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Finding it hard to disengage

Glanisha's picture

I posted before that I bought that I had a good relationship with SD 15 for 7 years now until she wrote a letter stating that she doesn’t like me and has been faking it this whole time. I am still really upset about it because I feel so used! All those times she came to me for help with her school projects, when she needed help planning her party, when I would need time out and go to my room and she would follow me and ask to hang out with me... all that was faked??!! It’s been 2 weeks now and I have been cordial but I have been withdrawn. Dh asked her how she wanted our relationship to now be and she said she doesn’t want it to be akward! Bottom line I can’t stand her being around me because I feel so betrayed. She’s not disrespectful at all but I just feel like now I have someone in my home who doesn’t like me and it’s very uncomfortable. The worst part is ss 10 is as seeet as can be and just adores me. I find it so hard to be like I used to be even with him because what’s to say he won’t do the same thing! He always looks forward to doing school work with me and is so helpful with his new sister (we just had a baby). I feel so guilty for pulling away from him especially because he had nothing to do with that letter! Oh and dh got offered a job in the east coast (we live in the south) and with all this drama I can’t help but wonder how life would be if we left! I just feel awful leaving ss over sd choices!

Just needed to vent! How do I disengage?? What does that look like on a day to day basis? I normally treat them like my own! Dh is the best husband I could ask for and 100% will not allow the children to disrespect me! He will 100% support whatever I feel comfortable with. I know bm is poisoning sd and her end goal is to get me and sd to have no relationship! So would disengagement mean she wins?? I just feel so conflicted

SAFjh's picture

Ouch! I am so sorry! I am new to disengagement myself...been at it one week today. My understanding of it, while it will have to vary slightly from one situation to the next, is to detach from SD completely. Be cordial and nothing more. Don't be the first person to greet or speak to her. Don't take her anywhere, buy her anything or help her with anything. If she tries to ask questions refer her to her father for answers.
Since you say, though, that the two of you have had a great relationship all these years, is it possible that you could sit her down and have an honest conversation with her about whether she really feels that way or if she wrote that letter because she was upset about something? Teenagers are hormonal and selfish by nature although it doesn't excuse bad behavior. It just means they may act or react before they think. If you can't have that conversation and you feel DH got the most honest answer there is to get(that she doesn't want things to be awkward)then, yes, my opinion is to disengage from her only. If SS hasn't given you a reason to disengage than I am not sure you should punish him for his sister's behavior. I hope some other more experienced people here chime in because maybe they can tell you what it will be like to disengage from one skid and not the other. I am sure it will be tricky at times. Best of luck to you. I am glad that your husband isn't part of your problem because one day the kids will be off living their own lives(hopefully) and you two will have a happy empty nest.
I wouldn't try to see the situation with BM as a winning or losing thing. It won't help you make the best decision for you if you are taking her into consideration.

tigerlily74's picture

Could it be that she was NOT faking it, but recently decided she wanted to hurt you coz of the new baby? I find it hard to believe that she was faking it for seven years... Either way, she wrote that letter to hurt you and I'm so sorry she's doing this.

Try not to project her awful behaviour on your SS though - for both your sakes. Big hugs as you get through this very difficult and awkward time xx

Kes's picture

I agree with what tigerlily said - she is jealous of the new baby and wanted to hurt you by saying this - it doesn't mean it is true.

Acratopotes's picture

SD is a teen.... she's not going to change at all. You always had a very good relationship, Why did you not confront her about the letter and why did you not tell her, SD you broke my heart and you hurt me, not only this but the trust bond we shared is totally gone now.

Why did you write such a letter and be honest Hon,if you really do not like me it's fine, you can't always like every one you meet, but then we need to sit down and have some ground rules how to proceed with sharing space.

Regarding SS, no you can't take this out on him, he has done nothing wrong yet and maybe if you are open about the whole back stabbing thing he learns a life lesson as well. He's only 10 but he's not stupid. He's innocent until you can say his guilty but do not punish him for his sisters acts. You can not predict the future, the way you handle him now will determine the future. You have teach them....
You respect and trust every one till they give you a reason not to, you do not work to earn some one's love, you love them, they have to work to keep it that way.

Read the link below for disengagement

http://www.steptogether.org/disengaging.html

ldvilen's picture

I was going to suggest this too, that you actually confront her, on your own, about this. I don't buy the argument that teens will be teens, because a) rude behavior should never be so flippantly excused, and b) we are not the moms, right? You can't have it both ways. We are either the mom or mom-like or we are not. SMs are reminded all the time, we are not, so a teen coming after SM should be handled no more differently than a teen coming after some other relative's spouse. If a teen told aunt Marie she hated her and was just faking liking her, how do you think aunt Marie's spouse and all of the other relatives in the family would act? BMs (and bio-dads) may feel they have to suck it up and take it for their own children, but these are not SMs own children, and we are not the mom, right?

So, since you seem to have a previous good relationship with her, I'd suggest you sit down with her and speak with her about this. She said she didn't want the relationship to be awkward, so you can use that as a good excuse. "SD, I just want to clear the air with you on this. . ." If anything, it will give you more information, such as, either she apologizes and says she didn't mean it, or such, or she admits there was some truth to it, so you can either discuss that further with her, disengage, or ___?

Glanisha's picture

A little more information: when sd first wrote this letter about a month ago dh talked to her and she said she couldn’t explain why she doesn’t like me. First thing sd said was I just want you to know this is not mom it’s all me, which was suspicious since he didn’t bring up bm. He told her that she still has to be respectful and sd said she had no intention of being disrespectful. On her letter she said that she doesn’t like me because he has changed a lot since he has been with me and that he doesn’t need to ask me my opinion when she asks me something that his opinion should be enough. DH asked her what she meant by his changed and sd broke down crying and said he was less strict. Dh told her that’s because he had to since it he wasn’t living with bm anymore but that had nothing to do with me if anything I convince him to let her to more social things. He reminded her how many times she came straight to me to ask to do something or how many times she waited until I was home to ask for permission to do something that’s because she knows I am more chilled and will likely convince dh to say yes or offer a different perspective. He also asked her what makes her think he always asks me for something before deciding on her decisions she said she didn’t know. Well all these are complaints that bm has had! Dh answer is always I will let you know and she interprets that as him running it by me. For the past 7 years he has involved me in things like sleepovers or joint accounts or in the summer when I’m
Off work and sd has needed a ride to activities. In fact we have group text where sd communicates about activities. Dh also encouraged her to speak to me and tell me how she feels.

I told dh that I would talk to her just wants sure when , we’ll this past weekend dh said we need to clear the air while we were both with him so we talked about it. I told her that I wanted to understand why she felt she needed to write that and asked if she had really been faking it and how she would like us to move forward. She basically had little to say, she said she didn’t know why. Last year for Christmas I was in another county with my siblings and parents and sd wrote me a letter saying it really sucks that I wasn’t there and she couldn’t wait for me to come back. I told her that I found that letter and asked if that was her faking it, she didn’t answer that. I told her that I have no doubt that someone is telling her things about me and that there’s nothing I can do about that except that when she becomes an adult we can have that conversation but until then I will still treat her right . She said she was worried I would stop speaking to her or withdraw ( She knows when I’m angry I don’t say much until I calm down), I told her that she doesn’t need to worry about that. I asked her how she would feel if someone she cared about said that they have been faking like her for years, she didn’t say much. She did say now that she’s older she feels that way. I told her that I’m not going to get involved in her social life and from now on she can just ask dh and I’m going to stay out of it even though I had been helping sd cause. Dh didn’t have a social life in high school so he doesn’t understand the need for her to do certain things.

I could have expressed myself more especially to help her understand that it was hurtful . I think she thinks that because she said how she felt it’s ok. I like one of the replies that said she wouldn’t do that to an aunt because she knows it’s hurtful. I may bring that up to her, I wasn’t ready to talk to her and I don’t know that I ever would have.

I think I’ve just had enough. Bm hates me and is poisoning her and it’s working. There’s no telling what she has told her and I just can’t control that. What’s disappointing is I thought sd knew me well and

Acratopotes's picture

It's nothing to do with BM, my SD also got to this stage lol... and believe me yours a nothing compared to mine, simply disengage from her,

Se made it clear, that's how she feels, fine she's allowed to feel what she feels, but you are allowed to feel what you feel, SD broke the trust and you can simply disengage from her, no more driving her around nothing, Respect her wishes, she does not like you, thus you stay out of her way and have a min contact as possible..... she can ask her Mother...

The whole thing here is the loyalty thing, when these girls are young they tell BM things from your home and as soon as BM finds out you are helping her children she feels threatened and that you are taking over as mum, thus the poisoning starts, blood is thicker then water, you are not going to get this to change, the more you try the more SD will pull back with BM's support, simply disengage, BM can step up and parent her daughter, make it clear to DH as well, You will not be the driver, maid etc. It stops now. Stop trying to explain and stop trying to make it work, simply take 2 steps back and write her off..... As soon as you are not in her life anymore and not doing anything for her, BM will pull back as well, this does not mean you have to step right back in, you simply smile and say, Sorry Hon, once bitten twice shy, you made a choice years ago and now you have to live with that choice. I've been where you are, disengagement is the only thing that will work for you, focus on the SS and the new baby.

ldvilen's picture

He should be running it by you, you are his wife! I always think that rather than giving these long explanations to kids trying to explain why dad changed? and/or why SM does what she does, the best, if not easiest answer, would just be to say, "We are married. That is my wife. We share a household. Married couples work together on pretty much all matters, and if you don't understand or see this now, you certainly will when you are married." Again, it is about treating kids like kids and spouses like spouses.

Another thing is kids, even teenagers, soak up things from parents or mentors like a sponge, and oftentimes, they don't have the ability to reflect back and realize that, "Hey, maybe I'm just parroting what so-and-so said." Heck!, even a lot of adults can't figure this out. Such as, after years of BM or some other relatives telling them dad is a deadbeat and SM is an intruder and you don't have to accept her, even then some adult SKs will just simply think it must be true because that is how they feel it vs. attempting to look back at the facts or see how those feelings were initiated. Adult SKs will not go against anything BM says or does, because they have long been convinced that she is the only one who ever had their back, and this may be true, but the truth also is that BM may have worked very hard behind the scenes to keep up that impression--to keep bio-dad and SM at bay and away from HER children via poisoning the well, PAS'ing, and so on. And, oftentimes it works. It takes a strong and intelligent adult down the road to not only go about analyzing why they have these negative feelings towards bio-dad and SM, but also to admit that those negative feelings were induced by someone else in the family way back when vs. being based on much reality.

If this type of deal is going on, and it sounds like it may be, I agree it's best to give her some space and see how it plays out for a bit. She can't insult someone and then say, "She doesn't want things to be awkward!" This is implying that the burden is on you to not make things awkward. When it reality, she has already made them such herself. Years later, you may hear something like, "I just told my SM how I felt and she's made things so awkward for me since then." What the heck did she think would happen? BMs and others can do a good job of making a SM look like dad's thing-on-the-side that no one really has to take seriously. Dad, needs to make sure that his kids take you seriously. And, he needs to remind them that you are his wife and you will be treated at least like dad's wife. His children are his children, and they don't get to control your household.

kpaige's picture

This is a 15 year old girl. She never faked it with you growing up. She is probably unsure if her BM is saying stuff about you and now you have a new baby which is also a change for her. Do not pull away from the 10 year old or you might regret it. Give the step daughter time, do not disengaged from her, explain you are hurt but you still love her and when she wants to talk to you about anything that you are doing that bothers her or upsets her she can come to you and talk to you. Tell her you want to have a good relationship with her and whenever that time might be for her she just needs to come to you and you will be waiting. Be the bigger person show her that you are still the same loving step mom no matter how much she hurt you. She will look back on this when she is older and be embarrassed that she treated someone who was loving this way. Give it time and still be there, this family seems pretty united and strong she will make it through this tough teenage time! <3

Glanisha's picture

This is/was my initial response to dh. I am truly blessed to have dh 100% support me so much so that he would choose me over his children. In fact during the conversation we had he told as that I’m his wife and married people share things. I have had to stop him in the past from telling her that his spouse comes first because I just don’t think she will process that well. He sees it as a biblical thing that your spouse comes before children but I think sd will see it as he is choosing me and at 15 I told him it’s not necessary to tell her all that. He has always from the start let them both know that they will respect me or have consequences and we have had a close family ... we do many things together in fact we spend more time together as a family than apart. Ss looks at me like a parent always has and your right I won’t hold this against him. His father asked him if he likes me just to feel him out after sd wrote that letter and his response was Ofcourse I do how can anyone not like her, she’s my step mom I love her. And then he proceeded to tell dh about all the things we do tog that he loves.

I treated sd the same way as I treat him it’s hard for me to do things half heartedly. I do think the baby triggered it. In fact when I was talking to her I asked her if there’s something I specifically do that she doesn’t like she said she can’t think of anything. It’s akward at least with me it is because I feel like I don’t know her, I’m wondering if she’s faking it now when she’s being nice. Deep down I don’t believe she has faked it for all these years but I think she’s having a hard time with something right now. I’m not sure if she was told it’s my fault that things are as they are or not but she’s been told something that’s really changed things ... that and the baby.

I do love her, I wish I didn’t maybe this would be easier. It’s almost like I’m going through a grieving process of grieving the family that I thought I had. I have been focusing on my daughter and Ofcourse ss it’s very hard to be cold towards him, he is the sweetest boy. I’m going to pull away from sd for a while and see how that worked she did ask me for money the very next weekend she wrote the letter and I gave it to her... I couldn’t bring myself to say ask your mother! Dh and I have a joint account so telling her to ask dh would be pointless

ldvilen's picture

Sorry, but this is more-so a myth and underestimates the ability of peers, BM, and others to undermine dad's wife responsibility and authority (most think she has none). Yes, it may happen that if SM "is the bigger person," a/k/a sucks it up and takes it over and over, that SD will come around. However, it may not. No one can say for sure, and in the meantime, SM is expected to suck it up and wait for the special day when a light bulb finally goes off in her SK's head. Some of us have been waiting 25 years, and it still hasn't come.

I know what you are saying, but at the same time, to say, "She will look back on this when she is older and be embarrassed that she treated someone who was loving this way," no one can say for sure. She might. She might not. She might continue to put on, or at her wedding, she might not even invite SM or worse, make sure SM gets humiliated in public by pretending like dad's wife doesn't even exist and insisting that SM sit in the back nor be in any pictures. Any of this could easily be SM's "reward" in the future. It is pretty much a crap shoot, and SM herself has very little control over the situation. For the most part, BM and bio-dad do. So, for SM to keep being the "bigger person" is a moot point. She could be a bigger person for 25 years, only to wind up with nada, and then once her husband passes away, have all the skids circling like vultures waiting for the final kill.

Who knows? I've seen all of the above or worse over on the adult SK page. You don't need to take my word for it. Check it out. SMs need to look out for themselves because way too many people have this stereotype that SMs need to just hang in there, suck it up, and wait around for some kind of payoff. In reality, it may never come.

P.S. This has happened to many of us, "I’m going through a grieving process of grieving the family that I thought I had." Almost four years later, I'm still working on it.

ldvilen's picture

The reality is, it is not our job to fix something that we didn't break, it is not our job to put up with being treated as a lesser wife, and it is not our job to accept nothing (or worse) in return for love. Our job is just like everyone else's job in this world--to take care of ourselves so we can take care of others, if need be. “Be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars. In the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.” ~Max Ehrmann.

Take care of yourself, and if after taking care of yourself, a newborn and your DH, and other responsibilities of yours where there is give and take going on vs. you sucking it up all the time. . . if after all of that, you have extra energy to deal with another family's angst (or SD's teenage angst), only then can you try to take care of them. Most SMs just do not have this kind of energy, nor should they be expected to.