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Sometimes I feel like a bad person (first blog)

Hastings's picture

I've been around the site and on the boards for a while but I thought I'd give blogging a try.

A little background: DH and I have been married for four years and he has a 10-year-old son from his first marriage. I have no kids, but I come from a big family and have a nephew and five nieces I've been close to.

DH and BM split custody 50/50, trading off every Sunday. They get along fine and have been able to work together well. She and I have no problems and DH handles everything so I never have to deal with her.

SS and I aren't close or warm and fuzzy, but we've always been respectful to each other.

Yet I feel like a horrible person because I just don't really like him.

SS is an only child and grandchild on both sides. His mom and her parents coddle and spoil him outrageously. DH doesn't lavish him with gifts, but he's very lax on rules. He'll complain about things to me, we'll talk about it, DH will start a new policy, then not follow through. For a while I was in a bad habit of stepping in to enforce rules. But now SS apparently doesn't like me and DH is bothered because he feels I do nothing but point out faults or criticize SS. Maybe so, though I do make an effort to also recognize positives.

Anyway, I'm working on myself and backing off. If something doesn't bother DH, I need to let it go. If it does, he's the one who needs to do stuff about it.

I feel bad because I want to like SS. He's not a bad kid overall. Smart, athletic, gets on well with kids. But he's also distant. He has difficulty with emotional control. The slightest criticism makes him cry. At 10, when he gets upset, he still lashes out physically at his mom. He still thinks baby talk is adorable.

He's messy, forgetful and hyper, but I see that as relatively normal so that doesn't get to me as much.

I realize that my issue is more with the adults than with SS. Not his fault he's spoiled and coddled.

According to DH, he and SS are both bothered that I seem to love my nephew and nieces more. I said I love them in a different way. I'm their aunt. Been there from day one. We have a bond. I don't see them much anymore due to COVID and then getting older and busier, but I still love them. And as a childless person (something I am comfortable with), there is something nice about seeing pieces of myself and my loved ones in those kids. Besides, they see me and want hugs and act excited. SS couldn't care less.

Honestly, I think that as an only child himself, DH doesn't understand the feelings one can have for his/her nieces and nephews. Also, I don't think SS knows how to process there being an adult in his life who doesn't see him as the most (only) important kid in the world, upon whom the sun rises and sets. I care about him -- partly because I'd like him to grow into someone I'd want to be around -- but I care about others too.

Anyway, sorry for the ramble, but it feels good to get it off my chest!

Comments

JRI's picture

You sound like you basically like him but don't have warm fuzzies about him.  You also sound like you want the best for him.  All this is ok.  My only concern is your DH's wanting you to love him, that's unrealistic.  Read around on here and you will see this same situation in other homes.

I'm a 76yo SM of 3 SKs.  My feelings about each varied and still vary, that's normal human nature.  I basically liked them and wanted the best for them, like you.  It "took" with OSS, he moved in and felt like my own son.  YSS moved in and we have always had an arms-length relationship. That love feeling just isnt there for him like it is for OSS.  Like you, I thought he was over-indulged and was the favorite of both parents.  He isnt/ wasn't a bad person, just not my type.

All this is just normal human relations.  As long as you are polite and take care of him, that's th e most DH can expect.  Good luck!

Rumplestiltskin's picture

Yeah, shocking - you saw the stepkids as actual individuals and your feelings about them varied according to their individual behaviors! Your feelings about them may have even changed over time, just as kids and their behaviors change over time. Some bioparents just don't get that. We aren't robots who can be programmed to feel exactly the same as our DHs do.

JRI's picture

It took therapy for me to gain the realization that we respond to people individually.

Jake's picture

My Dear Wife, can not understand how my Feelings for her children have change over the years (36)

I am 61 years of age and I just figured it out this year. That I am with in my right, to treat people or not teat them lol.

I am a life long giver who now only gives what I get. I am so free it is amazing !

Warmest of regards Jake 2.0

Hastings's picture

Thank you

You're probably right in that distinction: I don't really dislike him, just don't love him or feel gushy about him. If I didn't care, the things that bother me probably wouldn't as much. Thing is, I see behaviors, attitudes or habits and I can see where they could lead if not curbed or corrected. But as I've learned, I can't care more than the bios.

I have a low tolerance for entitled, so I think that's a big part of it. This kid rarely if ever hears "no." Thankfully, he's not fundamentally rotten.

TwoOfUs's picture

You've described my situation with my 3 stepkids precisely. They are all grown now and we get along fine. When they were younger and coming over for visitation...I struggled with the entitlement and lack of gratitude. At their core, they were good kids...and they've turned into good people who I like. But it was tough when they were kids. I also didn't like the constant disruption to my life that they represented.

Interestingly...I have the exact opposite situation from you on the niece/nephew front. 1 niece, 5 nephews. I adore these children with every fiber of my being. I feel zero guilt acknowledging that I love them far more than my stepkids. Why wouldn't I? They share my DNA, Ive held them since they were babies...they adore me and need me back. Like you, I'm childless and I've come to peace with it. These 5 kids are the closest thing to Bio kids I'll ever have, and I'm not going to feel guilty about investing in them and my relationship with them. 

Rumplestiltskin's picture

Your DH has fallen into the trap of thinking that just because you are married to him, you should automatically just absorb and take on his feelings about his son. Like you aren't your own person with your own unique experience and feelings. And your experience with his son is very, very different from his. You aren't biologically related to him. You don't remember him as a cute, helpless baby. You see him for who he is, a 10-year-old with some annoying behaviors.

This is a very selfish way for bioparents to think. Looking back i think i felt this way on some level about my own kids, but age and experience showed me that no other person in the world will accept as many faults in kids as their own parents and put up with as much bullsh!t just to be in the presence of their smiling faces. I can almost guarantee that if you had a prior relationship child, your DH would be more annoyed than you by certain behaviors, especially if he came into the child's life much past infancy. Also, 10 is a very annoying age for boys and the baby talk thing in a child almost old enough to be in junior high is nauseating to anyone but bioparents who want to keep remembering them as actual babies. 

Hastings's picture

Exactly. I've tried explaining to my husband that I wasn't there for the prime bonding time but he doesn't get it.

On the Baby talk thing: thank goodness DH thinks it's annoying as hell. We completely ignore SS when he does it. But we suspect BM and her parents encourage him. DH has said that when they were married and SS was a toddler, they treated everything SS did as if it was adorable/funny -- even things like throwing stuff or other bad behavior.

Rumplestiltskin's picture

Ooh, the "Look, little Damian punched that other kid and took his toy, that's so cute!" I've seen that attitude in my own family and the kid involved had a really hard time in school un-learning all that, and i think it affected his self-esteem. He eventually messed with the wrong people a few times and got his a$$ kicked, and also was in trouble in school and also with the police later in life. 

SteppedOut's picture

Hey OP, does your husband love your nieces and nephews like you do? Or is that "different"? 

Hastings's picture

He doesn't love them. I don't think he's ever interacted with them. He's not a kid person and is a major introvert for whom my big family gatherings are an ordeal.

I've never expected him to care or have a relationship with them. If he wants to, great. If not, it's his loss.

TwoOfUs's picture

OMG - it's like everything you say is a mirror reflection of my life 6-8 years ago when I first started really struggling with being a stepmom and feeling like a horrible person because I didn't care for his kids that much. I've always been a kid person and it was a little devastating to my view of who I was as a person.

Thank goodness I found this forum and started trying to explain myself to DH / establish some fair boundaries and reasonable expectations. 

I'm also from a big family and DH struggled with our gatherings. He'd often use "the kids" as a giant Trump card to get out of holidays or whatevs with my family. When I told him I wanted to bond with my niece / nephews just like he wanted to spend time with his kids...I was definitely told that it "wasn't the same."

I fought back against that...told him it was as close to "the same" for me as I'd ever get. Fortunately he came around and started allocating our holiday/couple time more fairly...and now he's completely supportive of my relationship with them and even joins in. Interestingly, his willingness to change made spending time with his kids more tolerable for me.

At any rate. Don't feel guilty and definitely, definitely don't allow your DH to lay a guilt trip on you or strap you with unreasonable expectations. 

Sparkl3s's picture

It's easier said then done but continuing disengagement ,

being respectful and polite to SS. Don't let your husband guilt trip you. I've know my skids since they were 6ish and are now older teens. I like them and think of them but I don't feel the same away about them as my nieces/nephews. 
 

If you don't like confrontation just change the subject when your husband goes on tirades. It's not your fault he is creating an unlikeable human. 

Hastings's picture

It frustrates me. They'll both complain about his behavior or attitude but do nothing about it. BM took him to Disney World about three years ago and said he complained and griped the whole time. Then proceeded to take him on a big cruise the next year, with no discussion or consequences.

Similarly, BM and DH will talk about how he'll someday get in trouble for name calling or bragging, and how it will be good for him. Yet when he got in trouble for calling another kid a name in class last month, both parents flipped out over the way the teacher handled it (ignoring the fact that when BM tried to ask SS about it, he told her "I'm not talking about it with you" and threw something at her). No consequences.

Metaldude73's picture

Good convo here for sure.  I have a 10YO SD and she too thinks that "baby talk" is a thing.  It annoys everyone no matter who it is.  Even her BioDad hates it and comments on it while he is picking her up if she decides to do it then.

The "no consequences" thing doesn't work.  You take all their shit away and lock them in a closet until they behave or get it.  Her "no consequences" life before I entered the picture is the reason why she still thinks she can do it.  I'm the only one in the house besides her 15YO SB that won't stand for her shit.  And she knows it and hates it, but it's hers to fix.  I believe that me telling her over and over that she doesn't affect me and I won't stand for her shit will eventually help.  The problem is always going to be that she will run to her mother or BioDad and then there ends up being a distrust towards me no matter what it was that occurred.

Haelsunderfire's picture

I don't want to discourage you, and by no means does my story mean that yours will turn out the same. Every indvidual is difffrent and so responses and behavious are different. 

From my experience, (huband with three kids from previou relationships, and two children together), when you try to set a rule, and your husband doesn't have your back. It's going to be an issue. You are goiing to resent your husband for this eventually. I'm going to focus on relating my story to yours so you get where I'm coming from. 

My husnband has a now 17 year old son. Lives with us full time (all kids do). My rules, since we married, were do your dishes after you eat, and help with atleast 1 chore a day. If he doesn't, friends or girlfriend can't come over. Mind you, his son is a straight A student, works, and is bright. All these years, he has never followed my simple rules, and i complain to my husband. He didn't help today, so no girlftiend can't come. Husband: i told him she could come, next time he doesn't help then he will be punished. It's been almost 7 years, and my husbands answer is always next time. It is extremely frustrating, and humiliating. My husband allowed for his kids to disrespect me in a sense because he doesnt' back me up. My husband and I are now going through a divorce.

My point in telling you this is, if your husband wont have your back in regards to rules or simple corrective behavior, the son won't respect you. The father is allowing it. Eventually, you will greatly resent your husband for it. If it's early on enough you can try to talk to your husband (it didn't work for me, but like i said we are all different). 

I really hope that you can resolve this issue together, and be able to reach and stick to an understanding. I wish the best for you, i really do! The step parent journey is an extremely difficult one. A heartbreaking one, but hopefully your story is different. 

Hastings's picture

Thank you for your input and I'm so sorry your relationship deteriorated so.

DH plays a big part in coming up with the rules. Many of them are his idea. For instance: no electronics during school breaks (virtual learning, which has been something of a joke) unless all grades are A. SS was rushing through quizzes and assignments to play games. And all electronics are put away at bedtime (he was getting up in the middle of the night to watch YouTube).

But some rules (no food or drink in his room since he tends to leave dishes up there or leave food where dogs can get it) he just can't be bothered to enforce. He gets wrapped in his own world and doesn't notice. I end up calling SS on it (usually kindly or with a joke). But, because I'm the stepmom, I'm a $&@?!. Or he allows SS to call him names or put him down, steaming about it but saying nothing. Drives me nuts. But I'm working on just letting it go.

Haelsunderfire's picture

Just letting it go isn't going to resolve the problem. Eventually it will take it's toll. It sounds like you are a very patient, kind stepmom, but you need to be respected. Your house, your rules should apply to. 

Hastings's picture

True. Letting it go isn't a long-term solution. Resentment could grow. There could still be problems. I just feel like, right now, that's my best remaining option. If DH and I don't agree on how things are handled, unless it's something big or that really impacts me, when it comes to SS, it's really in his court. My continued complaining or disagreement just makes it worse because then I'm the constantly critical stepmonster.

Harry's picture

He wants what he did not have with BM.   You are bursting his bubble,   You have to respect SS, as SS has to respect you.  You don't or can't love him just because he's DH child.   That not your problem.  Your are the third wheel !!  
 

All SP are the third wheel 

Haelsunderfire's picture

You are so right! Step parents are the third wheel! I never thought of it that way, but it's true. And if you're like me, and you make your partner your #1 it will never work.

Stepparenting is a nightmare. An experience I will never put myself through again. 

strugglingSM's picture

Your feelings are normal. Your SS lives in your home, yet, he is not being raised in a way that reflects your values. As the stepparent, you are expected to put those values aside in your own home, which no other adult would be expected to do.

You really have a problem with your DH. He is getting defensive likely because he feels bad about the divorce or knows in his heart that guilty parenting doesn't work, but it's the easier option. I also agree with the post above about the happy family. Your DH needs to let that go and also to partner with you as people in charge I'd your household, instead of expecting you to cater to his son. He's there 50/50, so he needs to become part of your household, which means he needs to be taught and expected to behave in a way that reflects the values in your home. It seems like your DH hasn't bought into your values or that you two don't have shared values and that can cause major problems.

PetSpoiler's picture

You feel like a bad person because your husband is trying to guilt you about your feelings.  He needs to get over it.  SS isn't your kid.  You're not required to love or even like him.  Treat him kindly, yes, but that's it.  It sounds like they are raising a child that isn't very likeable so why would you like him or want to be around him?  If SS doesn't like you it's probably because you're not letting him run over you like he does everyone else.  My SS told dh once that he didn't like me too, that I was mean.  I didn't care.  I was not going to allow him to run over me like he did every other female in his life.  If I was so awful, he could leave as far as I was concerned.  And my dh did discipline SS, and did back me up when I disciplined.   

Hastings's picture

Kids often dislike people and think they're "mean" if they don't let them do and have whatever they want. I get that. I also refuse to play the game. I really don't care if SS likes me as long as he's respectful. (And he pretty much is. I think he's a little intimidated by me because he can't get anything by me.) I'm the adult and I feel confident in knowing what is and isn't healthy/good/right.

DH just needs to adjust his thinking on it and get ok with it too.

I just hope that someday he sees that I cared and wasn't a witch. A friend of mine hated her stepmom for being strict but as an adult, they're close friends and she respects and appreciates her. Will SS and I get there? No clue. Maybe. Maybe not. I can just do my best and what I feel is right.

Wicked stepmo.'s picture

It very confusing because Thier is an expectation that now that you are in a "motherly role" you should just naturally be like a mother.

But that is a false reality. We didn't birth or participate in raising these kids. They do not share our genetics. They never bonded with us. They have 2 people who they already view as parents. 

Just as it is wrong to try and force a child to love  someone, it is equally as wrong to make an adult love someone. Relationships happen naturally, and they are all different. Your goals for each relationship have to be realistic and based on compatibility. 

I feel that in a SP situation, the most realistic goal is mutual respect. If it grows to become more than that, good if not that's okay too. 

I'm my situation I started off liking OSD and enjoyed spending time with her. Over time that changed, we no longer had a mutual respect. She stopped respecting my rules and boundaries and I stopped wanting to have anything to do with her because I do keep people in my circle that do not treat me with respect. So now our relationship is just civil politeness and I keep her at a distance.

YSD was extremely behavioral when we first met. Exhausting and always testing boundaries. Over time she started to show me respect because she liked that I was consistent and wouldn't let her walk all over me. Basically I earned her respect. Now we are very close and continue to grow closer as time goes on. I like her a person and think she is spunky but with a good heart.

Hastings's picture

That's pretty much how I've approached my relationship with SS from the beginning: we don't have to love each other, or even like each other. All I expect is mutual respect. DH and I have discussed this but I don't think he's ever really wrapped his head around it.