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NAILED IT!! As I predicted, SD 22 backs out of trip less than 24 hours before leaving!

fadedbackground's picture

I have been saying this since April when H decided we needed to go to Disney and meet up with his extended family and said SD needed to come along and how much fun it would be! All I’ve been thinking about for 8 months is how crappy the vacation was going to be with her. I’d have to be with her for a week and share a hotel room with her. Oh all along H kept telling me that it will be fine and he’ll keep things light and how I need to “try” with her and maybe we’ll be super bonded after this trip. Before we left I even cancelled going to volunteer at the animal sanctuary the day after our return because he insisted that I should take SD with me while he is at work. No way! No matter how much I voiced my concern about her coming he kept downplaying it saying she’ll have so much fun and she can go party with her cousins and have a girls night with his niece. Even if she had gone, the niece has 3 kids and had to be home by 9PM on a school night for them and the cousin came for a 2 hour visit and then went home, so no, there would have not been any hard core partying as he suggested.

 

So anyways. It all started out fine. Her mother flew her up and we picked her up at noon and brought her home. She was waiting for us outside the terminal with her teddy bear in hand. A 22 year old clutching her teddy bear! On top of that with her bright pink hair, baggy clothes. She got in the car and I could smell her. She is taking after her hippie boyfriend and is apparently not bathing regularly, brushing her teeth  and has gained significant weight since we saw her 5 months prior. I was tired of her after the 20 minute car ride home because she wouldn’t shut up and just kept talking about nothing. I thought “How am I going to survive a week with her when I can’t even survive the car ride home?”. Everything is fine until about 6PM when H starts to talk with her about how she needs to do something with her life and get away from her do-nothing boyfriend (who she also complains about) and get out of the convenience store job in their small town. He asked her if she ever thought of trade school and then started pushing that and she started getting visibly upset. He backed off and she went to pout in the other room. We also found out for sure now that she did NOT graduate high school. She would never give him a straight answer saying she was taking online classes but failed one and then had to make it up but was still taking these Running Start college classes while in high school. So she says she wants to get her GED, but I doubt that is going to happen because she also talks about going to school to be an esthetician but that keeps getting pushed back. It always comes down to her excuse of how she has anxiety and depression and she just can’t do anything. Keeps reiterating that she has been medically diagnosed with both. Honestly I think she just uses that as a crutch to not do anything.

 

H finally engages her with some silly stuff and things are good again between them. SD even says that she and the boyfriend want to come up again for H’s birthday in February. About 10PM they sit down to play a video game. I go to bed and put in my earbuds so I can't hear them. I hear absolutely nothing until H comes to bed about 2AM and says "SD just left". Apparently everything was going ok until about 12:30 and then once again he started talking to her about getting a good job and she started bringing up her anxiety and depression and that's why she can't do anything. H told her that she's just using that as an excuse to accomplish anything and that she needs to get out there and put her mind to something and stop depending on her boyfriend and mother to back her up and tell her she shouldn't have to do this or that because she's depressed. Well this set her off and apparently she started yelling at H and immediately called her mother because her mother saves her every time. Started telling her how badly H was treating her and how he doesn’t believe she has anxiety and doesn’t think she’s valid. She was cowering in the kitchen and then on the back porch and was apparently screaming which I’m sure the neighbors appreciated at 1AM. H said she screamed to him 3 or 4 times "Do you want me to leave?" Finally the last time he said "If you're going to leave then leave, if not then stop threatening to do it". Must have called her mother several times and mother got an Uber for her, because SD can't afford anything, and SD packed her bag and was picked up by an Uber at 2AM going I don't know where because H never asked. We have the Ring doorbell so I could see and hear her on the phone with her mother and was crying and telling her that H keeps telling her that she doesn't have anxiety or depression and is just using that as a crutch and SD is saying "He doesn't believe that I've been medically diagnosed as such and doesn't think I'm valid". Then as she's leaving with her suitcase I can hear her saying "Don't ever contact me again. Mom and I don't like you and you're not my father". This is practically the EXACT things that were said and done 5 years ago when she had this same meltdown. H was upset by it all and said to me "I'm so sorry, I should have listened to you" because when we started planning this back in April I was leery about her coming and he assured me it would be fine and we'd keep things light. At least we were able to get a refund on her share of the room and tickets, which amounted to almost $800. Unfortunately we couldn't get a refund on her airline ticket and had to pay a $100 cancellation fee, but can put the cost of her ticket towards another flight before August of next year.

 

H finally came around by the time we got to the airport and said that he's done with her and the drama. He's tired of being the bad guy and being stressed out by her. He said that it's going to be up to her to contact him. Just a day into our trip I told him that things would have been a disaster with her. She wouldn't go on any of the rides because she's scared of them, she would never have been able to keep up with us walking around the parks. No doubt she would have had a screaming fit with H in our hotel room because she knows no other way of dealing with anything that she doesn’t want to talk about and would have been on the phone with her mother less than 24 hours after we arrived telling her that she wanted to come home and no doubt her mother would have paid whatever it took to fly her home. Her mother bails her out of EVERYTHING! She's never going to know how to be on her own. Of course, I'm elated by this once again because there's no fear of her coming up to visit or moving here. That girl needs to get her life together! She doesn't do anything because she always says she's too anxious. She can't keep jobs because she says how people hate her, her boyfriend's brother and his wife hate her and won't let her near their baby, etc. I'm so tired of hearing those stories. She'll go on and on about a new best friend and then a month later they are no longer friends because of something they said. Well as H said "I hope she has fun doing nothing in the small town she lives in with her do-nothing boyfriend and never moving more than 10 miles from her mom because she's scared to do ANYTHING!".

 

Then her mother texts ME, not H, a few hours later even though her mother has never ever texted me before and asks me to put the things SD left behind when she took off in a box and let her know how much the shipping is. She left her teddy bear, her dress (which she said was hers but is really her mother’s), her phone charger, her makeup. H told me to not respond or respond with “Stop contacting me. This is between H, SD and you NOT ME! Contact H if you need something”. I didn’t respond. I don’t ever want to see that girl again! All she is is depression and drama!

 

 

ESMOD's picture

It's funny how HE gets to be "done" with her... but you were always told to "try"... but done he is!.

I actually would do what his EX asked.. because it will be the shortest road to drama ending.

I would box it up.. ship it off.. at least that won't be something that you will have to hear him complaining about!

 

fadedbackground's picture

Right???!! Oh I could never even finish telling him how much I didn't want to be around her before he would start talking over me telling me to try and hang out with her and we'll see how much we have in common. Kept telling me what a hard life she's had and how I need to understand that and now all of a sudden he's done with her.

tog redux's picture

Your SD sounds like a pain, but seriously, did your DH need to berate her at every opportunity for her life choices? I'd be upset with my father, too, if he invited me on vacation then lit into me the minute I was there. 

fadedbackground's picture

He wasn't berating her, he was trying to get her on some sort of path because working at a convenience store in a town of 20000 with not even a HS diploma and using her anxiety as a crutch to not do anything isn't going to get her anywhere. Plus, all the times she's complained to him about how lazy her bf is and doesn't pay for anything, but when he starts telling her that her bf isn't worth much then she gets mad. She needs someone to tell her these things becasue her mother just coddles her and rescues her every time. The fact that she picked up when SD called at 1AM says volumes. Always have to bail her out.

tog redux's picture

I get it, my SS is in the same boat of doing nothing -  but it does seem like he went on and on about it when she'd asked him to stop. She's an adult, he doesn't support her (I hope).  He must have known it would upset her.

fadedbackground's picture

Well it's pretty sad that he can't talk to her about anything that matters because all she ever does is say "I don't want to talk about it" and then screams and calls her mom if he keeps trying. Oh they can talk ad nauseum about video games and sushi but that's about it. Forget about her life!

tog redux's picture

Yes, she's an adult - if she doesn't want to talk about that, everyone should respect that. 

fadedbackground's picture

She's an adult so she shouldn't resort to screaming and running into another room and then calling her mother to fix everything either when she feels slighted or doesn't want to talk about anything. No doubt that's the reason she loses so many friends and jobs!

tog redux's picture

Agreed, she clearly is immature - maybe she really does have depression and anxiety. 

Left out mama's picture

Her temper tantrums and melt downs are manipulation tatic. She does this to victimize herself so she does not have to take accountability for her lack of effort.

 

lieutenant_dad's picture

I'm gonna side with Tog on this one. I understand your H's inclination to talk about SD's future, but she is an adult. Whether she wants to amount to anything, or talk about it, is on her. Your H has the option of saying "I don't want to talk about your boyfriend, why don't we talk about Minecraft" or whatever.

I'm not condoning what SD did, because having a 3 year old temper tantrum is just dumb. But your H has to transition from parenting a child to being a parent to an adult. That means offering guidance when it is requested, or only offering it once. At some point, he has to accept who his daughter is even if he doesn't like it.

Your H has handled all of this poorly. He expected more out of you than he expected of himself. He expects an adult whom he has a rocky relationship with to magically be open to any wisdom he wishes to bestow upon them. He expects everyone to play happy family, and then he gets to pat himself on the back for a job well done. He has his head buried so far in the sand that he isn't willing to let anyone be themselves because it ruins his fantasy.

Tough cookies. The blow up could have been avoided had he been realistic. It's a bit like getting mad at the snake for biting you when biting you is in the snake's nature.

tog redux's picture

Yep, she's 22, if she wants to do nothing with her life, that's her prerogative.  DH can't do anything about it if he's not supporting her in any way.  He can decide to have a good relationship with her anyway, or shun her for her choices - that's all he can do.  But harping on her about what she's doing won't help their relationship. 

still learning's picture

DH is a little late in the game to be playing the responsible father. He insisted his emotionally fragile daughter come on a fun trip with him, lays into her at every opportunity, then blames her for the fallout.  Since DH claims no responsibility for this disaster it will repeat itself in the future.  DH would be wise to meet her where she's at and really listen. Then he would have a real idea how he could help her. 

If you're smart OP, you will set strong boundaries around your time.  Unless DH changes the way he interacts with his daughter, there will be no end to these blow ups. 

 

ndc's picture

I wonder . . . With her anxiety and depression diagnosis, does she DO anything about it? My sister has a similar diagnosis, and she has a tough time of it and still lives with my parents, doesn't drive and is on the slow plan through college, but she takes medication and sees a therapist and they work on strategies to deal with her issues and encourage her to get out more and try more things.  What good is a diagnosis if you do nothing with it?

I realize your DH isn't in a position to get this girl to do anything, but you'd think someone would encourage her to get more help than she's getting to deal with her issues, rather than using them as an excuse.

 

 

fadedbackground's picture

Well she says she's been medically diagnosed and she apparently sees a therapist, but she still uses it as an excuse.

HowBoutScottyDont's picture

Faded - the real issue behind all this is your relationship with DH. You didn't want SD on this trip, and your DH wouldn't hear of it. Have you separated funds yet?

Ispofacto's picture

Anyone can get a depression and/or anxiety diagnosis.  In fact, I think most people are depressed and/or anxious, to some extent.  It's not a good excuse to do nothing at all, but at least she has a job doing something.

Remember when you were 8 and your family went out for dinner, and your parents made you order your own food?  You were nervous and shy and a bit angry with them for making you.  But you did it, and you got over it.  It's called resiliency and it's learned over time from having to do stuff you are afraid to do.  Good parents and teachers teach it to children.  Disney parents do not.

 

fadedbackground's picture

I agree 100%!!  I could use the anxiety excuse as to why I won't go to a party because I'm shy, but don't. I could use anxiety as a reason not to go to a job interview becasue I stumble over my words, but I don't.

tog redux's picture

Well, there are degrees of anxiety and depression - the only way it can be diagnosed is if it impairs your functioning. You may have some anxiety, but it doesn't impair your functioning. 

 

advice.only2's picture

It's so odd he made such a huge deal out of this trip with her and insisting you spend all of your money, only to be completely okay with her leaving and then you having to cancel things. Meh I guess because it wasn't his money it doesn't mean all that much to him.

I also don't understand why he's making a big deal out of her life choices at this point? If he had issues with that he should have been saying and doing something when SD was little and he actually had a say.

tog redux's picture

Yeah, I don't get it either - and why the OP is more annoyed with SD than with her DH, who forced this trip on her, made her pay, and then effectively ruined it by chasing SD off with his insistence on criticizing her life choices.  Shouldn't it be DH she's mad at? 

I agree that SD and BM's reaction was over the top, but this is how alienated kids behave.  She clearly hasn't grown out of that alienation. And DH just reinforced everything BM says about him. 

fadedbackground's picture

Well it didn't ruin my trip. I was elated that she didn't go and actually could thank H for upsetting her and her changing her mind. It's what I wanted all along. And we got refunded her Disney passes and accommodations and can use the airplane ticket towards another trip. All in all, it went great! 

fadedbackground's picture

Oh but he constantly tells me that he never ahd a say with SD because BM kept her from him. The funny thing is 2 years ago SD was having a lot of issues and BM called H and told him that we needed to take her becasue she's out of control. Yeah right! We're going to take a 19 year old whereas before she turned 18 BM did everything to alienate SD from H. BM even admitted it was her fault SD turned out the way she did. SD even said she was sorry about the way she had acted towards H all these years. Funny how that changes on a dime.

tog redux's picture

It changes when the "dimes" stop rolling in, in the form of child support. Then they have no use for the kid anymore. 

Harry's picture

Fun Adult time,   You still have a DH problem,  he not in this world.  I would make sure I pack up SD stuff and send it back, get it out of my house. 
Then work on DH, never a trip with SD again. 

fadedbackground's picture

Damn skippy never plan a trip with SD again!! But you can bet that when/if SD comes around in a year or two and he thinks all is well with her that he probably will suggest another trip because "she's changed". When this same thing went down 5 years ago they didn't speak for over a year. It took him getting into an accident for her to start communicating again. I seriously hope she just disappears from his life because all she does is bring everyone down.

Winterglow's picture

When that does eventually happen (and it will), simply look up from what you're doing, smile and say "That's nice dear. You'll enjoy planning that with her. Don't bother with me, I'll only get in the way of you two bonding again." And go on with what you're doing.

Make it clear that you will not be going on that trip and you will not be financing it. 

CLove's picture

SD20 - down to the pink hair and stuffed animals.

She also doesnt have a drivers license, job or boyfriend but the temper tantrums are the same. Ask SD20 ANYTHING like "can you clean your room, get a job, help with xyz" and it is instant meltdowns toddler-style. Also she will spend 4 hours at the hospital for her "anti-anxiety meds", but cannot seem to get a job that is within walking distance.

Toxic Troll made this mess too, without the alienation, and now the enabled snowflake narcissist cannot do anything for herself and will always depend on momeeeeeeeee.

 

Well good that your H made her upset enough to backout of the trip. However, I agree with Tog - supposedly your H was going to "it will be fine and he’ll keep things light". Well discussions on how a person is living their life and how they need to seek a better path and how their anxiety is a made-up excuse to not do anything with their life - that isnt exactly keeping things light. For me, well, lets talk about the videos we see on social media, the neighborhood gossip, how my middle left toe is feeling - thats keeping it light. Yay, tell me more about the different nintendo switch games you and your friends really like!

So - no - your DH did not keep things nice and light. He tried to instead light a fire under his progeny's a$$, and she didnt like it, and her anxieties kicked in because, you know, the truth sucks. So, in spite of the fact that you benefited from the situation, this rests on your H's shoulders.

And definitely mail that carp back. Dont keep in in your household.

fadedbackground's picture

Yeah I don't know why he sai dhe wanted to keep things light and then rolls into everything that he knows she's going to spazz out about!

And another thing. The last time she came up was for his birthday back in February. Her and the bf were on a break for the 3rd or 4th time so she brought 2 friends who were apparently a couple, but it was weird because he was sitting intertwined with SD! Anyways they were total winners. She was quiet and was ok but he was just a know it all and another who doesn’t bathe or comb hair etc. I was so glad when they left and I told H that I don’t ever want them up here again and he wholeheartedly agreed. Yet a few hours before SD had her meltdown last week they were outside on the porch and I was inside and I could hear them talking. She brought up another couple who H mistook for the couple that was here an SD set him straight and then he proceeds to tell her “Yeah when you guys come up for my birthday you can go ahead and bring them again. They were fine. And if you want to bring that other couple too that’s fine.”  WTF???!!!  So now he is all placating SD with telling her to bring the couple that I couldn’t stand along with yet ANOTHER couple! Sure SD bring up 5 other people with you and we can all live happily in our 1000 sq ft house for the weekend! H just spouts whatever whenever depending on the situation. Being SD’s buddy telling her she can do whatever, but when she leaves then talks shit about the people and how he doesn’t want them here.

Just like when we went to visit her and the bf back in July. Their apartment was a SHIT HOLE! The bathroom itself had abotu 2 dozen empty toilet rolls all over the floor along with wrapping and papers and makeup and whatever else you can think of. The rest of the apratment was a mess you coudl barely get around. We leave and I tell H that the apartment is a literal shit hole and he responds with "Meh, 20 somethings live like that". No! 20 somethings do NOT live like that! He was totally writing it off and seemed irritated at me for saying that becasue he and SD were in a good place and everything she did was good because, as he has told me time and time again "SD is a good kid". However, now after this blow up, funny how his whole view has changed. Now he's telling everyone what a shit hole aparment they live in and how she needs to get her act together. Gee, when things are good she can do no wrong, but shen she hates you then everything she has and does is wrong.

Siemprematahari's picture

Faded~

Honestly I didn't read your post but want to say that regardless of what did or didn't happen.....this is in your life because you continue to allow it. Your H is a manipulative gaslighting @sshole and for some reason (a lot of trauma on your part) you continue on this rollercoaster ride with him. You can get off whenever YOU choose to.

I hope you find your voice one day, sooner rather than later and that you see your worth.