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Mumof1's picture

Firstly wanted to say how glad i am that i found this page, there is so much online about how if you don't love your step children your a monster!! I don't think the people that write those articles really are step parents!

So a bit of background, i have an 8 year old step daughter, married to hubby for 3 years and have 1 one year old son with him.

SD is with us 4 days a week, her mother is a nut job and spends as little time with her as possible. 

Me and step daughter got on quiet well before my son was born, although, there have been many arguments between me and hubby about having the odd weekend to ourselves and how i felt taken for granted as i am expected to do allot for SD. Due to hubbys work i do school runs, her school is 45 mins from our house!, i look after her 1 day a week during school holidays, use to be 2 until i said it was too much, dinners, washing, buying her clothes, going to school things, planning birthday parties. I have disengaged a lot since my son was born!!

My sd is surly, rude, ungrateful, messy, spoilt to name a few. My husband is good as disciplining her to an extent but if she were mine i would have raised her very differently. 

I find myself now resenting her, i know im the adult and i feel awful for how i feel. but i really wish i could have met my husband before his ex did. I resent the fact that she takes up my time, time i could be spending solely on my son, i resent she takes up my money, which i could be spending on my son, i resent she has the bigger bedroom out of the 2 children, meaning my son has a small room, i resent the fact that if i want another baby we will have to move house as we don't have the space, i resent i spend my life running around after her, dropping her, picking her up, to summaries i resent her existence and i find she now just irritates me when she is around. 

It has drastically effected my relationship with my husband, if i could go back i would stay well clear of anyone with children. When we first met my husband would only see his daughter a few times a week, normally when I wasn't around which was fine and i could cope with. over the years it has just become more and more and we are now in the situation where we have her the majority of the time, i know my husband wants to push to have her full time, i think if that happened it would be the end of us.

I feel like it is me and my son as one family and then my husband and sd as another. Don't get me wrong husband and sd are very good with son, but i am by far his main caregiver, one because i want to be and 2 because my husband is somewhat lazy. 

I am at a loss of what to do, sometimes i think i want out, i have found myself looking at divorce and flats so i can move out nd sadly the only thing that makes me stay is that i couldn't not bare to share custody of my son! I also couldn't afford to leave. 

I have explained to him how difficult i find it, i haven't gone into detail about my dislike for sd but i think he knows my feelings have changed but he has said to me he will not decrease the number of days he has his daughter.

I guess i just need a bit of advise or stories of others in a similar position, i find myself thinking how did this become my life and often wish it could be very different. 

 

 

2Tired4Drama's picture

He says he won't decrease the days he has his daughter, but he is not providing the daily care for her - you are!  That is not YOUR responsibility, it is his and BMs.  The fact he isn't listening to you about the issue is a red flag.  IMO it shows he does not care about your life and happiness, as long as his daughter is being cared for.  Not a good foundation for a strong  marriage.

I would ask him the following hypothetical question:  "If something were to happen to me, what are your plans for taking care of the children?"  I'd be interested to know what his answer was - especially for his daughter.

You are in a tough situation since it appears you cannot currently afford to leave if you had to.  Is there a possibility that you can go (with your son) and visit some family or friends for awhile?  Even it it's only for a week or so, maybe it would be enough that your DH would come to understand how much you do for HIS daughter.

Aside from that, be prepared that this situation will probably worsen the older that SD gets.  She will undoubtedly continue to have "issues" because of her mother's disinterest in her.  This will manifest in increasing hostility to you, since you are NOT her mother but are stuck in that role.  SD will use you as the whipping post for her anger about her mother.  You've got a long way to go before she ages out.  Her presence in your household will continue to have a major impact on your relationships and your finances, so you must acknowledge that fact.  Learn to live with it since it appears your husband has turned a deaf ear to your pleas for understanding.  

Wish I could offer you better advice.  Ultimately, though, you must FIRST take care of you and your son.  Whatever course that may take. 

 

Mumof1's picture

Thank you for your reply and advise.

I honestly don't know how my husband would cope if anything were to happen to me. I know my son would be well looked after as i have a very supportive family who would ensure he was. 

I feel in a way it is partly down to him wanting to have SD more than her mother does. the 4/3 split we currently have means he is the main caregiver and i think he equates that with love. He must love her more than her mother does as she spends more time with us! I don't think i could ever talk him into dropping a day, he would threaten to quit his job so he could look after her, jeopardise the entire family!!

I know he doesn't put me first, he will occasionally if we have an argument, like this weekend he has asked her mother to have her an extra day, but i cant appreciate it as i know come next week it will be back to normal. 

I have been thinking about asking my dad if he will come on holiday with me and my son, but im not sure how my husband would take it. I will definitely look into it though as i need some time away. 

I need to have a serious chat with my husband as i don't think he knows the extend of my feelings and how our current situation is making me desperately unhappy.

Thank you, you have given me lots to consider. xx

2Tired4Drama's picture

That's an incredible resource for you, so never forget it.  Always keep that in the back of your mind.   They have your back. 

I think it sounds like a wonderful idea for you to go away with your son and your dad.  I would say to hell with what your husband thinks about it.  He wants to spend as much time as possible with HIS daughter, then he should understand that your father wants to see YOU, as well as his grandson.  Any response from him other than a fully supportive one will only show that your husband is selfish.  

I strongly encourage you to take this time with your dad and your son.  Even a few days together will give you a better perspective on things - either way.   Hearing the wisdom of a person from an older generation, who also loves you unconditionally, will be very helpful.  

Mumof1's picture

Thank you so much, i do feel like i need some time away, just me and my son sounds amazing!

I am very lucky to have such a supportive family and will make sure to speak to my dad.

Hopefully some time away will put things into perspective and i can decide what to do next.

Xx

 

Winterglow's picture

Just a minute ... if she's at your home a majority of the time, why is her school so far away? And does your dh REALLY expect you to be on the road for THREE hours per day when she's with you?! That's enough to make anyone feel resentful.

As for him not wanting to reduce "his" time with her, well, that would be fine if he were actually with her. But he's not.

Ask your dh how he's going to cope with her when you decide to go back to work (I'm assuming you don't have a job because he ' expects you to be able to take care of your SD at the drop of a hat).

Mumof1's picture

When me and my husband first met we all lived in a similar location. We brought a house further away from SD school as that is the only place we could afford. I possibly kidded myself that i would be ok to do the school runs. 

I do work and I do 3 school drop offs and 2 pick up, i work in the same area as her school so i will get up get myself, my son and SD ready, drop her at school, my son at nursery and then go to work. in the afternoons i pick SD up, then my son then head home. but it still means i have to leave/get home significantly early/later than i would if i didnt pick her up.

I am definetely going to bring up the whole why is she here if your not thing as he does expect me to babysit to an extend. 

I just feel i am in an impossible situation and really feel i am missing out on being a mummy to my son, who is my one and only child. 

decofru's picture

I understand you love, i understand your resentment and why you felt the need to ask DH to reduce the time because SD's presence is inconveniencing you and giving you extra work and not DH. You probably don't enjoy having to take responsibility that's not rightfully yours. That's enough to get you resentful. It is your husband who is the problem because he is expecting too much from you and its unfair, he shouldnt be okay with giving you so much work and inconvenineces that should be his. What would he do if you were not there? Let him hire a maid to do all those things for his child and give you a break. The biological parents are honestly the reason why step parents end up resenting their children. It is the way they position them in our minds we start seeing the step child as an extra load, burden, and inconvenience and tha'ts enough to resent them because they are not our relatives to begin with, we owe them no favours and have no obligations towards them. If your boss started giving you tasks that are not on your job description wouldn't you get mad and resentful? Won't you feel used and taken advantage of? Probably your DH is not taking into consideration that he is making you resentful by burdening you with his responsibilities. I suggest you talk to a consellor who will make him understand all that. If DH did everything for his child and didnt bother you or if he found a maid to do it for him i don't think you would feel resentment towards the child?

I too ended up hating the existence of my step child yet it was not his fault but his parents by making SS my problem and his lack of parenting. I understand your frustration and resentment. Feel free to inbox me if you want to vent to someone who totally understands and won't judge.

Mumof1's picture

Thank you so much for your reply, you have hit the nail on the head ands its nice to know there are others out there that understand.

I do think that if my husband didn't expect so much of me i wouldn't resent SD so much. 

Its not my job nor my responsibility to pick up his slack yet everyone seems to think it is! Even SD mum asks why i cant pick up or drop off when husband says he cant. 

I resent that its just expected of me, no appreciation or thanks.

I will definitely have to have a serious chat with my husband as i cant carry on like this.

Thank you xx 

pwoodlson's picture

Im a soon to be step parent and understand your frustrations to the point of rethinking the whole relationship. This is exaclty why blended famlilies do not work. Once you have your own kids you become resentful towards the skids. Although it is not the skids fault for feeling the way she does her behavior in unacceptable and should be addressed. Your husband sounds like a lax parent who expects you to pick up all the slack for this mess him and his ex have created. Ultimately your husband is to blame here, not the skid. Remember that. What would he be doing if you weren't around? He needs to hire a sitter for his skid or drop her at bio moms, grandmas place for awhile, so you can parent and give you a break.  hugs!

Mumof1's picture

Just make sure you have a long, hard think about if you can sustain being a step parent, it only gets harder after marriage and a million times harder once you have your own kids, if you dont have them already.

I wish i could go back and warn myself lol!

But i wish you all the luck in the world with your blended family.

Mine just isnt working right now and its hard to know what to do.

100% agree that husband needs to pick up the slack and i will make sure to make that clear to him.

Thank you for your reply. Xx

elkclan's picture

If you are fantasising about flats then it is time to get some marriage counselling NOW. Counselling is a lot less expensive and time consuming than a divorce. You know that if you did divorce, given his track record, he'd want a lot of time with your child and he'd be dumping him on some other resentful woman. 

Resentment is a killer and I'm not saying that you don't have every right to feel that way, but it's no way to live. I've been in a resentful, point-scoring marriage. Now, I'm with someone who loves to give and I feel gratitude every day. He is away this weekend with his kids and I miss them all.

Don't let another minute pass before you start investigating counselling options. You are angry with your husband both for dumping his kid on you and for not stepping up to the plate enough with your shared child. But it's easier to focus resentment on a child who has no blame in this at all. If there was no home where you were 100% wanted you'd feel that way you might be whiny and needy, too. As much as you resent resources going on her, she could equally resent resources going on your child. 

I could focus a lot of resentment on the fact that my partner is on his ex-wife's mortgage meaning we're having housing problems (actually I do a bit). I could focus on the fact that a lot of money goes out of his pay packet each month to her, but I'd still love him if his salary was the net after child support - that's just the money he has available. 

Mumof1's picture

I have not really thought about it like that before. I am focusing my resentment on SD when if husband stepped up and didn't expect so much of me i probably wouldn't resent her at all.

I often feel like a maid, nanny, taxi driver, which im sure mums without step children experience, but when it isn't your own child, your not doing it out of love and it all just builds up and makes me want to scream!

I have thought about counciling before, i don't know how my husband would feel about it. He isn't one to talk about his feelings which is why we haven't had many really honest chats about how im feeling.

Any suggestions as to how i could bring up the subject?

I am very close to emotionally checking out and i don't know if i can come back from that.

Thank you x