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Third wheel - girlfriend

Wheel3's picture

Hello,

 Maybe this is just a vent or an attempt to start a conversation. Or maybe just see if anyone else feels like this. But being that I married a woman with kids, and I didn't come eith kids of my own, the situation feels very unbalanced. Especially when she is gone with her kids, around her ex, it doesn't seem fair. I should probably mention that I don't go with her because her ex has attacked me and I don't feel safe. But because of the unfairness, it feels like I should get a girlfriend or hang out with my ex so she might know how it feels when the person she "loves" is around someone they've been intimate with.

 Everything is great except for the loneliness I feel. 

BTW: we have two kids together

captjacksprrw's picture

Then there is plenty of work ahead.  Otherwise, Divorce and get out now for your sanity.

That said; if you intend to stay, then get both of you to counseling asap and set boundaries with her.  First of all attacked you?   Physically?  In that case I would have either put him in a cast or in Jail.  That is assault and yes you should file a police report immediately.

Also, I have to ask Why is she spending time with kids and the ex outside of a family counseling type situation?  This sounds beyond a little suspicious to me.

From experience it is as simple as this and either she works with you or I would leave asap.

1.) Your marriage is at the center and provides stability for the kids

2.) Your marriage comes first.  The kids may need a relationship with the Ex but she does not

3.) If ex has been violent do not be shy.  Call the police, get a protective order.  Do not play

This is a toxic situation and much work is needed by both you and DW otherwise, this marriage will not succeed. 

Wheel3's picture

Yes, physically.  But this was years ago. And I did end up with a protection order for 3 years. But he didn't do any time, unfortunately. There's nothing I can do now.

I just feel alone in this relationship.

 

 

ldvilen's picture

This is one of the many issues with being a childless step-parent or only having "ours" children.  The true one-sidedness of it all.  You get it coming at you several different ways.  First of all, even tho. you have never been married before, you not only get the title step-parent, but you get all of the lovely negative stereotypes that come with that term, AND your marriage or releationship will still be seen as an "inferrior" one simply because your partner has had kids with someone else.  

Heck, I've even seen several comments about how step-parents should expect to have a lesser marriage because it is their 2nd or 3rd, etc.  Well, hello people!  Not every step-parent has been married before or has children themselves.  I take all of this as sheer ignorance on the part of mainly non-steps, but it does let you know how many people out there are so out of it on the realities of step-parenting.  Step-parents come in all shapes and sizes, just like any other minority.

So, here it is your first marriage, and you have the Evil step-parent label and sloppy-seconds label just because you married or got involved with someone else with children.  Then, to top it off, step-parents are ever told they have to suck it up and take it and "kids first," etc.  Well, what if your partner has kids from a prior relationship and you don't?  Where does that put you?  Personally, no one here really believes that "kids first" mantra, anyway, because bioparents don't even put their kids first.  They'll scream at each other in front of the kids, have affairs, etc., but suddenly after the divorce, it becomes "kids first," and this allows the bio-parents to do whatever they darn well please, while their new SO or spouse is expected to sit off to the side and not interfer when BM and bio-dad and the kids want to play together.

You 100% bet it is a lopsided relationship or marriage if you have no kids outside the marriage, but your partner does.  You get to sit there and feel like a 3rd wheel, which is actually putting it nicely.  What you really are, is some other family's lackey or indentured servant, maybe finally earning your freedom when they kids age out.  Maybe.  For added "fun," you get to help support someone else's children, while no one is helping you along, other than maybe to bellyache when you act too much like bio-dad.  Kids always = money, time, committment.  You are paying this all out on your end, and not much is coming back your way.  You can wait years waiting for any kind of pay-off, and it may never come.

The reality is, no marriage will survive if it is not given the priority, and that doesn't mean screwing the kids (that's another thing I absolutely hate, when people act like someone has to get screwed, and if anyone is, well, of course it is going to be the outsider step-parent).  Another poster here well-said that marriage should be the #1 priority and the kids are the #1 responsibility.  That is the way it should be.

As this woman's spouse or long-term SO, if you don't want her hanging out with her ex-, then she should respect that and not do so.  She can hang out with her kids all she wants, but when she is hanging out with the ex- without your OK, she is putting him first and not you.  It has nothing to do with the family.  Getting the divorce is a choice the parents made and not you.  That is their burden to carry and not yours.  Divorce is not supposed to = happily ever after.  Marriage is supposed to.

Time to have a "coming to Jesus" meeting with your partner, and she'll be.atch about it, more than likely.  Accuse you of being immaure and not getting it because you haven't been in her shoes.  But, you know what?  All of that is irrelevant, because SHE is your partner, and you are supposed to be HER partner.  It is possible to go on to a new relationship/ marriage, be true that that marriage, and yet be a decent parent to your child, and not hang out with your ex-; unless, at least, your current partner is along and you make sure everyone sees you as being co-joined with your new partner and not your ex-.  

All of this is done because not many really understand that when you ask a partner with no children from a previous relationship to suck it up and take it for your ex- and children, that you are already setting up that relationship for absolute failure.  No one wants to be anyone's sloppy seconds, especially when it is their firsts.  If you're supposed to sit back and watch while your partner and her ex- and kids all hang out, she is thinking that she is so great she can have her cake and eat it too, while you are left with only whatever crumbs she chooses to give you.  That is not a marriage, and it is no a relationship.  It is hell.  It is step-hell.  (And, to me, an even bigger hell is her hanging out with an ex- that threatened you!  How is that making you a priority?)

Wheel3's picture

I relate to this completely.

I had a tally with her today about how I feel. With her taking any chance she gets to be with her kid even when the ex is around. And she told me today that I'm making her choose between hey kid and me, and she will choose her kid. That she's tired of me making her  feel guilty about wanting to see her kid. Even if the ex is around.

I'm angry and lonely. And apparently not the priority. 

I made a huge mistake marring  her.

ldvilen's picture

I'm sorry Wheel3, but you deserve better than this, really!  I truly do not get how parents can divorce and think that they can tell their new partner/ step-parent over and over that they are not the parent, but yet it is okay for the divorced parent to go around and act like they are still married to someone else, and their ex- to boot!  You can throw the co-parenting, birdnest-parenting label on it all you want, but no partner wants to be at the bottom of their co-partner's priority list.  No GF, SO, partner, spouse is worth that!  They get to be a parent and still act like they are married to their ex-, while you don't get to be either!! 

When you are courting a divorced parent, you truly have to be cautious, and recognize that role "divorced parent" as well as their role as your SO.  You really have to watch and make 100% that they are no longer that enmeshed with their ex-, OR that the ex- is so vicious that they'll will assuredly go out of their way to make your life a hell too.  Divorced parents are not always so innocent.  Statistics vary, but approx. 25% of all divorced parents continue to have sex with their ex- after the divorce.  Now, these studies didn't say whether they were remarried or not, but. . . you know. . . it just goes to show that some do not know how to healthily make that break.  And, to make matters worse, society backs 'em on this too.  It's bad, bad, bad.  At least next time around, if you meet another women with children, you'll both have the good, bad and ugly of being a step-parent.

Take care, and best of luck to you no matter what you decide.

Wheel3's picture

Thank you, ldvilen, for understanding this situation so well. Like no other I've talked to. 
It hurts to feel less than. I appreciate what you've given me, thank you!

shellpell's picture

Idvilen is one of the smartest, knowledgeable women on this site, and comes with years of experience. Her responses are well-thought-out and insightful.

Winterglow's picture

Frankly, I'd be worried too. All that guff about you making her choose between you or her (24yo) child ... what utter crap.

Does her son come over to your place often? At all? If not, why not? Can you tellus a bit more about him? Does he work? Does he have a girlfriend? Why is he still living with his father?

 

notsurehowtodeal's picture

The kid is 24, that completely changes things. He is an adult, he can spend time with his parents without the other parent being there. It is not like it is a school event or something like that. She is choosing to spend time with an adult in the prescens of another adult who physically attacked you. That is not right.

Listen to your gut. If you think they might be involved you will have to decide how you want to handle it.

In any case, you need a real heart-to-heart to get to the bottom of things.

Merry's picture

Oh my lordy. 24. When my kid was 24, I talked with or saw my ex when our grown child had some serious health issues, graduated from college, and got married. That's it. (And each time I clearly remembered why I divorced him.) And I have had a great relationship with my adult child throughout.

To me, your DW's behavior just isn't normal. You're not asking her to abandon her kid, but you are asking her to prioritize your marriage.

Wheel3's picture

It seems that she doesn't believe the two are mutually exclusive. That by asking her to avoid situations where the ex is around I'm asking her to abandon the kid. And that would negatively impact her relationship.

Merry's picture

What type of "situations" are we talking about? Kid and Dad go to a movie and she needs to go too, or kid and Dad have Sunday brunch and she goes along? Is it that level of enmeshment? Or are the situations more substantial?

And why is a 24-year-old sitll living with a parent? Is this a case of a coddled young adult who can't function without a hovering parent? If that's the case, this dysfunction has been going on for YEARS and it seems normal to your DW, so I doubt there is much you can do about it.

I hope you find a way to save your sanity.