You are here

I Need Help Please

rhondabailey's picture

i lived with my husband a year before we got married.  He has raised his 16 year old daughter whom he had had sole custody of since she was 3. He was never married to her mom because shortly after she was born he found that she had a terrible drug habit and she chose a alternate life without them.   Although, he had been married once and had several live in girlfriends before me, I have tried to make his home my home.   He is a doting dad to a lazy, spoiled entitled daughter who he always gives in to.  

 When we were first together his daughter instantly took to me and wanted to act like my bestie. She and I would do things with my daughter who is a year older than her. I have always enjoyed doing things with my daughter and was happy to include his daughter.  Then  She started to  constantly tell me things about the other women he had before me and things that he had done fir them.  For example he always called me Baby Duck and one day when she and I were alone she to,d me that he called his last girlfriend the same thing.  Or when he asked me to marry him he gave me the same ring that he had gave his ex that lived with him for three years.  There were many other things she would tell me I believe just so she could see the hurt on my face.  I have asked him about the  things she has told me and he always would say say it was a lie, but I did find out that much of what she said was true.  So it had been validated that they both lie!

He is an alcoholic, but he knew that there was no chance for him to be with me if hedid not stop drinking.  So a month after we started dating he put the bottle

 

down and has been fighting to stay clean for over a year.  I am so proud of this man!  I love

himwith all my heart!

 

His daughter had started acting out after I had lived with them for a couple of months.  Constantly questioning as to why he wouldn’t let her do something she wanted to to, pushing his buttons and throwing temper tantrums like a 4 year old.  She would scream to the top of her lungs. fall in the floor  and start kicking spand screaming u until he would give in to her.  Which he alwYs did, even if he said he was grounding her he would give into her within two hours.  My nerves were shot,  I would come home from work and they would be screamin* to the  top of their lungs at one another’s dreams woukd so so until he gave her her way.  During the Thanksgiving break she ran away to his ex’s (not her mother) twice he would tell he pr to come home and both times he eventually told her to stay until she wanted to come home.  Again during the Christmas holidays she did the same thing.  He couldn’t control anything she did!  So in January he too her car away from her and sent her to live with his sister.  Hus daughter reported him to CPS and told them he beat her.  We were investigated and released due to no findings.  I have never seen him lay a hand on this child, perhaps that’s her problem in a nutshell.  His sister would never believe us when we told her how she acted, but then she got first hand knowledge.  The sister and her husband could not control get either, she kick, hit an trip his sister when she tried to discipline  her.  She wouldn’t go to school, his sister had called the law on her twice, because this little 5 ft talk girl was so violent they couldn’t do anything with her.

 

we were married on April 23rd,  and had two very blissful weeks of marriage!  On May 6th his sister brought his daughter back and they pulled her kicking and screaming out of his sisters car.  When she came home I set ground rules with my husband and he agreed to everythin* I said.  First , she had to get a job and earn the right to drive , second  our bedroom and our bathroom were our Private Space and she was not to come into either.  Third, she was going to help out around the house and sleep all day or han* our with her friends all the time.  He agreed!  But nothing has been held.  Whenever she wants to do something he gives right into her.  He Washes, drys and folds  her clothes, picks up behind her like she is a toddler, she will drop chips on the floor look at the and walk away, he’ll rush over and pick up right behind her.  He lets her drive whichever of his vehicles she chooses and have friends stay the night whenever she wants to.  I come home late at night and we will have her friends over ther, i5 would be nice to at Least know beforehand when we are having guests.  Oh, and Yes she had taken bathes in our bathroom, and left everything in there so would know she has done it.

He is letting this 16 year old control our lives and It’s stressing me out!  I married him because I live him but I can nit tolerate his child!  I have three of my own, two grown and one just a year older than his.  He used to compare my children to his,.  There is no comparison.  My youngest had been working since she was 16, she graduated with honors last month and had enlisted into the Army!  All threemy children have been overachieve, they have worked since they could and two have graduated from college with degrees.  They do not compare.  He does not let me control anything at home.  I need helor Ian going to lose the man I live!,,,

have 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

CLove's picture

And sometimes love is just not enought. Shes a brat. He gives in to her. He coddles and picks up after this brat.

It doesnt really matter why at this point, the point is that he has elevated her to "wife status" above you. Are you ok with that?

Id seriously consider if this is the one for you. How much more can you take.Can you take your kid and leave? For a while - so you can figure things out?

Sometimes you have to rain holy heck and let them know you are totally serious, and get super mad. Like when she has her uninvited friends over, kick them out. 

Definitely separate finances. Stop doing for her AND him. Just do for you and yours.

rhondabailey's picture

My daughter does not live in our home, she chose to live with her brother and his wife when he and I started dating.  Besides she leaves in October for basic training.  

The really funny thing was when he and I started dating my daughter acted out a little, I woukd ground her by taking her car or cell phone for two weeks.  After which time if she was better I gave them back to her.  He would always lecture me on my parenting and tell me that I was not firm enough.  So the last time I grounded her , she had fell asleep at her boyfriends house and called me at 2 am to let me know that she was on her way home.  I took her car and cell phone, although I really didn’t want to, but he kept insisting that she knew the rules and had disobeyed them .  That is when my daughter moved in with her brother, she bought herself a new iPhone  11 and within a both had saved enough to pay down on a car. 

The whole time I wanted to give her phone and car back to her I had him in my ear saying she will never respect me if I give in to her.  To this day I still have both.  She an d I have regained our wonderful relationship.  I stood firm with my child but he refuses to stand firm with his!

Finances are definitely separate !  He is on disability gambles and smokes can nit control a dollar!  I have worked at the same place all my adult life and bring home a really nice salary.  He had said a few times that married people have joint accounts but I told him that was nit going to happen with Us!  I put money in his account t to pay bills which often tines don’t get paid.  I put food on the table, basically I am financially responsible for our home.  I am beginning to feel used and abused by both ny husband and his daughter.  

I tried to leave before and basically it was a disaster, if I leave again I will, have to move away from our town.  I feel so hopeless at time and gave no one to really confide to!  

ndc's picture

Is there a chance that you could live separately until his daughter launches?  (Which may not be for a while - although she's only a couple years from adulthood it sounds like she's light years from maturity and indepedence).  Frankly, I don't see how you can live with such an out of control child and a man who doesn't enforce any of the boundaries he agreed to in a home over which you have no control.  

Has he had his daughter evaluated for mental illness?  Her extreme meltdowns and out of control behavior do not seem at all normal.  They could very well be the result of his piss poor parenting, but maybe there's something else there.

rhondabailey's picture

She was evaluated for mental illness when she had reported him to CPS and was advises to seek therapy dur to you behavior.  When she was living with his sister she kept all her appointments but since she has been home he has not made her go.  He says that he knows what she needs more than a therapist! 

We have on,y been married for two months and I am so miserable when I am around this child,  she still calls him Dada.  They have always made an endearment sound of MWAH, typically whenever one of them was leaving or at bedtime, however, since she’s been home I swear I hear her do that everytime they are in the same room together.  It has been days when I know I have heard MWAH at least 50 times in one day.  

She blatently does things that I have asked her not to do, and when I say something to him, I’m the one that gets in trouble because I’m the adult and she is just a child and does not understand.  She is 16, she told him that she is grown and can do whatever she wanted to do.

i tried to leave before when she first stared giving us problems.  He accused me of cheating and put all my belongings under lock and key.  The only thin* he let me leave with was the clothes on my back.  He locked my vehicles Within a six foot security fence and took the keys to my house so I couldn’t go home.  The police would not help they said I would have to go to court to get my stuff.

life had gotten so much better when she was  with his sister.  Although, he texted his daughter everyday begging her to come home,  life was so peaceful!  

I just don’t know where to turn!  

Winterglow's picture

Time to start lining up your ducks. I'd start by contacting a local women's shelter for advice on how to protect your belongings so you can leave. Besides that, start making copies of all important documents (marriage licence, insurance policies, bank statements, etc.) and keep them somewhere safe outside of the house. Open a new bank account and start funneling money into it as discreetly as possible so that you won't be strapped for cash when you go. Is there any possibility that you could have your marriage annuled if it was so short?

Please be safe.

StepWho90's picture

I totally understand a lot of what you are talking about ... a lot of this has happened to me except the for the tantrums... have you tried airing it out in front of them both ? Or even just his daughter alone ? It was very discouraging for me because all I tried to do was include my BFs Daugther into my life but it seemed as if I wasn't welcomed . And she always told me things about her fathers past when he wasn't there ... I believe the daughters are acting out a certain way because they know they have that power with their fathers. You have to set your boundaries and tell your husband if something doesn't change... you will eventually need your own space ... it's sad but true :-/ 

TheAccidentalSM's picture

She has put at risk you and your daughter with her false allegations.  There would be no way I'd live in the same house as her after that.  She will do it again and next time the target could be you or your daughter.

As others will say, sometimes love is not enough.  If you want to stay married, maybe move out and maintain the relationship until she launches.

thinkthrice's picture

For us it was BM aka the Girhippo calling CPS on us for false charges and the skids backing her up AKA lying.  Even at a totally young age.  Nail in the coffin.

Wicked stepmo.'s picture

Your DH is the problem and it sounds like nothing is going to change. It is very likely SD will be there past 18 unless DH realizes he has to start setting limits.

You have talked to DH and that's hasn't worked. You can try counseling with DH. But you should also be prepared that you may have to live seperate from DH and SD in order to bring peace back into your life, and set your own limits since DH seems incapable of doing that himself. 

Stepdrama2020's picture

Sd will always be a problem unless DH gets tough with her. You know he wont so here you are.

Anyone who calles CPS on me would NEVER enter my door again. That can kill any employment opportunities and your good standing as a citizen.

As Clove said love is not enough because of the clusterfluck SD. You raised good kiddos, you did your good parenting.

I would leave, not telling you to. But dang the lil terrorist would never be able to control me again. I would be worrying one day the police would show up at my door because of lies. DO NOT live this way.

Heck you may find a man that doesnt have a crazy unstable SD who runs the house. Imagine that ! Life is too short HUN.

Blessings to you girl

rhondabailey's picture

It’s seems that things are not getting any better!  I feel like I am a visitor in the house!  I am never comfortable there anymore and look for any reason not to be there!  I have tried to leave before and he got violent and forced me out of the house in my nightgownin the middle of the night.  He trashed me on social media and wouldn’t let me get any of my belongings including two of my vehicles which he locked in a six ft. Fenced yard.    I should have saw all the RED flags before we got married.  However,at that time we were getting along so good, the SD wasn’t living in his home and said she was NEVER coming back there.    

I had given DH a trip to see the Atlanta Braves play,  awesome seats, 5* hotel forge weekend of the 4th.  He had planned to give SD HER car back before we left for our trip and she was to stay home by herself because she had to work.  He had taken her car when she had left home to live with his sister and he told her that she would have to prove to him that she deserved her own vehicle by working and taking some responsibility with chores around the house.  Needless to say he justified her not picking up behind herself or doing any chores by her being tired because she was working, basically the only thing she had to do to get her car back was work a part time job!  She didn’t have to work on Friday and Saturday so she ran the road and hung out with her friend, she on,y worked 4 hours on Sunday and went for interview at another job, she told her DADA ( that’s what she still call her dad) that she had gotten the other job, and was going to quit the one she had, he said she had to work a 2week notice and then she could start the new job.  In fact she had nit gotten the other job,  the manager that talked to her is a long  time friend of mine and she told me that the SD was told she had to be 18 to work there.  So now all she is doing is eating, sleeping and hanging out with her friend, he lets her do wagatever she wants to do, and he cleans and picks up behind her like she is an infant.

While we were in Atlanta she  called him, texted and FaceTimed him no less than 50x’s a day.   One time while at the game he text back and asked her was everything alright he couldn’t answer the phone right then, she texted back that everything was good to call her.  He didn’t immediately call her then she started texting and calling me, I turned my phone off.  Nothing was wrong she just wanted to tell him something that could have waited.  It seems that everytime we go out, she will still be asleep at 5pm when we leave and he will leave her a note, but as soon as we leave she will start calling and texting, we can’t have anytime alone without her constantly interrupting.  I asked him what was wrong one time and he said nothing she just wanted to know where we were, she has us on 360 and can see exactly where we are at all times. Sometime all she will say when she callers is hey”.   He doesn’t seem to think that it is a problem for us to contact him 10-20 time while we are out for possibly 2 hours.

i have started looking for somewhere to just leave everything an run away to.  I am going to have to have a fresh start.  I am letting this 16 year old psycho child and her blind DADA runme away from my life.

.  

rhondabailey's picture

I really at times wonder why I am still with my husband.  Things have not gotten better in fact they have gotten much worse!  The only answer I have is that I love him .  Yes! Even though it is evident that he is never going to put me first!  He is never going to keep the boundaries I set from the very start!

In addition to asking him to revere our bedroom and our bathroom as his and mine and was off limits to anyone else.  When she starting dating at 16  and two weeks later her 18 year of boyfriend shoes up with hickies down both side of his neck  disappearing down into his shirt.  My husband and I talked and I at that time I  expressed that “our” house was full enough and that no one else would live here which he was more than agreeable with.  

The SD was working partime,  one job to another and only halfway doing that and still doing virtual school,   some anyway.  I really quite honestly don’t know how she passed but I think that during virtual school the teachers just let everything slide.  This was all until mid 2022,  when I told my husband that I felt his daughter was pregnant and he in denial told me that she was not, that is the only rule he had given her was not to bring any babies here!  

He apparently asked her and they had a huge Argument,  she moved out to live with her boyfriends  family!!!!!!  Hallelujah!  Even at this time he would not tell me that she was expecting and that she wanted her boyfriend to move in with us.  He said he could. To so she moved out to prove that she was going to get her way one way or another.  What a Sweet, Blissful two weeks it was!!!  One day in late July  when I came home from work SD had returned and she and her boyfriend had dinner with us.  The next morning I woke up to exercise before work and when I went into my exercise room there were boxes all in that room, and I noticed that the boyfriend had slept over, which had never happened before and was a taboo also discussed husband and myself.  I didn’t say anything about it to husband that morning as he was still asleep, but asked about it at lunch that day and husband didn’t really reply with anything of than “they are grown”. No they are not!  He may be almost 20, and still unemployed, but she was only 17 and I didn’t condone  that behavior with my now grown children  when they were that age or any age while they were under my roof.  It wasn’t until after I asked the third night that boyfriend stayed over that husband finally said that I must be simple minded or something and that they she was pregnant and they both were going to live with us.  He said that’s why she moved in with her boyfriends family, husband never asked her to leave but said he couldn’t live with us.  So she moved in with her boyfriends family, and only  came home because she said “they treated her bad there”. Later I was told by boyfriends stepmom, that they asked her to leave because she was a monster!!!  Finally someone else saw SD as she really is, unfortunately not  my husband!  When they came back home I told him that the baby was theirs and they would have it in the room with them

Things were bad but got much worse after her 18th birthday.  Apparently, at some point in time, husband told SD that she could have my exercise room which is also my home office for a nursery.  The 8th of December I went in to walk treadmill,  and there was baby stuff, bassinet, changing table etc all stuffed in the tiny room.  When I asked him he said it wa temporary unttil they got her room straight and were able to out it in there, so I moved it out of my to the back wall so I could get acces to the room.  That day She blew a fuse and said that my husband had told her when they came to live with us that she could have that for the babies room!  At that time husband told her that the baby had to sleep in her room with them and the room had been given to me years ago because at that time I needed a home office.  I told husband if they needed somewhere to put baby  stuff they could line it up along the back wall but nit to cover the windows That night husband and I went out of town, and as always she was constantly texting him, he told me that they were getting the babies stiff out of that room and cleaning it up.  When I went to walk treadmill the next morning the room was set up like a nursery and all my belongings were pushed to the back wall and she out things that had been on the shelf in boxes and stacked the on table going way above windows.  I moved everything back to the way it was and placed baby stuff neatly on back wall.  That didn’t go over well with SD who threw a fit while I was at church that morning.  Since then she is constantly doing thing to irate me,like putting her snow boots that have sat by the back doo pr for years in front chair I sit in when I work for home, or sitting her basket of cleaning supplies in the middle of the doorway into the room.  Apparently, husband has promised her that room again!  I have heard her ask him if he has talked to me about that room being the babies room yet, and telling him that he has promised!  I have also seeen some of her texts asking when he was going to talked to me about that room and that he promised he would to me after the 1st.  She has threatened several time to move out but she always returns.  I am so afraid that he is going to side with her yet again.

Nit to mentioned while we were out out town last weekend she texted him asking could she take a bath in our bathroom and his reply was to make sure she left it like she found it,  I’m fighting a loosing battle!  I pay all the household expenses, he keeps his while disability check plus he gets one for her.  I feel like he is using me but can’t bring myself to leave again.  Last time I did he sold all my belongs or hid them at other peoples houses and I had nothing but the clothes on my back.  Not of the appliances or furniture I out in this house not even pictures of my children!  

 

Winterglow's picture

Please go to the nearest women's shelter and ask them for advice on leaving this appalling situation. They might even be able to help you plan your escape.

I highly recommend that you read posts by reedle2021 because your situation sounds alarmingly like hers (father and stepchild rule the roost, she was last in the pecking order, was expected to worship the stepchild, was the only breadwinner and was only appreciated for her capacity to supply money, etc.). She got out but it took a lot of planning and she never, not once, let on to her ex-husband that she was leaving.

How long have you been married? 

rhondabailey's picture

We’ve been together almost 3 years and been married almost 2.

 I have left before because he was an abusive when he drank liquor, which he is a recovering alcoholic.  Most of the times he fell off of the wagons as because he and his daughter were bucking up tohim and acting up.  

He has been sober since August 2. 2022, he started feeling bad and on September 2, 2022 he was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver.  Since then he has been in the hospital twice both times 12 days each.  And is now seeing a hematologis, who in November gave him 3 months to live.  After much research in homeopathy, and now after many prayers, massages on pressure points that affect the liver three times everyday  and homeopathic herbs I have given him for the past 2 months his doctors are expecting a slow but full recovery.