I sometimes want to text my Skids and tell them that I have a nice big check for them and see how fast they get back to me.

Normally returning texts to me is a little intermittent..lol

But when we have something they want.. they are here in a flash. And... no, neither of the girls buy presents for me or my DH.. In fact, I am not sure if they gift the BM either.

I'm thinking that at 22 and 18, if they aren't going to at least return gift (according to their means of course) that I am not going to bother buying for them in the future. I mean, I am the one who always ends up buying presents.. DH doesn't.

They do have better manners about it than when I met them.. they used to be like rabid animals and I made them open gifts individually and thank the giver etc..

My husband and I have been together for 4 years, married for two, and have 6 adult children between us (3 and 3). Each year, his adult daughter invites the entire family (her mother, mother's bf, and her siblings) for an Easter breakfast and egg hunt for the two grandkids (2 and eight). It's very uncomfortable for us to be there with my husband's ex. Their divorce, which happened before we met, was extremely ugly. My husband decided that we will no longer go to gatherings where she is at, so we declined the invitation this year. I even asked him the day before if he was ok not going this year, and he said "absolutely, we're not doing that anymore".

So instead, we stopped by on the Friday before Easter with Easter baskets for the grandkids. The 2 year old is my SD's child and the 8 year old belongs to my unmarried SS. Easter night, my SD texted both me and her father pictures of the kids and wished us a Happy Easter. This is the first time she texted me and sent pictures of the kids. The texts are always just to her father. I don't know if this was a game to make us feel guilty that we didn't come for breakfast or if she is finally realizing her crappy treatment of me will result in her father not wanting to come to gatherings at her house.

My 37 year old SS texted his father that evening berating him for not having a relationship with the grandson. This is not the first time. My husband and his son do not have a relationship due to so many things that have happened over the years, but that doesn't stop his son from using the grandson to get money from us. Last year, he asked my husband to send him money at Easter because he was taking his son to Disney. That one cost us $300 and two days of us not speaking because I didn't agree with what he did. I can relate to your comment, Stepmeanie, about using the grandkids to manipulate money out of us. My husband will arrange to see his grandson when he is at his daughter's house, but he doesn't want to deal with his son because it always ends in a conflict. The son ended the text by saying he hoped he had a good day with his "new family".

My husband's relationships with his adult kids were damaged during his divorce when two of them sided with their mother to the point where they sent my husband hate mail. Unfortunately, it's the two kids who have the grandkids. My SS even went so far as to tell my husband that he would accuse my husband of abusing his grandson, which is absolutely not true. And they wonder why we don't want to spend time alone with the grandson!

My husband and I have been together for 4 years, married for two, and have 6 adult children between us (3 and 3). Each year, his adult daughter invites the entire family (her mother, mother's bf, and her siblings) for an Easter breakfast and egg hunt for the two grandkids (2 and eight). It's very uncomfortable for us to be there with my husband's ex. Their divorce, which happened before we met, was extremely ugly. My husband decided that we will no longer go to gatherings where she is at, so we declined the invitation this year. I even asked him the day before if he was ok not going this year, and he said "absolutely, we're not doing that anymore".

So instead, we stopped by on the Friday before Easter with Easter baskets for the grandkids. The 2 year old is my SD's child and the 8 year old belongs to my unmarried SS. Easter night, my SD texted both me and her father pictures of the kids and wished us a Happy Easter. This is the first time she texted me and sent pictures of the kids. The texts are always just to her father. I don't know if this was a game to make us feel guilty that we didn't come for breakfast or if she is finally realizing her crappy treatment of me will result in her father not wanting to come to gatherings at her house.

My 37 year old SS texted his father that evening berating him for not having a relationship with the grandson. This is not the first time. My husband and his son do not have a relationship due to so many things that have happened over the years, but that doesn't stop his son from using the grandson to get money from us. Last year, he asked my husband to send him money at Easter because he was taking his son to Disney. That one cost us $300 and two days of us not speaking because I didn't agree with what he did. I can relate to your comment, Stepmeanie, about using the grandkids to manipulate money out of us. My husband will arrange to see his grandson when he is at his daughter's house, but he doesn't want to deal with his son because it always ends in a conflict. The son ended the text by saying he hoped he had a good day with his "new family".

My husband's relationships with his adult kids were damaged during his divorce when two of them sided with their mother to the point where they sent my husband hate mail. Unfortunately, it's the two kids who have the grandkids. My SS even went so far as to tell my husband that he would accuse my husband of abusing his grandson, which is absolutely not true. And they wonder why we don't want to spend time alone with the grandson!