You are here

Help! Need advice asap!

Catsandcoffee's picture

Warning long read!

My ss 7yo bm is a diagnosed bipolar. We are starting to see some scary issues with my ss as well. Let me give you the background details. My ss lived with his bm for about 4 years. She moved all over the USA with him. She couldn't give him a stable environment, and couldn't handle him. They way they were acting out towards each other became an awful situation for both. It got to the point where her home was not a safe place for them and she understood this and just lost it. She begged that we please take him off her hands and he moved in with us full time for the past 3 years. He finally had stability etc. ss went from seeing his mom all the time to her seeing him sometimes every weekend sometimes not (her choice) she never showed up at his extracurricular activities or anything. When he moved in with us he said he was happy and didn't miss his mom at all when we said we know this is a big change and must be hard for you etc. it seemed a cold statement but we thought he was just happy to be stable. Kindergarten comes and her in and out attitude continued. She wanted absolutely nothing to do with his school life for a while. Then it all changed. For her spring break visitation she went nuts and refused to bring him back. We ended up having to get lawyers. Then she filed a restraining order to try to keep him however this didn't work and she had to return him. This is when it all went really bad and she must have had some psychotic break or slipped in to some intense mania. This is when the court gave her supervised visitation due to the things she said and did during this time. She never used her visits. When we went to court they gave her every weekend and everyone was disturbered. They said she had to get mental help etc (which she never did). Every weekend he went there got worse than the weekend prior. He would go over there and say awful lies about us to make her happy. We previous thought this was her pushing him to say these things but we see now that it was him egging this on. The bm called cps. We were investigated and had to let this lady invade our home. We were relieved to find ss told the truth about us to cps and the police and they closed the investigation and cleared us. Since then ss lies have gotten worse. He claimed he loved his life and his school and living with us. We told him it is important he stop lying to his mom and that if people come to talk to him that he needs to continue to tell the truth if he wants to keep living with us and going to his school etc. fast forward to the weekend before thanksgiving (1st grade now). We go to the exchange on Sunday and she isn't there. We got an email from bm saying she won't be contacting us again. We spent 3 days trying to get him back. Cops called over there and ss says he doesn't want to come with us or speak to us. Bm indicates that cps has opened a new investigation based on abuse. So now the cops really won't help. We finally arranged with a Sargent to go pick him up. We spoke with the cps lady who said ss made abuse allegations against us this time. (All lies we can't believe this). He says he wants to stay with his mom. He lied to cps to stay there. Now we are being investigated again!!!! Meanwhile I will note cops keep showing up to our house to "investigate" my husband goes to speak with his son when we were picking him up. My husband and I thought he was pushed to make up allegations from bm and did want to come home but was too scared to say in front of bm. Ss tells my husband he doesn't want to come home and that he is okay never going back to his school or seeing his friends again. (Not normal) my husband says he didn't have to lie about abuse and ss says "well one time we were playing and it kinda hurt my arm a little". We are disturbed by recent behaviors we have been dealing before this as well. Trying to hurt me etc. ss does see a therapist. This has gotten to a point where we feel our safety is compromised. We keep having cops show up we are being investigated by cps all bc he wants to go back to his moms. We understand a 7 year old doesn't get to decide where he lives. Cps seems to be on bm side and won't believe her home isn't good for him. At this point we feel that he can't stay here either. If he stays we will be walking on eggshells and will worry that he will be lying to authority about us when he doesn't get his way. I don't want to see him ever again and my husband is slowly feeling the same way. We are devastated and don't know what to do! Please help with any advice we are so sad and lost.

BethAnne's picture

I am not sure I would write him off completely at 7 but it might be best for your husband change to a weekly supervised visit (outside of your home) for a few hours to maintain contact with the hope that his son may mature and change his ways. Cutting him off completely would only foster a narrative of abandonment (on top of the supposed abuse) and I doubt there is much coming back from that.

Catsandcoffee's picture

The court system has let us down time after time again. We have now spent $20,000 fighting for what we thought he wanted. He truly is a master manipulator. I know that sounds harsh but he truly is. We have watched as the older he gets the worse he gets and the worse his behavior gets. The way he treats his friends has become scary. Past the point of embarrassment and to the point where we have been wondering if he can even have play dates anymore. It's not his mental health that makes us want to step away it's the current danger he keeps putting us in. I understand the supervised visit suggestion but there's just no way we would do that. it seems although he is 7 we have slowly watched him get worse and his bm mental illnesses are hereditary. We don't want to give up on a child bc of a mental illness and if he hadn't lied to cps we wouldn't even be entertaining the idea of letting him go. It's those lies that are doing it for us, and we have watched them evolve and get worse.

BethAnne's picture

I am confused by your post. The supervised visits would protect you from the lies (as there would be a witness) and allow continued involvement in his life so that the boy is not being abandoned. His father could try attending joint therapy sessions too if he thought that would help his son's mental health. He could keep up with involvement with school and health professionals while still protecting himself and you from the lies until he trusts his son again not to lie any more.

Rags's picture

Let me get this straight. $20K on what a 7yo wanted? Really? What 7yo knows their own ass from a hole in the ground much less what they want which at best changes minute my minute and more frequently when the 7yo knows he can drag BioDad and SM around by the short and curlies and manipulate effectively.

7yos do not get asked they get told and they do what they are told when they are told or they suffer the consequences of their decision to not do what they are told when they are told.

Adults need to do the adulting and not abdicate adulting to 7yo children.

Rather than cater to this manipulative crap your DH needs to invoke every possible legal tool available to get this kid the hell away from the bat shit crazy BM, take full legal and physical custody, and get this kid some help. Most of all daddy needs to step up and be a father rather than a door mat to his slobbering psycho XW and his manipulative kid.

IMHO of course.

clark6292's picture

I feel so sad for you and your SS. It is pretty clear to me that BM has mental deficiencies. A 7 year old does not know better. He is a child for heavens sake- he is simply being manipulated. Probably the hardest thing you will have to accept (as I had to) no matter how ill and unhealthy BM is, SS will always love her and be loyal to her. Skids always side with the WEAKER parent- the one where there are no rules. BM will continue to be a cancer in your home, I am sorry to say. You do not have the support of the courts because the courts are ridiculous today believing that all children benefit from a relationship with both BM and BD (even if one parent is mentally ill or addicted to crack.) Courts are moving away from supervised visitation because it is expensive and therefore presents an "undue hardship" on the unfit parent who is usually unstable or unemployed.

We had very similar circumstances, forced the court to appoint a 730 expert (psych eval on all parties) and we won custody. After that, multiple CPS investigations from CPS thanks to BM filing false accusations- all dismissed but boy was it draining. Meanwhile we were doing all of the hard work involved raising SS while BM undermined every court order. BM of my SS also bi-polar. Do not underestimate the bi-polars they can be criminal, and very smart outwitting many judges and counselors along the way.

From my perspective you are at an important cross-roads. You will either document each incident with BM, call police whenever necessary, battle false allegations with CPS, invest in good attorneys and 730 experts (which are not cheap!) and fight for SS against his will knowing he isn't fit to make decisions in his young life.Or you will give up and hand SS over to BM, let more damage to SS occur and let BM screw up (which she will) and then pick up the pieces (whatever is left of SS) when the time comes.

The choice is up to you guys. I feel your pain!

Catsandcoffee's picture

I do feel I need to clarify that we were not solely doing this because we thought it was what ss wanted. Our sole purpose obviously was to protect him and do right by what is best for him. This is very difficult when the court system doesn't care about the best interest of the child. Although they are supposed to. There have been more times than I have mentioned that she has kept or tried to keep him. The police don't care and ss makes it worse by telling police he doesn't want to go. we have each time documented at the police station however the courts don't care. I know for a fact that if we tried to keep him from her against the court orders my husband would have hell to pay from our system. I have come to see how bias it is. We are stuck in a position where we have to take him there every weekend and every weekenend is worse than the one before. Cps is now on bm side because they are now believing the allegations since they are also coming from ss mouth.

Catsandcoffee's picture

Also we were planning on filing for a 730 but money is getting tight. Bm is so manipulative and charming and has charmed everyone to the point where I am worried even a 730 examiner won't be able to see through her.