It is the hardest thing in the world, you are right about that. All I can say is just be strong and stand up for yourself, and good luck

agree. I am the mom of an autistic son...people complain about how hard it is having these kids...it is NOTHING in comparison to the stress that the ex-crazy and skid bring to our home...

Hey Crayon, your story sounds just like mine from the respect that your 1st hubby walked out on you with an infant (I was 4 months pregnant) & 2nd hubby was a loser alcoholic (didn't beat me, but was a sexual predator & pervert). 3rd time around... I am scared to marry again.

I have also been down the same roads and I must say this third relationship has been the most emotionally draining for me. I don't know if it's because I am close to menopause or the fact that these skids are seriously more dysfunctional than the last skids were.

Isn't it amazing how the other bio-parents often get away with all the bs that SM's have to deal with on a daily basis!! Our BM complains bitterly when SS14 goes to her for holidays ..about how he doesn't want to bath, how he's mouthy with her, how he wants label clothes etc She can't cope with him when he's there and phones us continually to ask what she must do...I just mumble 'suck it up b*tch...you gave birth to it!' and my FH walks away so she can't hear my comments!

I used to work with a woman who lost her 15 year old daughter in a car accident. That was almost 10 years ago and she is definately not the same person she was before this happened. She was recently forced to take early retirement because her job performance had gotten so consistently poor.

The "brass" always seemed to be getting after her about one thing or another (missed time, poor performance etc) and her supervisor actually made the comment one day that she couldn't use the excuse of losing her daughter to justify her poor job performance anymore. However, I disagreed... who can put a time limit on such a thing? Should your life go back to normal after 1 year, 5 years, 10 years, EVER?? I'm of the opinion that losing a child has to be a life altering experience, one that you never recover from.

Thank goodness your husband has you to give him love and support during this difficult time. But I can understand how difficult it is for you as well. My heart goes out to you.