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Am I the only one?

StepMomma5351's picture

Well, I've joined groups on Facebook, now I'm going to try this out.  
 

im completely lost and pulled between love for my fiancé and my sanity with my future step daughter. 
 

a little back story, I am 32 years old. I have two biological children and currently one future step daughter. I was married 5 years ago to another man who had 2 children from a previous relationship, so this isn’t my first time being a “bonus mom”. But this time, I am really struggling with her temper and all around attitude. She is only 3 and I have been in the picture since she was 9 months old. 
 

so that I don't have a million hims and hers, I'll call them by their middle names. Amielia is the 3 year old, Marie is the bio mom and Levi is my fiancé. 
 

marie sleeps with Amelia in her bed. She is single, with no man living with her so some may find it appropriate. But when Amelia is here, we do not allow her to sleep in our bed with us. Both of us are comfortable sleeping nude and it's not appropriate to have a 3 year old cuddling with her daddy or future step mom when they are nude or even in boxers. She is a very touchy girl so she will lay in bed with you and rub your face, your neck and it's just not something that I or Levi are comfortable with. So when we make her go to her own bed, total hell arises. She will scream and throw things; she has even went as far as getting out of her bed and hitting her head off of her door. We have a video monitor in her room and I'll let her scream until she starts hurting herself, that's when one of us steps in and places her back into her bed. 
So bedtime is never a pleasant time.  I've tried letting her fall asleep with me then placing her in her bed. But when she wakes up and reaches to touch someone, out comes the temper. I typically have to go and sit in her bedroom floor and just put my hand on her back and she goes back to sleep. A child the age of 3 should not be this clingy and needy that she has to have someone continuously touching her just to sleep. Right??

her mom still let's her have a Binkie. Her teeth are already messed up where she has it in her mouth constantly. Every picture she sends us while she has Amelia, the Binkie is in her mouth. 
we don't give jt to her. When Marie and Levi meet to exchange Amelia, Amelia knows.  She gets in our truck, takes it out and hands it to either me or Levi. And when she gets into her moms car, she starts pointing to her mouth and grunting and Marie instantly gives it to her. 
I believe this is the reason Amelia isn't talking.  She had a vocabulary of no more then 25 words that you can understand. The rest of the time she just points and says hey. I try to make her say whatever she wants. Milk. Juice. Baby. Dog. But when I say, "you have to tell me what you want, say the word _____". She goes into a fit. 
she smacks me, tells me no when I ask her to do something. When I ask again she screams No!!!! At me and then will run away and scream and cry sitting in a room away from people.  
she isn't potty trained and she will not allow you to help her use the potty.  She hides and when you say are you pooping, she holds her hand up and screams no no no no and if you put her on the potty, she won't go.  She has made herself be almost impacted because she refuses to use the potty. If you walk into a room while she's in there and pooping she will point at you and scream the word " OUT!!" And point at the door. 
We have tried time outs, taking things away, about every form of punishment you can think of for the behaviors. I'm at a loss. I don't know what else to do. 
her behavior has put a strain on mine and Levi's relationship. I used to love spending time together, I even quit my job so I could be home and help Levi out because he is a new dad and he just thought he was doing something wrong. But now I see, he wasn't.

levi works at a job where he is gone for 4 weeks at a time, and during that 4 weeks she is with Marie non stop. When he is home we have her 5 days out of the week. It used to be the first week would be hell then the following 3 would be amazing. But the last 3 months, the happy times are few and far between. 
 

ive considered her behavior problems may be something psychological. But she doesn't show any signs of being on the autistic spectrum. Marie brought up the behaviors and Marie said the doctor said Amelia is having separation anxiety because she misses her real mommy and daddy being together. But she was 3 months old when they split up so there's no way she even remembers a day when they were living together. I believed Marie made up that diagnosis just to hurt Levi. Levi asked the doctor himself about the diagnosis and he said he's never said that. 
 

so any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm on the verge of leaving because I love spending time with Levi, I love when he comes home from work, but I'm dreading the day we go pick up Amelia. And I feel so guilty for feeling this way but it is so hard dealing with this.  I have never seen a child behave the way she does.  
please, for the sake of my happiness and my relationship, tell me what to do. 

ESMOD's picture

I will just preface this by saying that we tend to use abbreviations on her.

BM = bio mother... AKA EXW = exwife

BD = Biodad

DH = husband

DD = daughter

DS = Son

SD = Stepdaughter.. often with age so yours would be SD3

SS = stepson

it makes it easier to follow so we don't have identifying info and hard to keep up with names anyway.

ESMOD's picture

The child is 3.. the Terrible Twos is not soley confined to that age...lol.   What you are seeing is a child that is very frustrated.  The kid doesn't know what to do.. how to self sooth.. how to communicate.  The child is also being deprived of the only soothing mechanisms it knows.. ie binky and sleeping with mommy.

Honestly, I think going cold turkey on the binky is probably an extra stress that the child doesn't need.  She is having separation anxiety.. from her mother (not her parents being together).  

I think your BF needs to be working with his child more... read some parenting books to learn how to deal with the potty training etc.. You may have had some experience with kids before but not all kids are the same.. not all move along at the same rate.  Many kids aren't particularly verbal at her age.. and it doesn't necessarily mean the binky is the cause.. but I would warrant that mommy probably knows what she wants more instinctively.. not making the kid speak "words".  

I do think that the child is frustrated by super high expectations without the groundwork for her to achieve them.  

HowBoutScottyDont's picture

it sounds like there may be an issue with the 3 year old, sadly. typically, they are talking more by that age. i would be concerned about long term with your SO. the older she gets, the issues she has could become more difficult - although this could also be a phase and she may be fine. bottom line is that you just don't know right now.

i would strongly suggest that you get a job back. you are not married to your SO, and if this relationship does not last, you will have missed out on income that you need for your two bio children. i would also not get married any time soon. see how responsive your SO is to diagnostic testing for his daughter - that will speak volumes about how he will handle potential future issues with her.

Exjuliemccoy's picture

OP, the first things that jumped out of your post was that you are the one who gets up to soothe your bf's child when she wakes in the night, and you've quit your job to help your bf when he has his child. You should not be overfunctioning for your bf, and you should never jeopardize your independence and and/or your bio kids' stability for a man.

The way things work in a second marriage or relationship where both adults bring kids and baggage is, each is responsible for their own kids and finances. You take care of yours, and he takes care of his. It seems that your bf's daughter didn't win the parent lottery, and I know that must tug on your heartstrings, but it's her broken family's journey to take. Your helping may actually be interfering with your bf's development as a parent. Because of his frequent absences, he needs to flex those parenting muscles as much as possible.

Long distance relationships are hard enough without the added stress of a poorly parented, possibly special needs toddler. My advice would be to take a step back from this chaotic arrangement, protect your peace, and focus on your kids and becoming financially independent. This guy's problems are well above your pay grade.

ESMOD's picture

Ohhhh I missed that part about her quitting her job.  

Yikes.. why on earth would you quit your job to care for HIS kid?  was it so that you could be a SAHM to YOUR kids as well?  if so.. you may need to decide whether the tradeoff is worth it.. and if it is.. get yourself some parenting books to try to help you through these stages.  The girl may/may not have developmental issues.. certainly her mother may not be giving her the mental stimulation to learn to speak as much.. but if she is in your home 50% of the time.. you DO have the chance to offset that parenting.  it may take longer.. but it's not impossible.  Her dad needs to get her tested if there really is a chance she has some developmental issues.

tog redux's picture

Yes, this - 100%. Like many women do, you've jumped in to save the day, and are now miserable. Focus on yourself and your kid, your job and your BF when he's there. Let him do ALL the parenting - sleep in a guest room if her sleep problems are keeping you awake.  It's not your job to help him parent, he's got to work that out for himself.  Give advice if you want, but don't do it for him. 

Also, dear god, please suggest that he take that girl to the pediatrician, she's very delayed. 

Thumper's picture

How can we help OR are you here to tell us your situation,  then leave without interacting with us?

 

 

 

StepMomma5351's picture

I quit my job to be a SAHM for all the children, and to spend as much time with my SO as I can when he's home from work. 
He's just left for work today, I'm going to give it a couple of days and talk to him about me taking a step back.  
I'm scared I have spoiled him to much and myself as well. That I won't be able to step back when she's throwing a fit or I won't be able to tell him stop feeding into her bullshit when she's throwing a tantrum. 
I mainly guess I was just looking for other people's stories that have dealt with the same issues.