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Trapped In My Own House

jenlou's picture

Hi I am new here, I have lurked a lot since I have been going through my situation for 12 years now..I am so frustrated and upset I honestly don't even know where to start..
I have a 20 year old stepson who has moved back and forth between his mother and father numerous times, usually its when he gets into trouble and the parent he is living with has cut him off (taken car away etc.)He will go back to the other parent, in my husbands case it was that he needed to stop doing drugs. The last incident was with him moving into his grandmothers because I knew he was selling and doing drugs in our house (I had proof of all of this and my husband pretty much still did not believe me) Needless to stay my husband knew I was no longer going to stay in our home with my daughter (16 at the time. He has wreaked one of our vehicles twice, wreaked his mothers vehicle (cops shooting bullets into it) after he ran over a police offers foot and ran. He was stealing things from our home, stole many things from his mothers home, and finally when he moved with his grandmother last winter, so he could go to boot camp (this is what I was told) He stole her jewelry her money and who know what else..He also stole hundreds of dollars worth of tools from one of his friends parents house that he/his dad has known for years. When he was in his senior year of high school he had a girlfriend and she basically moved into our home, no one asked it this was ok she just did it & my husband allowed it against my wishes..I have a daughter and her boyfriend is not allowed to spend the night in my home, so all of this is going on in front of my daugther, the drugs, the stealing, the lying, and his girlfriend living here in our home my stepson and her waiting for me to finish cooking dinner every night. It was after all of that, that he was told to go in the army by his father, he has no real skills since he was high on drugs though high school and his father did not know what to do..So back grandmas house, there is a big family ho down and my husband now has to confront what I told him all along (mind you I have been told he is going into the army in September of last year) and that he will not be moving back into our home until he has become a better person. So dad brings him to the hospital and says get help, don't call me until you do. Fast forward, he has no where to go, his mother will not let him live in her home anymore (she does not get her 2,000.00 per month alimony and child support) So he goes in the hospital and is out in 3 weeks , the military has discharged him, due to the fact that he lied..Come to find out it was not just pills he was popping he was shooting heroin. He has no where to go at all so he comes back here and I honestly want to give him a chance. We sat down my husband, my daughter, myself and my stepson he was given a list of rules that he had to abide by. His father opened him up a bank account and told him not to touch the 100.00 that was used to open it..in about two weeks time he was driving our truck that we had just bought and was basically one of our mortgage payments and my husband told me that he did not by truck for his son that he would be driving one of our older cars,,NOPE, turns out that car needs work and guess what? My husband is a mechanic.. Anyway so he finds himself a job (he never had a real one he was always working under the table) So I am happy that he has done this and it looks like maybe things are going to be ok. I tell my husband that I do not want our truck away from the house overnight and my husband is fine with that..Well my stepson starts paying his part of the car insurance (its sky high because of running over the cop and fleeing the sceen and speeding tickets he got while he lived with his mother) I glad to see this happening too, I then tell my husband because I feel as if his son is taking on responsibly that he can take the truck over night.I got two car insurance payments and that was it I have never seen another penny. The bank account that his father opened he has drained it down to 36 cents even though his father told him not to touch the 100.00.. When he first started dating the girl he was seeing, we never saw him ever, he would not come home for 2 weeks at a time and if he did it was to do his 50 loads of laundry..now suddenly he is here after 3 months of not being here and my feeling used for our washer and dryer he is here 24/7 and so is his girlfriend, I was actually asked around christmas time if she could spend the night on the couch,,,I SAID NO. So now as soon as my stepson is off work she is here, she is here all weekend long from 9am to when ever..He lies to his father if he leaves with her for the night and says he is spending the night at her house, but yet they are both back here at 9am. I found out two weeks ago he wreaked the new truck, he lied to his father and said someone hit him but it is pretty obvious that he did something to it. He calls pawn shops on a regular basis, calls check cashing places all the time, we have change missing from our change jar, he told his girlfriends cousin (who goes to school with my daughter) that he thinks she is weird and strange. Every single rule that was placed for him, he has broken except keeping a job. My husband does nothing and just lets him do what he wants, he told him not to lie to anyone when he came back here to live and that's all he does is lie and my husband believes him and does nothing about it.. All my husband and I do is fight about him..I can't leave I have no money, my husband and I opened a business a little over a year ago and I work for him, I was a housewife for 7 years before that. I have let myself and my daughter get trapped in this nightmare of a home.
I am sorry this is sooooo long, I would be surprised if it gets read! I have so much hurt, frustration and disappointment in my life. All of the lies and broken promises..
I just don't understand why my husband allows all of these things to go on when he knows that it is not right. My husband buys them dinner and lunch when they are here, he works on the girlfriends car for free and cleans up after them.
I am so confused...and at my wits end.

sterlingsilver's picture

Sounds like you need to put some serious bounderies into place. If this is all happening then you are letting it happen. At this point I'd change locks and no one comes or goes who does not have a key, which should only be you, your husband and daughter. No more free food, or vehicle use or anything. He is old enough to get his own place for petes sake. If I were you I'd get a job and start saving in a bank account only you know about so that if push comes to shove you can always go rent your own place with your daughter for awhile. Get the message across to DH by just up and leaving. Don't give them all your money either, just put it all away for a year. You have to find the strength. Sometimes situations are so draining on us women we can't even find the strength to get ourselves out of the trap we're in. Take back your power.

jenlou's picture

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me, that is very kind of you. You are absolutely right, I am the only person who has allowed this to happen, I saw the warning signs years ago and I choose to ignore them, hoping things would change for the better, but its only been lies and broken promises. I suppose I got all of those broken promises because my husband did not want me to leave. I believed him and I let myself get deeper and deeper in this wicked web of deceit.
I can not change the locks, I wish I could. My husband would never allow it, its his house, I am not on the mortgage only he is, that gets used against me a lot in our arguments about his son. My husband is the one condoning his son's behavior so that will not work, unfortunately. For some reason he does not feel its necessary for his son to pay any bills. For me it not about paying the bills its the principle about teaching your children to become self sufficient. My husband agreed with me at one point about that subject but has since changed his mind. (My stepson makes over 400.00 a week has no personal bills that he pays but hes always broke) I have decided that I am going to get myself a job on the weekends, if I end up working 7 days a week then so be it. My husband will not like it if I get a part time job on the weekends and he will fight me about it, but I don't want to be here anymore than I have to be.. The thought of not being here and working somewhere gives me the feeling of some brief relief from the unbearable situation I am in. Since the way I have tried to get my husband understand me and my feelings about what is going on with his son has not worked, maybe this will, maybe he will realize just how much I don't want to be here. I doubt it, but maybe. I actually have a bank account he does not know about, I got it last year when the stuff was really bad, I have not added anything to it, but its there if I need it. I also had him sign over my car to me on the title, because I did not want to be on the same insurance policy as his son because of his horrible track record. I never changed anything because he son was supposed to be going into the military and my husband was going to take him off the policy, but that did not happen so I guess its time for me to start moving in that direction again. And yes I am drained, depressed and exhausted, but I know in my heart no one can get me out of this situation except me, so I just have to keep moving.

pamtiger's picture

Dear jenlou.
My heart goes out to you as I have been in your shoes. Please know you are not alone and the steps you are taking will empower you and will work. I was in the same boat with 2 of the 3 SS's
and now thanks to me taking steps to let DH know I would no longer be used and disrespected. DH woke up and saw that he was empowering the SS to be rude and irresponsible, and that while I love him I was not going to be a doormat for these kids and spouses NOW we have a secure home with new locks and no access to the house and vehicles and bank accounts for the skids. PLEASE KNOW YOU ARE NOT ALONE! PLease take care of #1 and that is YOU!! I hope you never settle for how someone mis-treats you you are a unique special person who deserves to be teasured. I am here if you need someone to vent to, as I know what it's like, and that there is hope and light on the otherside of this valley you are going through. I wish Peace and Joy restored to you and your Love!

jenlou's picture

Thank you for sharing, I really don't know why I did not start posting to this site a long time ago.. I guess since I tried counseling by myself for 4 years and then with my husband last winter (very brief period)(he stopped going when his son moved to his grandmothers house, he told me the problem was gone and we did not need it!!!!) I just thought that would work, but I have done a full circle once again because none of the problems were never addressed.. It means so much to me to know that I am not alone in this and that I am not crazy and some mean horrible step-mother. If I had know 11 and a half years ago, when I wanted so badly to meet his children, get to know them and be there for them, that this was going to happen I don't think would have gone out with my husband and let him win me over. That sounds so mean, I do love my husband and most of the time he is a very good man, but I have just ended up feeling like my feelings, beliefs and rules just don't matter and his son comes first period. When I first started pointing out things out what my step-son was doing, he did not believe me, now that my biological daughter is 17 and honestly not making the best choices in her life (I do confront her about them and try my hardest to deal with her, I most certainly do not ignore her behavior) My husband is now attacking her behavior and the fact that she is less than perfect. Instead of dealing with his son and confronting him about his behavior , its always either turned around on me or now my daughter.. Its horrible here. Thank you pamtiger for letting me know I am not alone!

cpreston's picture

I don’t have much advice. There are way too many similarities between your situation and mine and I am still muddling through how to handle this myself. I can offer encouragement, support, a shoulder to lean on and an ear to which you can vent.

cpreston's picture

I don’t have much advice. There are way too many similarities between your situation and mine and I am still muddling through how to handle this myself. I can offer encouragement, support, a shoulder to lean on and an ear to which you can vent.

jenlou's picture

Thank you cpreston Smile I know the feeling about not being able to give much advice. I remember finding this forum or one very much like it 9-10 years ago and thinking to myself, I could say a lot of things but I would not be much help to anyone else so I never posted...Back then it was the ex-wife ($2,000.00 per month alimony and child support) and two teenage step kids, it was pretty bad then, now its just as bad but its in a different way. I know at this point in my life after 12 years of this, even though things did not turn out good, I can go back now and at least offer some advice in those situations what helped for me and what didn't! Maybe someone else will learn or benefit from my mistakes and not make the same mistakes as I did in my situation. Smile
I am really so glad I found this place, it helps take off the weight I feel like I have been carrying around on my shoulders!