguments and be disrespectful to you does not bode well for the future. While the ship has sailed, I do not understand having a baby with a man who allows his child to abuse yours. I don't understand staying with a guy like that but here you are.

Stop punishing your kid over ss's lies. Stop allowing them to be together alone ever at all. Never let SS alone with the new baby. I'd say tell your husband to get his little terror under control or risk having every other weekend with the new kid and a restraining order so that SS isn't allowed around the new sibling, but it doesn't seem like that's an option you'd take seriously......

goingcrazyhere's picture

I've stood up to both of them for what happens to my son but I was always told
I'm overprotective and its normal for kids to physically fight... ( that wasn't normal in my household growing up)

And I have felt immense guilt for weongfully punishing my son and have apologized and made new rules that when the SS accuses my son of stuff everyone needs to fully investigate the issue before punishing anyone...

dH keeps expecting me to parent his son and his ex even said why doesn't ur wife do therapy with him and fix him.. Umm because he hates me and doesn't want me in his dads life lol..

Strengthh's picture

Sure it's normal for boys to fight. It's normal for kids to fight. I have twins. I understand the difference between children being children and resorting to physical fighting. Vrs.one child consistently targeting and bullying another.

And yes, as some one said, your SS will be bullied. Kids don't put up with that of shit from another kid for too long. He will be the boy that will be consistently " bullied" by other kids. And your H will take up for him, when what is really happening is other children have to defend themselves cause he's a bully .

goingcrazyhere's picture

I've said the same thing more times then I can remember... It's one sided and I'm being completely objective here and husband agrees it's an issue now after 2.5 years of it...

goingcrazyhere's picture

She has had a handful of sessions with him and she has gotten him to initially say he doesn't like his brother etc but now he tells her he does and he's great it's all perfect.. Then he comes over and karate kicks my kid...

goingcrazyhere's picture

SS and his parents have a long history of making excuses he was in daycare as an infant and aggressive when daycare teachers told parents they went after the daycare and said it must be other kids going after him... It's always something... Weather it's day care teachers school teachers picking on him, or other kids being mean to him, or something.

They feel he's picked on for being bad and labeled as the kid that's bad for his behaviors etc... Sadly that's the real world in the real world if u do bad things people don't want to be your friend or like you..

Strengthh's picture

That's my story exactly. SD had to be picked up several times a week from daycare. For hitting other kids. Her story always was the other kids started it. The teachers all said SD was the instigator. H and BM both said they believe their daughter because their daughter "doesn't lie"

Fast forward to a 12 year old that never ever had a friend in her life. An outcast. That's where your SS is going.

goingcrazyhere's picture

He tells us that kids don't want to be his friend and he doesn't have friends etc... I feel bad for him but not like my husband does... Because the real world won't tolerate SSs attitude...

Strengthh's picture

Your H is condemning that boy to a childhood as a social outcast. He will always be the child alone at recess, alone at lunch, alone on the playground, not getting invited to birthday parties ( and in case your H is deluded like mine, no you do not have to invite the whole class as long as you do not pass out invitations at school), not getting invited to kids houses, sleepovers, etc. the oddball. The loner.

My H did it too.....and for what , to maintain his precious visitation. No good will come of it. Either he will fall in with a bad crowd in high school or he will be a loner, even into adulthood. It is sad to do that to your own child.

No the real won't tolerate it for a minute.

couldyounot's picture

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Delilah's picture

Oh dear is all I can say. Unfortunately your dh completely relates to his sons condition and is willing to provide a whole host of excuses and justifications over the aggression he is exhibiting, he is failing massively to stand back from seeing himself in his son (and the fact they both habe ADHD) and assessing the reality of the situation. Its a huge shame because if your ss is lying, being violent, disrespectful, destructive , unable to demonstrate remorse or empathy NOW then wth is he going to be like in a few short years and in his teens?! :jawdrop:

Real love, to me, is the ability to stand back as impartially as possible and apply tough love ...for the sake of everyone, including ss, who dh and bm are turning into a monster. Killing animals?! Omg. He certainly would NOT be permitted to be around my 3 yr old child and not the new born. All it would take would be for him to twist your little one or put a pillow over them amd that would be that, and you can bet that dh will not be on board with watching his son like an eagle...after all hes justifiying the 6 yr olds actions over your toddlers now amd taking out his frustrations and fears on him also. Poor mite, no wonder hes traumatised!

I would really urge you to get covert legal advice on this. The reason I say this, is because you are an intelligent education woman. You cannot be in denial nor can you afford the time to currently flap and panic over what to do, what to do. You need to get your ducks in a row. Imo your ss will go after the new baby and dh will continue putting his head in the sand (he will still see him as an extension of himself and thereby will feel ss is not capable of x, as after all the baby will actually BE his sibling). Its your primary job to protect your babies and yourself, from ss, and from your foolish partner. So you need to find out *how* to document your ss disturbing behaviours, so when (if) it becomes necessary you can block your OH insistance that ss have a relationship with new baby and even perhaps be permitted to enter your home when your ds3 is home. My advice my seem OTT but I assure it is not. The number of stories like yours I have read, where the partner never understands what monster he is creating with his permissive attitude/parenting, where the SM gets ridiculously blamed for a situation outside of her control and the other kids just get shunted aside and terrorised all in the name of daddy continuing with his ostrich behaviour and insistence that mini monster is included in everything. Plus you need to protect yourseld from ss6, hes a liar now, what lies will he come up with against you?! Be careful, you have much to lose with your two children.

Personally I wouldnt have him in my home. Not around me, my kids. Dh would be welcome to visit elsewhere, as its his son and he needs help...trouble is, your dhs version of "help" is giving him cuddles and talks when hes a horrible shit and screaming at ds3 (shame on your OH picking on your kid) while babying ss6. No doubt the new born will be held to a higher accountable standard than his much older brother, after all ss is broken...

Your ss would stand a much better chance of turning all this around if his parents didnt enable him. I can relate, as I had hyperactivity (and in adulthood was told ADHD as a child, although it wasnt recognised when I was born). I understand the violent urges, the lack of concentration and impulse control. While my parents were sympathetic (its not nice for any child to understand how different they are, and not in a good way). I was taught that if I was naughty I would be punished...this included violence towards my older sibling (who was just as bad as me lol), I was NOT permitted to use my condition as an excuse amd was taught accountability for my actions. In addition to this, by your ss age I was also very aware of what foods I was permitted to eat and what I wasnt (as you know diet is a factor in exacerbating the negative traits of adhd) and my parents could trust me to self monitor even at childrens parties, because I didnt want to be that way! No, punishment of bad behaviour was not hugs and talks either...

couldyounot's picture

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goingcrazyhere's picture

Ever since the punching incident with the two boys we have tried very hard not to leave them alone but SS is very smart yesterday's incident occurred outside and with in the 10 mins I had to be on a call for work and husband wasn't with us....

We have tried very hard not to leave them alone but for example I need to go to the bathroom and my husband works a lot an isnt around or doing work etc and in the 5-10 mins I leave SS does something it's so hard... I have asked him why is that all this stuff always happens when I am on the phone or in the bathroom and not in the hours im on top of you? He has no answer. It seems pre meditated... Yesterday he looked over at me when I was on the call outside and I saw him and this happened a few minutes later of course naive me didn't make the connection at the time...

goingcrazyhere's picture

He doesn't get bhrs services... Yet

And he isn't on meds either just cbt outpatient therapy.

The other issue is bio mom has no other kids and he doesn't beat up on anyone there except occasionally at school etc..
She has also in the past fed him stuff about how it's great she is single and not having more kids because he doesn't have to share her.
He has very little social skills with kids his own age too and really struggles to keep friends or have friends... So this problem is just here of course.

Strengthh's picture

Sure it's premeditated. He is zeroing in on your son to bully him. My SD did the same. It wasn't like they were hanging out and a bullying incident happened. She went right to my kids and started right in. I said every second and I meant literally every second. Not even 30 seconds to pee. EVERY SECOND. That boy is hell bent on acting out aggressively.

goingcrazyhere's picture

Try getting husband to believe that lol... It's not gonna happen

goingcrazyhere's picture

It's definetly an eye opener and validator for how I've felt in my
Gut for months...

I just needed to know im not over reacting and being over protecfive etc etc...

Strengthh's picture

Another thing is the overall pattern. Yes, any one thing can be explained away. But this is a pattern of behavior over years.

My H would always always do that. Just treat each incident as isolated. No you are not over reacting. Your H is heavily invested in protecting his son and he desperately needs to keep you weak and in doubt. Your H deep down knows the deal, he is a failure and in real danger of going on visitation with both his kids.

Rags's picture

First, welcome. I hope you find this to be a good place to vent, contribute, and to pick up some useful advice and perspective from others who are living the blended family dream.

Now ... you do realize that your idiot husband and his complete failure to parent his toxic spawn is the problem right? ADHD my ass. That is no excuse to justify or tolerate bullying and that your DH is using his own ADHD issues as well as the toxic Skid's ADHD issues as an excuse is nauseating.

In my experience the only way to deal effectively with a bully is to cause them more pain than they cause you. Since your DS is only 3 that means you and DH have to bring the pain to SS-6. You want an "effective currency" to use with SS-6 when he gets violent .... Paddle time!!!! Paddle meet bare kid ass ... each and every time he so much as twitches beyond acceptable behavior.

I had several incidents with bullies who were much like your Skid while growing up and my Skid (now DS) had a bully target him the first time when he was in 2nd grade. The bully was in 5th grade so the age difference was about the same as that between your toxic Skid and your own son. My kid would get off of the school bus with bruises on his neck from the kid sitting behind him and choking him during the bus ride to an from school. When I noticed the bruises and finally got my kid to tell me what was going on I trained him to respond when he was being choked by reaching back and grabbing the kid's ear and ripping it off of the little bully fuckers head. It worked wonders. The bully had his right ear about 80% severed from his head and never again touched my kid. End of problem.

The real fun was when the earless bully's dad knocked on my door one evening and tried to hand me the hospital bill for the ear re-attachment. I asked my son to come to the door and showed daddy-no-ear the bruises on my kid's neck caused by his earless wonder. I asked daddy-no-ear how old his kid was. Then I told him my son's age and told him that if his kid choked mine again that he would be paying to have the other ear reattached. The man swatted his kid's butt all the way down the street.

The police showed up shortly after that. When they saw the fresh and the aging bruises on my kids neck they left.

In a year or two give your kid a bat and tell him to flatten his StebBro's face with it if the elder one ever again lays a hand on either of your younger children. End of problem.

Bullies don't like getting their asses kicked and the only sure way to stop them is to beat them thoroughly. Preferably in front of the whole school so that they show up the day after as the whining cry baby and become the target of severe ridicule and teasing.

I spent much of 5th-7th grade being bullied. Until I realized that taking a beating hurt and if I fought back getting hit would not hurt any more than just taking it. So, I fought back. The bullies did not like that much at all. I had a few incidents in 7th and 8th grade. In 7th grade a 17yo 9th grader pulled a knife on me and tried to get me to kiss the school mascot that was painted on the floor of the school foyer. I refused. He attempted to pull me over the mascot and I fought back. Fortunately I did not get killed. A cheerleader walked in on the incident and the idiot ran. My mom saw a nick in my shirt with a little blood on it a couple of days later and forced me to tell her what happened. Mom and dad called the school and police, the thug was arrested. He had the knife on him and no one ever saw him again.

Shortly after that I went to an all night lock in skate party at our local roller rink. Yep, this was the late 70s. That was a cool thing to do back then. In a similar incident an older kid who I did not know decided I was a target of opportunity for bullying. He stole my Goody comb. If you were into skating, or had aspirations of cool in those days you had to have a big Goody comb in your back pocket. All night he and his little bully minions targeted me. I survived since the adult monitors kept things fairly well contained. The next AM when they let us out of the rink for our parents to pick us up the older guy and his minions again approached me. There were no adult monitors in the parking lot. I knew I was in for a major ass whuupin so I decided if was going to get hit so were they. They were approaching me while I was standing next to a planting bed that was being built of cinder block, rebar, and concrete. I grabbed a ~3ft long piece of rebar and informed them that there were enough of them to get me eventually but that before that happened the older bully fat fucker would be dead from having his skull caved in at which point I smashed a cinder block with the rebar and took a step toward the older buy. My dad pulled up at that point. I told the bully to return my comb or I would cave in his skull regardless. I got my comb back.

About a year later I was standing in the courtyard outside of the lunch room at school when someone jumped on my back and knocked me to my knees tearing holes in a brand new pair of jeans. As I stood up a second person jumped me. As I stood up the second time I cold cocked the second guy in the mouth and split his bottom lip into two flaps that hung open on either side of his bottom teeth. I turned to the first guy who pussied out and backed off. He was a kid that had targeted me in 5th grade at a stage when fighting frightened me. When he saw his buddies split face and bloody teeth in full view he wanted no part of me.

I was called to the Principal's office where my file was sitting on his desk when I walked in. He asked who the hell I was since I made decent grades and been in no trouble for the two years I was in his school. He did recall the knife incident and commended me for how I had handled it. He asked what had happened with the fight that resulted in the bisected face. I told him. He looked at my bloody knees and torn jeans, chuckled, told me to go back to class and suspended the two guys who had jumped me. There were plenty of witnesses who corroborated my account of the incident.

Ironically the kid who had to have reconstructive surgery on his face was the younger brother of the 9th grade cheerleader who had defused the bully with the knife incident. A few days after that fight I apologized to her for disfiguring her little brother. She gave me a hug and told me not to worry about it. That moment was when I found a profound appreciation for beautiful young ladies and gained the confidence to let them know of my appreciation. She recounted that her parents had climbed her little brother's ass for attacking me.

The final Jr. High School incidents were a few months later when my parents were out of town on their first non-kid vacation ever. My younger brother was staying with our next door neighbor and I was allowed to stay home alone. One evening after school I heard a couple of people talking outside of the front door. I went to my parents room where a window overlooked the door. A "friend" of mine was planning with a several years older kid to lure me from the house so the older guy could kick my ass. I have no idea why other than there were some residuals of the days as a target for bullies. The older guy hid in the bushes and the guy my age knocked. I opened the door, took a couple of steps and sat on my little brothers mini-Schwinn bicycle. When the guy approached me out of the bushes I stood up and beat the snot out of him with the bike. Lots of blood and stitches resulted. The idiots tried the same thing again about a week later. They thought they were smart by taking my little brother's bike into the bushes with them. That time I loaded my Crossman CO2 BB pistol, went out the back door, walked up behind them as they hid in the bushes and put several dozen BBs in their butts and kept pouring in the rounds as they ran down the street screaming.

The older guy's dad knocked on the door a few days later. His jaw dropped when a tall skinny kid about 5years younger than his son opened the door and his son stood there covered in stitches and bandages and said "That's him dad!". His dad just shook his head and chewed his son's ass for picking on a "little" kid.

The older kid ended up in prison a short time later for raping his 5yo little sister.

I changed schools several times between 4th grade and HS graduation because of family moves. During a few of those moves I had to defend myself from a bully or two who wanted to establish dominance in the pecking order over the new guy.

We moved towards the end of 8th grade. I was hitting my mid teen stature and musculature as well as morphing into a decent looking guy. Fairly shortly after I started at that small school the 9th grade hottie and I were hanging out. That made the targeting worse. Early after that move our PE classes moved to the pool. The guys decided that the pool was good place to try to intimidate me. Bad idea. I was a state ranked AAU swimmer. One day during PE about 6 of them surrounded me in the pool and decided that holding me under would teach me a lesson. So, when they jumped me I went under and proceeded to crush 6 sets of gonads with my fists and very firm grip. When I came up from my under water time several of them were barfing in the pool from severe testicular distress. PE was canceled that day. They never again approached me with anything other than a cautious but friendly hello.

The last incident was my Sr. year of HS. I attended a Military boarding school that was grades 7-JC2. A JC sophomore decided he did not like me. He was a couple of years older than I was. I was long past backing down or tolerating bullshit from bullies by then. I was the captain of the HS track team and practice had run late one evening so I and my team mates did not have time to get back to the barracks to change into proper uniform for 3rd Mess. I made the decision to authorize the team to attend 3rd Mess in athletic uniform which was against regulations. My nemesis approached me at 3rd Mess and ordered my and the team to leave as we were not in proper uniform. I informed him that his order would not be followed. He attempted to stand me at attention. Nope, I informed him that he and I were the same rank and I countermanded his order to my track team. He blew a gasket and mistakenly attempted to pull rank on me as he was Cadet Major and was under the impression that I was Cadet Captain. Nope, we had been promoted to Major on the same promotion order so I set him straight. He just kept getting more and more angry and purple. I informed the Colonel that he had better intervene and get his staff Major under control before he made a big mistake... which he did. The idiot was embarrassed in front of the entire Corps of Cadets. So, he called me out for the annual boxing match at Christmas that year. The ROTC Professor of Military Science was the boxing coach and sponsored the matches ever year. He insisted on seeing how well matched we were in a test match a couple of weeks before the actual event. In the ring we were pretty close which pissed of the jackass as he was a Golden Glove boxer and two years my elder. After the test match we were walking between the gym and one of the academic buildings when he shoved me. Bad move. We were no longer in a boxing ring with the Col. watching. When he got physical and there were no Marquis of Queensbury rules I beat him to a bloody pulp and the next day the Col. called me to his office to ask what had happened. I told him. He canceled the match and informed the asshole that he was very lose to loosing his US Army commission slot.

Interestingly .... the asshole ended up being one of the Texas Seven that escaped from the Tx Connelly unit 17 or so years later in 2000. They killed at least one person while they were on the run. He was the one who shot himself rather than be captured.

Again, I was probably lucky not to get killed during my response to his attempts at bullying.

Your DS-3 is suffering severe anxiety due to SS-6 and the bullying. That needs to stop now. So, you and DH bring the pain on the bully SS-6 and get this resolved before he really hurts someone or .... prepare your own son to deal with it aggressively when necessary. I suggest a paddle to the bare ass, countless hours writing thousands of perfect hand writing, spelling, and punctuation sentences, and many, many hours standing in a corner with his nose in contact with both intersecting walls while family life goes on happily within ear shot.

I share my history with bullying only to make the point that bullies never stop, and they never learn until they meet someone who will stand up to them. Your skid needs someone to stand up to him and tear him a new asshole.

Bullies don't like pain so bring it.

Gotta love karma though when a shit storm comes down on the head of a bully. I never much worried about why a bully was bullying. Their motivation never made much sense to me. I was nice, mild mannered, friendly kid until I had had enough. Then it was time to not be nice. So I wasn't. I never once started a fight and before I decided to respond to bullying with complete aggression I lost a few fights. Win or lose, bullies will no longer target someone who stands up to them.

At least in my experience. Get your Skid under control before your son beats him to a pulp in a few years. Or worse, before your SKid hurts your children.

goingcrazyhere's picture

I hear you but I can't bully a 6 year old and when I have tried to be stern and ask him difficult questions and basically "yell" at him for hurting his brother he just sits there and shuts down with nothing to say and then he's done. There is no remorse no emotion no reaction.. It's like yelling at a wall. I don't know what else to do and I feel like shit even for yelling at him because it's not me and what I stand for.. But he makes me anxious and angry and scared for now almost 2 kids...

I told him yesterday that I might not know the truth or his dad but that what he does to others will come around and one day he will mess with the wrong person who will fight back... He just sat there blank faced like he didn't care.

Rags's picture

No need to bully him. When he gets violent with your 3yo paddle his ass. Direct unpleasant consequence for his behaviors. He will definately respond to a stinging ass.

Strengthh's picture

Did your H check him when he got in the argument between you and your H and disrespected you? Because if he didn't firmly check him and punish him and let him know that he was never to do that again, you got big big problems. That boy has adult status. He is your equal in his eyes and his dad's eyes. It won't be long before he is given more authority in your household than you are.

Point #2 that boy is a straight out bully and little asshole in training. He needs to be checked by his dad. It's a good solution not to have your son over while SS is there. But there's the baby, and that will be hell on you watching the baby every second. And I mean every second.

Your son will always have anxiety cause his home isn't safe. Your H is a weak pathetic parent. It's easy to play the big man disciplinarian to your 3 year old. , who doesn't have a choice because he lives there. But he will kiss his precious sons ass and live in fear that his little asshole will refuse visitation.

goingcrazyhere's picture

He told him if he and I split up he would be done with him too and this isn't his little victory over me...

And then SS told him he wanted to go to his mom (at almost midnight) and so they called his mom and he left. He also told his dad that he doesn't really care about him and uses him to do fun stuff with us and get stuff.

In the past when Dh has stood up for my son and me SS will refuse visitation for a few weeks to hurt us especially his dad...

Strengthh's picture

SD pulled that crap all the time. She would demand to be driven back at all hours. Could be anywhere from midnight to as late as 3am sometimes, she truly was the one in control just like your SS. The thing is that is incredibly scary for a child. As much as they strut around and act big, it creates an insecure anxious child.

SD has cut off visitation for weeks. Because H disciplined her. So he learned never to try that again. He learned to tow the line.

And yeah he doesn't care about his dad . That is the end result of catering to your child instead of actually parenting. My SD is 12 and she will only be around her dad as long as he is buying her something, or taking her somewhere, or doing an activity of her choosing , or buying her dinner/lunch. She will never ever spend time with her if it doesn't somehow involve spending money on her. That will be your SS too one day. That is every Disney dads future from what I can see, either that or an adult kid who sits around the house all day getting high/drunk doing nothing with their life.

goingcrazyhere's picture

My ex was abusive both physically, financially and emotionally... Present husband gets irritable and grouchy but isn't hands on or manipulative..he struggles to express himself in the nicest ways at times
But I wouldn't go there and say he's abusive towards me or my son...

With his son he swings back and forth he will either say stuff like what you quoted or cuddle him and talk feelings and emotions with him... Honestly I think he's completely lost and angry and frustrated with his own son and doesn't know how to handle him.. When things get rough because SS hits my son then we both polarize to our own ends and it breaks us down as a couple... But when SS is gone things again normalize and we have 2 weeks of peace... He came home today and said he sounds like an ass saying this but he can't stand being around SS... Where he usually enjoys the limited time he gets with my son... I think there is guilt there for feeling that way... And honestly he's threshold for tolerating kids bs period is minimal. He had a rough childhood with his own step dad and brother and struggles to parent without repeating the way he was spoken to and treated.. Since he and I have been together he has not spanked his son but prior to that SS was spanked by both his parents...

Strengthh's picture

My H said all that stuff. My kids are so well behaved, so easy to be around. He wished it could be like that with his daughter. He knows she has problems, but she's so,traumatized from the divorce,,from her mother workimg a lot,can't I just understand, be patient.

The thing is it's easy to say the right words, but what is he doing? He is failing his son by not parenting him, by essentially being his servant and catering to him. That's not a dad. That's nothing. He is failing you, your son (who is being physically and emotionally abused), his unborn child. All for what, cause he is a weak pathetic selfish.......I got one too.

He knows how to parent, he chooses not to cause he was cut off from visitation. I made that mistake too. Thinking he just didn't know or his issues, no he knows. He sure as shit knows how to with your 3 year old, doesn't he? He knows, he chooses not to.,at the expense of your 3 year old sons sense of safety and security in his home. Honestly, if you had your 3 year old evaluated by a developmental pediatrician he would be seriously not where he should be. He is seriously off track , from your description.

And the talking to him??? That's classic Disney dad. Talking does nothing. It's a way to pretend to parent to yourself, your wife and your kid. Without actually parenting. Reality. Kids should get a brief explanation. Then consequences, all they hear when we talk longer than that is blah blah blah wait it out and get on with my life , exactly as before. Parents words are just noise

goingcrazyhere's picture

He has him every other weekend.. Family threapy with SS is out of the question as most therapist won't see us on weekends and SS lives 2.5 hours away so by the time he gets picked up its too late on Friday to see anyone...

We went to couples couseling before we got married and it helped a lot with meshing some of our parenting differences but yes we should probably continue it

Strengthh's picture

I overlooked that. Yes big red flag that the 6 year old boy has adult status in that house. And pretty soon, not only will he be an adult equal like he is now, he will be elevated to above the level of the wife. It will be the dad and the son high up, and the lowly SM and new baby and her son ever low expected to take any and all abuse from this boy. And if they don't smile happily and take it, well they are mean or lying or just don't like the precious perfect boy .

Strengthh's picture

I agree with Rags. The only way to stop a bully is to come up on him harder than he came up on you. The only way.

No meds, no counseling. No cuddle time chats with daddy.

goingcrazyhere's picture

Update: apparently SS told his mom and dad he doesn't want to come over and my H said that if SS can't accept our family he doesn't need to come over.

I suggested husband at least go and see SS but husband doesn't want to do that either as he says it will reinforce that he doesn't want to be around the rest of the family.

SS had therapy on Monday and told his therapist he hates me, the baby and my son because we are taking his dad away from him. He also said he knows when the baby comes he won't have his dad at all according to him.. And he is mad at his father for leaving his mom and getting divorced. ( it's been almost 3 years since the divorce now)

Husband got upset about all of this of course and said if SS can't be a part of this family then he doesn't want to see him seperately..

Strengthh's picture

Sometimes I wonder if it's a manipulative tactic.. My SD still acts like the divorce is very recent. Her parents seperated when she was 2, divorced when she was 3. She is 12. Year after year she carries on seemingly making no improvement.

Her mother had a baby. She complained all the time that the baby woke up at night and she couldn't get any sleep and she was so tired at school. Now that baby is 4 (and a half) . Her complaint never changed in all these years, she never got any sleep cause of the "baby". My H was telling me one day a few weeks ago that SD just couldn't get any sleep at her mothers cause the baby was up all night crying. I told him wow that is a 4 year old with major sleep issues to be up like that. H felt like an idiot. Never brought it up again.

Her grandmother got breast cancer 6-7 years ago. She was getting chemo for a few months, she's been totally fine since. SD talks on and on about cancer and her grandma and she's so scared. And she hopes her grandma will be ok. And this was 6-7 years ago if not longer. My daughters friend got leukemia about that long ago, she missed most of first grade due to being hospitalized, lost all her hair, it was a long drawn out chemo. Today, she's just another girl, it's not the first thing you think about when you see her. Like it used to be. She is just a normal girl who doesn't dwell on her cancer. She actually nearly died. Could still die, her oncologist said her chances or survival were 98 % long term. Which is great but....

Anyways it sounds to me like a power play . Especially if there is no improvement over years. It's a power play to get your H under control. With my SD, every traumatic life event gets stored like s weapon, to be used to gain pity as the person who has it so rough,rougher than anybody else.

I hope your H stays strong. He may cave as the reality sets in ,that's what son and BM are hoping for.