Hi,,
I need to vent.
I'll give you a little history I've been with my husband for 10 yrs married for 5 my step daughter was 3 1/2 when I first met her, so I'm a second mom to her. She is a only child and only grand child to well to do grandparents,so therefore she is spoiled rotten, due to overly doting relatives anything she wants she gets.. Well as you can guess she can be a little monster who doesn't understand the word no.

I am "on vacation" this week with DH and stepkids, SS8 and SD6. It has been really rough. SD hurt her leg while playing outside, and she hasn't been talking much and has been clinging nonstop to DH (usually SD and I are a team and we do things together). SD hasn't wanted to come near me, barely talks to me and seems really jealous when DH pays any attention to me. SS has been behaving terribly: demanding toys and time, talking back to DH, screaming randomly at the top of his lungs and not listening at all.

I saw a lady yesterday that I met when I was little...she is divorced w/a 4yr old.

Her cs? And she works partime and makes tons...

1,300 cs & spousal support
apt mortgage fully paid by ex
car & cell fully paid by ex
kid's 500USD+ monthly paid by ex
insurance & medical for her & kid paid by ex
cleaning lady sometimes paid by ex
eow ex has kid 4 full days

she wanted divorce because she was no longer "in love"

Today is D-day, as I like to call it, otherwise known as mediation. I don't really expect anything to come out of it, because BM has always fought everything SO has asked for, even if it was in SS5's best interest. We have been battling her in court over various issues (you can read about them in my previous blogs) for about 2 years, if not a little more. Unfortunately, she knows how to work the system, and drag things out forever! It is so frustrating.

I know in mine I've thought if I...

I noticed on another blog post some of us SMs had 1st husbands who died for one or another reasons. Sunshine, JSmom & dabevans are some I see.

I also am a widow, and will be marrying FDH next year. I don't have any biokids.

So, when I moved in with DH 8 years ago, we did a whole "BM Clean-Out" while skids were with her for visitation one weekend. I helped him pack up her kajillion angel/fairy/Goddess/cherub knick-knacks & trinkets, I organized all of their family photos, boxed up BM's families photos, took BM's pictures off the walls & packed them away, etc. There was A LOT of her crap laying ALL OVER that house that had been there since she left 3 years prior. DH said he didn't want to upset the kids by putting it all out of sight. What it came down to was that he didn't want to deal with it.

I think it would be really interesting to hear the responses on this, especially
from those that have been SP's for quite some time.

What's the hardest thing you find about being a step-parent?

For some time now my SD9 has thought that her BM does not wrong and that at a magical age she can "decide" to go live with her. Recently DH has decided to let her read all the emails that are sent and the nasty, rude responses that are sent back from BM. The latest event happened this morning. DH sent an email letting BK know that sending SD9 home with soiled clothes (as she still wets herself) was unacceptable as this very rarely happens at our house and if she could please buy her clothes for the 4 days she is with her a month.

SD to two kids, 4 and 5 here

At the moment, a lot of the people in our company are having their first ever child with their significant others for the first time. They seem to have such excitement and happiness in their eyes when they talk about it, proudly showing off their baby scans and planning for their impending arrivals of their firstborns.