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My Three Step-Sons

Had enuff2012's picture

We are a newly married couple (August, 2011) with 5 kids between us. The issue I am having is with my 3 step-sons, ages 26, 24 & 20 and their total disrespect toward their father, myself, and our home. Two of the boys still live at home, while the oldest lives about an hour away. On a couple occasions, both my husband and I have gone away overnight to get away for some quiet time together. Before we leave, we always give them "the rules" (no friends/parties allowed in the house while we are gone). However, as soon as we leave, these rules are "forgotten" and a party is being planned. And it's not just a simple party .. it's usually leads to an all-out drunken fest. Closet doors are being taken off their hinges to make beer pong tables, and the entire house is usually destroyed in the process. We have come home to stacks of full and empty beer cans lying on the floor and counters, drinking glasses, shot glasses, pizza boxes, you name it .. all around the house - including our front yard and deck when it's better weather. Leftover food is usually left on counters, floors (one time leftover burritos were ground into the family room carpet). Vomit was also found downstairs on the carpet by one of our chairs (this has yet to be cleaned up as I refuse to take care of this - this is more than 3 weeks old now). Some of these party goers have even urinated on the floor in their drunken stupor! One time our oldest even brought a "friend" over and we found out they had slept in our bed! Shower curtains have been torn off the rods, window blinds have been broken, as well as furniture. It is totally disrepectful that our rules are not followed and the fact that they don't think anything of it ! My husband is a passive man (these are his kids) and his threats to his children are not taken seriously. They don't even call him "Dad". They refer to him by his initials. Their mother passed about 5 years ago and I believe during this time, my husband became their "friend" and did not enforce any rules on them as a parent. Let me clarify that I am not a neat-freak but like to keep the house tidy and somewhat organized. I do realize that it's ok that dishes are left in the sink and I do pick up if I see that something needs to be put away. That's not a problem. But this destroying the house as soon as we leave just for an overnight getaway is really upsetting to me. I am ready to flip sh*t on these kids if it doesn't stop. My husband says it's better to have his kids mad at him instead of me, but THEY DON'T LISTEN TO THEIR FATHER. I don't want to come across as the evil stepmother, but feel something has to be done. And soon. The two at home make enough money to get out on their own, however, my husband seems reluctant to push them out of the nest. I want to get a new sofa (as the one in the family room is trashed from past parties) but don't want to spend any more money on home furnishings if there is a chance they will be destroyed in some way the next time we are gone. We should be able to leave the house and enjoy some quiet time alone and not have to worry about what's happening at home. There have also been times that after "bar time" the entire crew comes back to our house ... to continue the party. Sure, I like to have a few myself, but when these kids are coming home at 2:30-3:00am and waking us up with their inconsiderate loudness - that's where I draw the line. They have also been known to urinate off the back deck (instead of walking down the hall to the bathroom). It's like a scene from Animal House! We have also been the babysitter of the eldest's dog when he is away on business. To this day, I have never heard a "thank you" from him and last time he even stated we did not provide the proper "upkeep" of the dog by brushing him while he was gone for the week. Instead, he brushed the dog on the back deck when he returned from his trip and left all the fur by the patio door. We reminded him he needed to clean this up, but he left for back home and the brushings still remained on the back deck. I have tried talking to my husband about how upsetting all this is for me, but I don't think he realizes just how upset I am. I do not want to get angry with him for the actions of his grown adult children, but when is it ok for a stepmother to lay down the law - especially when she is now part of their dad's life and working hard to make "their" house a "home" ?? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. (Glad I found this site -- my sanity depends on it!)

alwaysanxious's picture

Why are you putting up with this?

These are adults treating your home like a frat house. Let them do this to a home that they are paying for.

I assume you moved in with DH? Either you and DH have to kick them out NOW or you need to get your own place until DH figure out how to grow a spine. There's no way I'd put up with that crap. I give dirty looks when skids touch my crystal, much less leaving beer cans and vomit everywhere.

You should be angry with DH for not having the balls to expect his property to be treated with respect. He raised animals.

No f*c*ing way.

jadedprincess's picture

tell hubby its them or me and honestly if he chooses them you need to get your self an apartment or something because that is fucking ridiculous if he chooses you change the locks pack their shit and sit it in the front yard and see if they get the message. that is completely uncalled for and disgusting

Jsmom's picture

Why in the hell are you allowing this? I would have gone insane on them on some of the smaller stuff. Let alone the parties...Hell no!!! Throw them out now....

novemberm's picture

They call your DH by his initials....so, yes, he is their friend. They do not see him as their dad. They see him as a buddy-this is very bad, as you know.

While I agree with what everyone else said, I do not know how you will get them out. Dad/friend has got to support you and tell them it is time to go. I do not know if he is willing to do that. You need to talk to him now, and tell him they have to go. They really need to be out NOW, but I doubt he would be willing to immediately throw them out. So, get a time in mind, and tell them that if they are not gone, YOU will be. This is really tough, bc your DH does not sound like he really cares about what they are doing. He should be ashamed of himself for allowing you to live this way, but guess he is used to it, because "they are his kids."

This is exactly why I will never allow my fiance's adult brats in our home. Actually, they are not even allowed to visit as of now. 2 of them have been determined to move in, and it would have been a disaster. I would have had drugs, filth, and minors in here. Oh....you better tell your DH that he could get in massive legal trouble if drugs, or other things are found in his home. One of my fiance's sons is dating a minor, and he can go to jail, but I will be damned if he drags us into it. He is mad at me bc I want nothing to do with her. He thinks the law does not apply to him.

Your DH better wake up. I know what you are going through, my fiance is SO passive, and way too nice. His kids took advantage of that for years, but no more. Luckily, he supports me, but it is not always easy, cause he still has slivers of guilt. His kids are horrible, and he has yet to accept that fully.

I wish you luck and peace.

Superdad454's picture

I did that stuff myself, when I was 18! I can still remember my mom (single at the time) chasing me around the house with a yard stick held like a samurai sword doing her damndest to take my head off and putting dents in the sheet rock when she missed. She promptly thereafter told me to get the hell out of her house and that was that. I know she did the right thing to this day, even though I did have to come back for about 4 months a few years later, but at that point I did work and pay rent and had a specific move out date.

These punks need to be booted out NOW, no excuses or exceptions, I would be boxing their shit up and throwing it out on the front lawn.
If they are doing this in front of your children, what is this showing THEM?
At the very least I would be having carpets cleaned and repairs done and submitting the bills to them to pay, that is massive horse shit!

I got a good one's picture

Oh, they've got to GO! Your marriage will never make it under these circumstances. You need to spell it out for your husband. God help you. You are obviously a very nice lady since you haven't ripped anyone's head off yet. And good for you. But, you are not a doormat. Enough is enough.

Shannon61's picture

Why are they there? It's time to establish a strategy to put an end to this foolishness once and for all. These are adults .. grown men . .and if they want to party like Sixteen Candles, let them do it under their own roof.

First off, sit down and tell DH that it's time for his sons to move and establish a date. Have a meeting with them and let them know that the gravy train has pulled into the station, and the party has officially ended. Tell them you want them gone by a certain date and you're going to establish house rules. Start charging them rent if they work.

Start making things difficult for them around the house. Stop buying food for them (if they work they should buy their own food), hide the laundry detergent, and disconnect their cable. When they violate a house rule, ream them about it. Soon they'll get sick of hearing it and will start looking forward to moving out. DH must be on board. As it stand now, they have it made there and have no reason to leave. Change that! They'll never grow up and become responsible at this rate because they feel that can live with you and daddy and keep partying for the next 10 years.

This is what I had to w/my lazy SD (27) because my DH was passive and didn't want to give her a move out date because he didn't want to "hurt her feelings." The sun rose and set on her according to DH. She was evil, mean-spirited and didn't have one chore in the house. I figured since he wasn't going to get her out, I'd have to and I did what I've suggested to you. Before long, she was packing her stuff. Smile

Had enuff2012's picture

I want to thank everyone for their comments above. Although I knew what most people would say/believe (the same feelings I had) - it was still difficult to read. Anyway, sat down with DH last night to discuss my feelings and working to get a set of house rules for the boys to follow. However, the talk did not go as I had expected and DH got defensive. He did not speak much during the conversation but sat there and listened. He DID say that he needs to deal with this and not me. So, now I'm hoping that he follows through and talks to them about their actions and consequences. I wanted to be more of a "united front" on this situation, but he wants to handle it. So, I'm putting all my trust in DH to keep his word and get all of this absolute nonsense to stop. But I got out what I needed to say and feel better about things even though DH seems to be angry with me. I have to keep telling myself that I did nothing wrong; only explained what I have been feeling for quite some time. I also stated that the blinds will be replaced and the carpet cleaned at the expense of the two involved. As for the house rules .. I pointed out that if my daughter has to follow rules in order to live with us, then the boys have to follow the same rules. She learned the hard way and I kicked her out for a few weeks around Thanksgiving until she begged to come back and has followed the rules ever since. It was a good wake up call for her. Hopefully the boys will get the same call.

alwaysanxious's picture

So many things here I can resonate with.
"I wanted to be more of a "united front" on this situation, but he wants to handle it."== I gave this up after my last incident (in a blog)
"even though DH seems to be angry with me"== so very typical. These boys are acting out in ways that any normal person would see is wrong, yet you are in the wrong for pointing it out. We can never win.
"I have to keep telling myself that I did nothing wrong"== you did NOTHING wrong. The one thing we have to do is stop questioning ourselves. They are the crazy ones, not us.

No matter what DH does, you stick to your guns. Do not let them walk on you. Keep a plan B-- living separately-- in the back of your mind.

Superdad454's picture

"The Boys" should be "The Grown Male Room Mates"
You should stop referring to them as "kids" or "boys" because they are not either and just calling them that re enforces a mental image of them as still being the little kids they used to be.

I have forced myself to refer to my son and my SDs as "the Young Adults" and I constantly openly correct myself in front of them and my "wife". We jokingly correct each other on it to. It seems silly but it really does help adjust the way you look at them when you start forcing yourself to CALL them what they are, GROWN ADULTS that just happen to be very immature. Then we don't feel quite as guilty when we are putting the hammer down on any of them.

Shannon61's picture

Alwaysanxious is right on . . .get a plan B and plan C too if necessary.

My DH would always tell me he would talk to SD about issues, but days, weeks and months would go by and he would never get around to it. When I complained he accused me of trying to control him and told me he would talk to her when he was good and ready. . WTH?

I told DH that if he didn't get his princess in check that I would "leave him here with his triffling a!@ daughter." And I was dead serious. He got the message.

Marriage is hard enough as it is, putting up with inexcusable behavior from obnoxious steps makes it that much more difficult.

Delilah's picture

Hadenuf I am going to give it to you straight (but nicely ofcourse Blum 3 ).

I urge you to consider several things in the interim, while your DH addresses and manages his adult children, and that is how long are you willing to give to SEE these changes? What are you going to DO if neither DH or your ss's say or do anything to rectify things?

I ask the above because from what you have written I think your DH is going to find it nearly impossible to change his habit of allowing his sons to take the piss, disrespect him, you and your home. He has brought up his boys to view him as a buddy, they call him by his first name and dont listen - if they did they wouldnt do half the things they do and even more so considering you are now in the equation. This behaviour is entrenched in both your DH and your ss's, I dont wish to be negative and I hope I am wrong but this is what I think will happen.

Your DH doesnt really want to address this behaviour, he kinda knows the way they behave is wrong and he doesnt like it but he has bred these monsters through his passive parenting and his inability to insist upon respect, and backing this up with consequences if the ss's choose to disregard this. As a result DH KNOWS its going to be a battle, if not impossible, to calm them down and get them to actually follow these rules - they will ignore any rules you insist upon because they know they can get away with doing whatever they wish without any comeback and they also suspect they can wear DH down quite quickly i.e. if DH insists upon something I doubt there will be consequences as DH will give up.

You quite rightly will continue to expect results and for things to improve, and as a result will communicate this to DH and its probable DH will get more and more frustrated because he cant keep you all happy. He will feel like the bad guy with his boys, and tbh he probably enjoys being fun dad to his sons and will resent any pressure you place on him which threatens this. He will possibly use his fears as an excuse and along with making you feel like you have inordinate standards and therefore are unreasonable - so therefore he will get angrier at you because of this. He already got irritated with you because you have asked him to see to this and sooooo you will be stuck in this situation, with adults wrecking your home, potentially laughing at you and taking the piss more because they know daddy will do jack, DH will take this out on you along with his anger that things are having to change.

Personally, I would allow ss's ONE more chance. So DH to have a word and tell them that if they do anything one more time then they are out. They have had months to change and in that period how many times have they screwed up? They have had a million chances, so prepare to throw them out because I will bet money on it that they wont take it seriously and you MUST back up your words with actions otherwise things will deteriorate and in my experience it WILL get worse. They will push the boundaries because they can and will take revenge for daring to have reasonable expectations.

I would warn DH about the fact you are only prepared for one more chance and thats it. Give your daughter as an example and even though she is your child, and his sons arent - regardless one rule fits all. If they are working then they can afford another roof over their heads or bunk down at one of their friends houses, seems they have many to choose from.

As for the mess etc. I agree that DH needs to address these things first and foremost however this is your home, I wouldnt put up with that type of behaviour from animals let alone humans. I would be PISSED and show it, I would demand they clean/repair/replace things immediately and I wouldnt care what any of them thought or how annoyed they would be. If you let everyone take advantage of you and your good nature, then what do you expect? They will continue to do so, and that includes DH.

p.s. If you are going to have arguments and battles with DH and ss's over this situation, then in my experience it is much better to get the end result that you want - either the boys change (which they wont) or they leave. So leaving is likely going to be what happens when they screw up for the last time. I would put this in your mind (cynical me). It is much better to have one large argument over this, get the boys to move out than have loads of blow outs with DH/ss over months, maybe even years, suffer horrendous stress, live in a pigsty party house with a bunch of drunken kids where your stuff gets wrecked, your marriage suffers because you give chance after chance to DH to recify this and ss's to change.

Had enuff2012's picture

It's been a few weeks since I first posted this, and wanted to follow up with the current situation at home. It all is much better. The vomit was cleaned up by the son (and did a decent job to boot!). The blinds were replaced by the other son over the weekend. But the best part of the entire situation is that we found out today from friends (not directly from the stepsons) is that both boys are moving out this weekend! So apparently DH did have a talk with them and the result is favorable to us and our relationship. I know it's probably selfish of me, but I'm sitting here at work thinking how I am going to finally get the house in order (and keep it that way) as well as plans for the empty bedrooms. Is that bad??? }:)

jennaspace's picture

Simple, give them a time frame to leave. This is unbelievably disrespectful and should not be tolerated period end.

jennaspace's picture

Bad, are you kidding? I'd be planning a going away party when they were gone! No, it's your house and they were really disrespectful. They needed to leave.

TwinMom65's picture

Its a good thing Hubby Is dealing with it, or at least trying to, my husband and I have been together 15 years, and he STILL cannot put his foot down with my step-sons. My advice to you is to REALLY watch your HUSBANDS behavior, because HE will decide (inadverdently), whether this "works" or not, Not the boys. They will continue (in many ways), to get away with what they can get away with. How your husbands deals with it will decide how much or how little it will effect your relationship. If you see him failing to rise to the occasion(s), repeatedly, I would be VERY concerned about your future. My husbands inability to deal with his kids, have caused misery for me and MY kids, caused the death of one of his sons, and have royally F*^#KED up the other 2...just some food for thought...Good Luck..:)

Katlady's picture

If they are adults, take them to court to recover the losses and for cleanup. Its adult time now. Shaking your finger at them would be useless.

BDSmom's picture

You don't give us any back story about your relationship. The 'boys' lost their mother and are threatened by you taking their father's attention and love.
Did you and partner ever sit down with the boys and acknowledge the big change that this would represent to them? Did you look them in the eye and tell them that the two of you feel lucky to have found each other, and that whatever the difficulties, you are one in solidarity? Is that true?
Have you sat with them yourself and listened to their feelings? Have you shared any of your own losses with them? Have you been moved to tears so that they can see the depth of your feelings?
I find that many men bestow a lot of responsibility for their offspring to a new partner- mainly because they are relieved to not have to go it alone for any longer, and in their previous relationship the woman took charge of the kids.
Since the horses have left the barn already, your husband should sit down with each of them individually and spend a couple of hours talking- about their loss, about his loss, about the communal benefit that having a new family joined together in your relationship can bring.
The boys sound out of control- perhaps they were given too much leeway after their mother's death, and the chickens are coming home to roost. Are they employed? Do they need more guidance from their Dad about where their lives are going?
They need to vent and then they need to understand the ground rules. Their lack of respect for property is very telling - almost Freudian. They want to destroy what YOU have with their Dada.
Wanting them out makes it feel easier for you, you don;t have their issues in your face any more. I say if you can work to build the relationship it could benefit everybody. You and your husband both have to try.