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HELP!!!! Am I crazy or is this a snub?

baffled-and-sad's picture

HELP!!!! Am I crazy or is this a snub? I have another question for this community. My soon-to-be SD (she is 24 years old) is still really uncomfortable around me, so much so that she won't even make eye contact with me. This has been going on for 3 years now. Her dad and I have been engaged now for almost a year. After much urging from her father, I wrote soon-to-be SD a really nice, kind, heartfelt letter inviting her to meet with me so that we could try to begin to establish a rapport. This was one of many overtures of friendship that I have made towards her for the last 3 years, which all of which have basically been rejected. Her typical reaction to me is dismissive and disrespectful. But I once again "offered the olive branch" even though she has been unfriendly, unkind, unwelcoming, and sometimes downright rude to me for 3 years. This was at Christmas when she was up staying with her dad (we aren't yet married and so don't live together). She got the letter but refused to meet with me the week that she was here for Christmas. Instead she postponed it "to give herself space from the issues." She wanted to postpone it for 2 months until the next time she was up. We texted back and forth about it, and I told her that both her dad and I really wanted her and I to meet while she was up this time and that postponing our meeting after this had been so long would make things fester. But she wanted "her needs to be respected," and refused to meet with me at that time. To me this feels like yet another snub. Is it? She has been telegraphing loud and clear for 3 years that she does not want to be family with me, and this feels like a clear message to me that she doesn't want to change this. It seems to me that if she had truly wanted to work on establishing a good rapport with me and heal this, that she would have met with me at Christmas rather than insisting on postponing it. To me, that felt like yet another rejection and I feel hurt. Am I crazy or is this as snub? It sure feels like one to me. It also feels like a set-up. She has now texted me and we have set up a meeting for next week when she is up this way again. But I think she knew when she postponed the meeting at Christmas that I would feel hurt (which I did). It seems to me that postponing our meeting effectively sabotaged anything good coming out of any meeting because of the hurt it caused me, which I think was deliberately done. At this point, I just want to just wash my hands of her and basically be around her as little as possible. But since she has agreed to meet with me, if I am honest -- even about feeling snubbed with her postponement -- I think she will go back to her dad and say, "Well, I tried to be nice, and SHE (meaning me) wasn't." And then I will look like the "bad one," and I think she knows this and is trying to play it this way. What do you all think about this? This young woman has been a big source of conflict in our relationship for a really long time. I really just want to avoid her as much as I can at this point, especially after this postponement which feels like a snub. But now I feel if I say that, it will backfire on me. I really only want to be around people who treat me with kindness and respect and she doesn't and this postponement feels like more of the same. What do you think?

Comments

furkidsforme's picture

Of course she wants you to snub her now.

Pull up your big girl pants. You aren't a 24yo, so refuse to act like one. Act like a woman of class. Forget about the snub. Meet her graciously and say no word of it. Just be so happy to *finally* get to meet her and build your rapport.

oneoffour's picture

Well isn't she a little special little snowflake!

She is not interested in meeting with you to form a relationship. But I bet she is doing this to make her father happy. She is full of herself and her feelings.

I would go along. Ask her about school/ work. What are her favourite movies? Cat or dog person? Then ask her "Do you have anything to say or ask of me?" And see what happens.

Do not give her more attention than she can deal with. Do not touch her unless you offer to shake hands. Do not give in but behave in a disinterested non threatening manner.

She wants to sound you out and see what you are about. Then when you see Fiance again or speak to him and he asks how it went just say "Well no blood was shed so that is a good thing, right? She isn't interested in a relationship with me and that is her right. I just expect common courtesy and good manners. I am sure you agree."

This young woman has the right to choose who she likes and dislikes just like you do. Common courtesy isn't too much to ask though. And leave it entirely up to her father to deal with her.

Disillusioned's picture

You are not imagining and she sounds very jealous/insecure of your relationship with her Dad in my opinion. She does not want to 'bond' with you and I bet she feels she is doing you - and her Dad - a huge favor by sucking it up and meeting with you, someone she has made clear she really doesn't want anything to do with

Be gracious and polite, but don't make a big deal of it or of her.

In my experience, the more you let on it means the world to you that the two of you bond, the more power she has over you. And most especially if she is feeling jealous or competitive with you, she will play you just to hurt and humiliate you

That's sounds bitter I know, but I have been through the trying far to hard with Skids in the past, and learned the hard way just to relax and focus on setting the right example of how a decent human being acts, and if they choose to accept you great but if not, don't let it take up too much of your mental or emotional energy

notasm3's picture

She doesn't sound like someone I would want to engage with at all. You two do not have to forge a bond. You both should be civil and polite to each other when you must be together. You've extended offers for her to engage with you - she's not interested. Just let it go.

Not being friends does not mean that you are enemies. I think she's made it crystal clear that she really has no use for you. I can understand how your DH wanted the two of you to become BFFs. But it didn't happen, and it probably won't.

Both of you are being pressured into having this "meeting" for your DH's sake. You can both go, be pleasant, and then part ways. I would not have any serious discussions with her during this "meeting". Just keep it totally superficial and then go on your separate ways.

HappilySelfish679's picture

You need to disengage from her . Let her live in DHs universe which you do not need to inhabit . Be polite when you see her and that's it. I wouldn't waste another thought on her .

LikeMinded's picture

Exactly. You married DH, not her and she's a grown woman who does not need a mom.

Stop trying to be accepted by a$$holes, it's complete waste of time (and I know what I talk about as the "nice" person always extending the olive branch--some people see that as weakness, unfortunately).

Aeron's picture

How is her dad responding to the postponements and the obvious signs of Hey, I don't want to know you? If he is seriously pressuring you 3 years later to force a relationship with a girl that has No interest, you need to have a serious meeting with HIM about his expectations for the future. There will likely be weddings and grandkids and she is unlikely to ever see you as more family than she sees you right now. How is he going to feel about that? How are you going to feel about it and his reaction to it?

You are in prime position to foresee the future. His attitude toward all this now is an excellent predictor for how he will continue to feel. Is she still "just a kid" to him that needs time and space? Does he think you just need to try harder? Is he going to resent you not having a meaningful relationship with this girl?

She's an adult and she's behaving in a fully crappy way. And it doesn't sound new. She is unlikely to change her behavior and he is unlikely to change his expectations and desires around her. You are not yet married, you don't live together. Make sure the expectations you have of each other concerning his kids and future grandkids, their parties, all that nonsense are clear before the wedding.

baffled-and-sad's picture

He has a lot invested in our being "friends" and has pressured me a lot about it. The way my 23 and 27 year old kids treat him is vastly different. They have accepted him for years, and we all do fun things together; they treat him with the honor and respect he deserves as the important man in my life; they are kind to him and inclusive; a very sharp contrast to how SD treats me -- polar opposites, really. He wants the same between his daughter and me, but after 3 years, I just don't see it happening. I have told him that she has been telegraphing for 3 years how she feels and there is nothing I can do to change it and make her like or accept me and he needs to just accept that "it is was it is" with her and stop pressuring me or asking me to go on family trips with her and him (all of which I have refused to go on).

WokeUpABug's picture

Don't let yourself be upset. Yes, of course you're upset, you have every right to be. Sure it was a snub. If not a snub, it's at least an attempt to control the situation. BUT... She wants you to be upset. She wants you to either call off the meeting, or show up to the meeting and be upset with her and you two get into a fight. Then she can run back to Daddy and say "see! I told you! This is why we can't have a relationship!"

Don't play into her hands. Put aside your hurt. Not for her benefit but for yours. Tell DH how excited you are for the meeting. When you meet her, kill her with kindness. Then, if she causes a stink or is still cold or whatever, she will not be able to pin it on you. Your DH will start to see this behavior for what it truly is. As much as these boards are full of DHs who refuse to see their kids faults, there are quite a few who have wised up to the way to their kids treat their wives.

I'm both a stepmom and a BM whose own daughter gave my DH hell for the first year. DH stayed pleasant and civil, and I was able to see what she was doing and let her know I wouldn't tolerate it. They are now quite close. I don't foresee that ending for you and your SD, but take away her opportunity to paint you as the bad guy to her dad. Don't do it for her, do it for you.

hereiam's picture

What she is doing, is creating a position of power for herself. She wants to snub you and have you chase after her, it make her feel in control. It is also pitting you and her dad against each other, which again, makes her feel powerful.

If she doesn't cancel this meeting, go and be polite with the intention of starting fresh. If she responds badly (is still disrespectful and bratty), then wash your hands of her. You do not have to be friends (or family) with her and you certainly do not have to chase her and beg her to accept you. Screw that.

If she cancels this meeting, that is your cue to be done, no matter what her father urges. She has been a disrespectful brat to you for 3 years, some of that is on HIM. Yes, she is an adult but he is still her dad, you are going to be his wife, and he should have said and done something about her treatment of you. Common courtesy should have been taught to her a long time ago.

She is manipulating you both. If your fiance continues to fall for it, I would really wonder what a life with him and this daughter of his will be like. She doesn't even live with him and she is pulling strings in your relationship.

baffled-and-sad's picture

Yeah, it is pretty impossible in that he doesn't see her manipulation. He has a huge blind spot when it comes to her. At this point, I just want him to accept that she and I are not going to "blend," and that is totally fine with me. It has to be fine with him. He can spend all the time he wants with her, but I basically just don't want to be around her except when I absolutely have to, like holidays, and even then, I want to keep those times to as few and short as possible. I don't even care at this point if I am invited to special events in her life like her wedding (I was not "allowed" at her college graduation by her--that was the first huge telegraphing of how she doesn't want me in her life in any way; in contrast, he has been to 5 major events of my kids and they welcomed him). At the time when I was not allowed at her graduation, I felt excluded and hurt, but now, honestly, I would prefer not going to any of those types of big events in her life. If we are going to "blend as a family," it is not only SHE who has to accept me, but ME who has to accept her, and I really don't want anyone in my life as "family" who does not treat me with kindness and respect. Yes, we will be "related," but we will not be "family." He has got to accept that!

hereiam's picture

Why is it okay with him that his daughter treats you this way? That is disrespectful of HIM.
He is pressuring you, but what is he doing about his daughter's attitude?

I have a 24 year old SD and she knows better than to try to exclude me from anything, if she wants her dad present. He would not even begin to entertain that crap.

LikeMinded's picture

You know, the more I think about your situation, the more I'm annoyed at your DH.

First of all, his daughter is grown and out of the house, she owes you nothing--and she doesn't HAVE to feel good about her daddy remarrying. When my aunt's husband remarried, 2 years after her death, it was just too soon for those in the family who were still grieving, so this woman was just not accepted by the family (I accepted her, but I was the minority). In other words, she doesn't have to be your best friend, just polite at family functions.

Second of all, you married your DH, you don't owe his family ANYTHING besides courtesy.

So why does he have the right to ask YOU to set up meeting with this girl, or anything of that nature. If it's that important to him, he should talke you both out to lunch and try to mend things himself. But I don't see why he's asking you to LEAD this effort. It's not your problem.

baffled-and-sad's picture

Yeah, I am annoyed with him too. At this point, I just don't want to be around her much, and if he doesn't accept that and respect that, I doubt I will marry him. Her mother died 13 years ago! We started dating 3 years ago. 10 years if plenty of time since the death of her mother for him to start dating. She acts like a spoiled, selfish brat. And he coddles her. At this point, I basically don't want anything to do with her. I don't want anyone who acts like she does as part of MY family.

I will meet with her since I got suckered into writing her a letter, and if I cancel, it will put me in a bad light, but I will do "qualified honesty," basically staying very calm and neutral and just saying that I am fine with our not being "family"; we will be related since I am marrying her dad, but she and I do not have to "blend as family," and I am totally fine with that. I will tell her that I will continue to support her relationship with her dad, as I always have and which I have always shown in numerous ways. I don't expect to be "friends" with her or to go to events of hers; I just expect to be treated with common courtesy the times that we are around each other, and I am fine those times being kept to a minimum so that she and her dad can spend most of their time together without me. I will keep it short, and I will not talk to him about it before either. If he asks me after, I will use a good line I got from one of the posters here (thank you, oneofour!): "Well, no blood was shed so that is a good thing, right? She isn't interested in a relationship with me and that is her right. I just expect common courtesy and good manners. I am sure you agree." And then I will add to him that "I also expect that times she and I are around each other be kept to a minimum. I am sure that is how she prefers it as well." He just has to accept that she and I aren't going "to blend" and he has to stop pressuring me to make that happen and he has to accept that I don't want to be around her much (nor she me) and we have to get her out of our relationship,. Otherwise, we are not going to make it.

LikeMinded's picture

Well... you do need to think long and hard about this.

This is what just happened to my mom's friend.

My mom's friend and her "husband" (they never really tied the knot) have been together for decades. Now they are in their mid 80s and dealing with health issues. She barely gets around and needs a nurse to come and help her.

The DH (wonderful, sweet man, btw), got very ill and almost died. His 2 grown up sons came to visit from Hawaii.

So... while this man is on his death bed (he almost died several times, but he did make it, thankfully), these grown up SKIDS, who this poor woman has done nothing to, are bullying her. They come to her home and tell her that as soon as this man dies, they are going to sell the house, and she better make plans. They sit there asking eachother how much they think the house is worth. They put their dirty feet on her coffee table and stain the carpet with mud. They made her too uncomfortable to visit her DH at the hospital with them. So here he is, almost dead, and his wife too scared to go to the hospital to see him because her awful grownup SKIDS are there, and she's terrified of them.

I mean who does this to an almost invalid woman in her 80s?

If you *don't* get married, think long and hard about where that leaves you.

baffled-and-sad's picture

If we do marry, I am insisting on a pre-nup that specifically protects me in the instance that he dies before me. I don't want his money that he saved in his life before me -- that belongs to his kids, as does my $ belong to my kids -- but any house we buy is joint property and under my control until I decide to sell it. Period! I don't trust her one bit and she already said that I was "marrying him for his money." She has shown her true colors and I doubt she will ever change. I also want legal power of attorney if he gets incapacitated.

hereiam's picture

I mean who does this to an almost invalid woman in her 80s?

People who were allowed to do it all of their lives.

My DH doesn't put up with disrespect from his daughter and neither do I. I have always made it clear what is what and who is who.

Now, I would be upset if my DH let his daughter treat me badly but I would be more upset at myself if I let her treat me badly. And if my DH ever got mad at me for standing up for myself and demanding respect, well, that would be a problem.

My SD24 has absolutely NO say so in anything having to do with our relationship, our lives, or our possessions.

baffled-and-sad's picture

I really wish he wouldn't put up with her disrespect toward me, our relationship, and in reality him as well. But he doesn't even SEE it! He didn't see that her postponing this meeting was a huge snub. He thought it was just fine. This is why I think I must really disengage from her and not be around her much. He is blind to her manipulation, rudeness, and selfishness. And I doubt he will ever see it. To see it, he would have to admit that he messed up in how he raised her since he has been a single parent since she was 11.

hereiam's picture

So, maybe he messed up, that's no excuse to let her behavior continue, it just makes him look worse.

Believe me, a person is never too old to be called out by a parent for behaving inappropriately. My dad would put me in my place in a minute if he thought I needed it!

baffled-and-sad's picture

It's the forgetting about her the rest of the time that I am having trouble with. I just don't operate the same way she does. I like inclusiveness like how my kids treat him. It is just so much more fun! Her outlook is VERY different than mine.

baffled-and-sad's picture

I guess it is all the unfriendliness from her and the bad comments she has said about me to her dad and some old friends of his (who are now my friends) and this last snub (among many) that have just made me really dislike her at this point. That and all the pressuring from her dad and his lack of standing up for me when she has done these things.