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Help with SD and BM lies.... 1st Entry

MommaLlama13's picture

Hi all - I need some help/advice.

I'm a mom of 3 - one biological daughter from a previous relationship, a step daughter, and a step son. Their father and I have been friends for a very long time, but lost touch for almost 10 years. We reconnected and had play dates with our kids (this was post-divorce on both of our parts) - the kids were 1-3 at the time (now they're 5-7). My SD (7) refuses to use the toilet or tell the truth. She has been through a lot - her mom has been in and out of her life, and is filling her head with lies. She's even offered to relinquish all her rights, on more than one occasion. Her brother (6) is younger and isn't having any issues. The bathroom habits are out of control – we’re not talking a few times a month or even a week. We’re talking a few times a day! We know she is capable of using the toilet, as she has gone weeks without “accidents”, but lately it’s rare that we even get through the day. We’ve tried talking to her, doctors, therapists, her BM, and her school, but without any success. Sometimes she’ll try a little harder, and other times she will just sit in it. We’ve tried behavior charts, reward systems, timers, losing privileges, and grounding, and with each new experience we see improvement for a day or so, but then we’re back to square one. If you ask her why she’s not using the toilet she will tell us that she’s too lazy or didn’t feel like it. When we do manage to get her to use the bathroom, she’ll refuse to wipe. It’s next to impossible to do things as a family, because every time we go out, she soils herself. We’ve resulted in putting her in pullups to go out anywhere, because the minute she doesn’t get her way she will force herself to pee to get us upset. It’s happening at school too (albeit not as frequent), but she tells them she just spilled her water on herself, or won’t say anything if she pooped – she’ll just sit in it.

As if that’s not stressful enough, now let’s introduce the lies. She’s told her father that I didn’t pack her a lunch (even though there was still leftover food in her lunchbox when she came home from school). She’s told her teacher that I didn’t send in lunch, so the teacher will buy her lunch, even though there was a lunch in her book bag (mind you, she picked out what she wanted for lunch that day too, so it was 100% stuff that she likes to eat). Last week she even decided to tell my husband that I’m the reason he and her BM broke up, and I’m the reason she moved away. They were broken up well before we even started hanging out as friends (she was across the country with another guy at the time). She moved back, things were great and then she upped and left again. She now chooses to only see her kids once or twice a month, if we’re lucky. We tried explaining what happened, without bad-mouthing her BM, and she seemed to be okay with it. Then she went to see her BM for the weekend and now she’s now telling her BM that I ignore her and refuse to do her hair in the mornings. I get her up, fed, dressed, teeth brushed, hair done, lunch packed, and off to school EVERY SINGLE MORNING, and that is not an easy feat. My SD will literally drag her feet with everything in the morning, picks fights with her brother and sister, and right as we’re going out the door and everyone is stressed, she will piss herself just to get me upset. Her BM decided to attack my husband about me, claiming that I’m not taking care of her emotional well-being, and that I need to step up as a mother! Coming from the woman who picks and chooses when she wants to be a part of her daughter’s life. Then we came to find out that the BM is the one feeding my SD all the lies about me breaking them up and making her move away.

I honestly don’t know what to do anymore. She soaks up so much of mine and my DH time and attention that we feel like the other two are losing out. I’m so incredibly tired.

 

Comments

justmakingthebest's picture

Have you taken her to counseling? She sounds like she is very insecure and is trying to get attention from any source she can. I can only imagine how frustrated you must be dealing with all of this. High conflict BM's along with kids that are acting out is a nightmare!

I really don't have any advice other than counseling, except with lying. Lying is one thing that will never go over well with me or DH (or my kids Dad and SM)! She needs real and immediate consequences. 

 

MommaLlama13's picture

We have and nothing has worked. We decided earlier today to start looking for a new therapist for her. My SD(7) is smart and manipulative. It seems like she figured out what she had to say to the therapist, to get the response she was looking for. Now it's all about the lies her BM tells her to say.

Aunt Agatha's picture

Your DH needs to be doing the parenting of his children, not you.  Step way back and let him step up. You are clearly a kind person, but this is not your circus, and not your monkeys.

This little girl  is clearly disturbed and being fed a pack of lies when she sees her monther.  The poor kid is confused and semi abandoned.  You are not her parent, and that’s what she needs.  If her BM won’t do it, then you DH needs to get in there and do the work.  No excuses, no shifting food, morning duties, etc. to you.

Counseling is absolutely needed as well for this troubled kid.

For you, I advise reading Stepmonster by Wednesday Martin.  Learn to stop playing mom to these kids that aren’t yours, and instead shift your focus to helping your DH be the parent (without letting him shift the heavy lifting to you).

This little girl is 7 and clearly does not have the ability to verbalize what’s wrong. Her life has, however, literally gone to sh!t in her mind, and it’s manifesting itself quite literally.  

There is ZERO you will be able to go to fix this, and it is up to the two who created her to get on board and fix it.

MommaLlama13's picture

Thank you! I'm going to definitely have to read that one. I feel like I've done everything to make him do the heavy lifting, but she still somehow blames me. I feel selfish because I know she needs help (and we do have her in therapy), but her actions are literally splitting our family apart. It's me, my daughter, and my SS against my DH and SD, because all of his attention needs to be on her. I feel bad for my other kids, because they feel left out in a sense. Sad

Chmmy's picture

Bathroom problems often stem from abuse. My brother is a social worker and the things he could tell you! It gets old but my brother is a saint. His best advice to me as a parent, a teacher and now a step parent is every behavior from a child is looking to fill a need that they have. If you can fill that need the behavior will stop.

That doesnt mean give in to tantrums, they are acting out due to emotional needs. Thay child needs a parent, not you as a fill in. My steps live with us and I thought I could be their mom or fill her shoes. No way. She abandoned them and they take it out on me & my husband.

My 12 year old stepson still wets the bed. It is not intentional but still gets old changing the sheets and putting him in the shower at 5am. My husband leaves at 5 for work and he wakes up the boy every morning to check his bed and deals with it. Its not my job to take care of that. These kids need their parents. Not fill ins.

MommaLlama13's picture

This is absolutely the truth. Does the devide ever stop though? I feel like if I don't "help" out, then my DH gets even more frustrated/distracted and the rest of us are ignored, if that makes sense. I'm not trying to be her mom, and I try and nurture their relationship (SD and BM) as much as possible, because my bio daughter and her SM don't get along very well and I see how hard it is on her. I just want everyone to be happy, but maybe I'm delusional... 

GoingWicked's picture

You need to start making SD responsible when she messes herself.  This is how I potty trained my kids.  They messed themselves, they had to do the work to clean it up.

First of all, because if she's doing it for attention, it will take the fun away.  Second, if she's not, she needs to be able to take care of herself without the embarrassment of telling other people.  Make it into not such a big deal.  If she wants to sit in it, just let her, yes it's gross, but the consequence is that her butt will hurt.  Have her clean up the messes she makes, including cleaning the car seat/chair/floor and doing her own laundry (all my kids, including SD, were able to sort, wash, dry, and fold at 6).  Have her prepare and be responsible for her own bag to take with her with clean clothes and underwear to change into in case she messes herself while out.  My youngest is 8 and has some incontinence problems, not as bad, however I rarely even hear about it.  He will wash his own clothing and sheets, and if he all of a sudden changed clothes or his bedding is in the laundry and it's not laundry day, that is usually the only way I know about it.

MommaLlama13's picture

We've tried the cleaning up after herself stuff... she will wipe the poop all over the bathroom, sit in it until she has a rash - then tell her mom we made her, or "forget" about whatever she is supposed to be cleaning up. I can't even let her sit on the couch anymore because she just doesn't care. I know this makes me sound terrible, but it's like she's dead inside. We've tried taking things away, and she doesn't react. We've tried making her clean, and unless we are standing over her she will make it worse. My DH has gotten so mad, that he's had her sit at a table next to the bathroom, so there's literally like a 10 foot walk, with no distractions. She will literally poop or pee sitting right next to the bathroom and won't say anything about it. We only find out when some time passes and we tell her to go to the bathroom or if we smell her. I can't deal with the stink!!

GoingWicked's picture

Ugh, that sounds horrible.  First, you need to stop worrying about what BM thinks, if she really cared she'd be right there cleaning up the mess, not listening to her daughter complain about it.  

It sounds like she's depressed.  Have you tried to change her diet?  I know the GAPS diet has been known to help with mental health, or maybe another elimination diet?  Also exercise, send her outside to play or try using calesthenics as a punishment.  Diet and exercise may help her get her brain working properly, naturally.  If you can't do the diet (I know it's restrictive), maybe record what she's eating when she's having bad spells, and you can try to eliminate it.  I know dairy makes my oldest foggy headed, spacey and apathetic (like you'll say something to him while he's looking right at you and it's like he never heard what you were saying, and then he just doesn't pay attention or care about whatever he's doing when he's doing something).

MommaLlama13's picture

Thank you for the ideas! I'll look into it! I never thought that her diet could be a contributing factor.