Hi, I'm new here and need some advice...
Hi everyone! Am I ever so thankful that I have found this website! I really needed to find some people I can relate to and get advice from... I'm sorry if my story is too long, but here it goes....
My DH and I will be married 3 years this year, we have a son in which we share, and he also has a son from a previous marriage. I believe that my SS BM is out to make my life as miserable as possible and she is succeeding. I met my husband while he was going through their divorce. The BM left my husband for his sister's husband. YEAH! anyway. My SS was only 2 years old at the time and I instantly fell in love with him and his daddy. I've always treated him like my own. Even after my son was born I never treated him any different. When he came for his visitions he has always clung to me over his BF. Not that he didn't love his daddy but I was the one he always wanted to do for him. :)--- but his BM is HORRID. From the beginning of mine and my DH's relationship she always called complaining about something, but it wasn't until I was pregnant that she started causing problems with me. As soon as we told my SS that we were having a baby and that he would be a big brother she's been out to get me. During my pregnancy she done things that constantly kept my nerves on edge. Things like cursing my unborn child and other low things that I won't get into as it's been long ago. There were times where I didn't know if my pregnancy would be able to withstand my nerves. When my son was 4 months old she called wanting to talk to my husband and all I told her was she could leave a msg and I would tell him to call b/c he was outside mowing. She responded with her usual cussing and threating and she hung up on me. I had all I could take so I called her back and told her if she pulled up in my drive I would give her what she had been threating to give and that's exactly what happened! A few months later her husband called and said she wanted to make amends and that's what I did. I let things go and I was nice to her. So nice that we would actually email each other and had a joint birthday party for my SS... But she still called nagging my husband and telling him what to do and he would do it. It was like what I said didn't even matter, it came to a point where I told him I was his wife not her and I filed for divorce. When the BM found out we split she started calling me about my DH visitations with her son and I told her I had my own things to worry about and she would have to deal with that. --Well, my DH and I decided to work things out and I moved back home. He agreed that things would be better and he would stop letting her & her husband bully him so much. And he did. His lawyer even wrote a letter stating that she was no longer suppose to call or have any verbal contact of any kind unless SS was on meds or something else... the day they got the letter she called my phone with death threats. I've not always been innocent when he came to her, I would cuss back and all that, but this time I had done NOTHING but come back to my husband! I hadn't even had any contact with her since the month before about those visitations... She then said she wouldn't send my SS back as long as my DH was back with me. And sure enough she hasn't sent him in almost 2months. We even missed his pre-K graduation because of her and her drama... Out of all things she had done making us miss that broke my heart... We should have been there... We have a court date for the 22nd to finally see my SS... A lot of this to me sounded like she was jealous, but she is married to my husband's ex brother in law and I didn't see a reason for her to be jealous. She has the new house and new cars and all this so why is she hating on me.. I've done nothing but care and love my SS that's it... I never caused her any problems that she didn't start... I know that it may not sound real bad by just reading what I wrote, but there is SO much more... I'm seriously afraid to go out in public with the fear she will cause a scence. Please somebody give me advice. And once again I'm sorry I wrote a book instead of just an forum entry...
The reason you are probably
The reason you are probably having so many problems with BM are because she has found a good target for whatever ails her - YOU! You rise up to her nonsense and respond to it thus she will continue to bother you. The simplest and easiest thing for you to do is IGNORE HER. Do not talk to her. If there is an issue regarding your SS, then let your DH handle it. And he needs to learn how to handle her, too. He should keep conversations STRICTLY to issues related to parenting their son and then cut her off. He should not be listening to or taking advice from her on any other subject. And you need to stay away from her as much as possible (don't answer the phone when it's her calling) And also, be careful about blatantly treating her son "like your own" especially in front of her - that's like hitting a hornet's nest for some mothers. Of course you can be kind and loving to him, just don't overdo it in front of her or anyone else that may report back to her. And let the lawyers and the courts handle her shennanigans with denying SS visitation based on her "opinion" of you - there is no legal basis for her to do that and she will get slammed.
2ndtimearound, You're exactly
2ndtimearound,
You're exactly right. Most everyone says IGNORE her. Sometimes it's SO very hard. And my husband really didn't make it any easier... Everytime something came up he would always tell them that he had to talk to me 1st knowing his answer was NO, but it was like he wanted it to fall back on me... One time that really stands out to me is even though the BM doesn't work she was putting my SS in daycare 2 days a week. She called my husband and asked him to pay the daycare even though he pays his childsupport, instead of just saying No he says that he will talk to me and call her back. When we seperated I told him that I would no longer be the one taking the blame for anything! He would start standing up to her. I promised myself that I would no longer give her the satisfaction of knowing that she gets to me and so far I'm holding up to my word on the outside but it's tearing me apart on the inside... I'm just so ready for the court date and I'm hoping they hand her ass to her on a platter... I don't know how much more I can take before I have to remove my DH from my life in order to keep my sanity because of his ex. I just want to be able to live my life happy and she makes it impossible. The drama she brings is always with me. I just can't forget about it. She is the type of person that thinks everyone in the world owes her something. Well, I DON'T! I came along after they seperated. Oh, You made a good point about not treating him like my own in front of her or people that are connected to her. I guess in some women that threatens them...I've always thought if I were in her shoes I would be glad my son had someone to care for him like I do, but everyone is different I guess... Thank You for Responding.
--- OH and one more that I need advice on. As I stated in the earlier post I love my SS as my own and would do anything that was possible for him... but where are the boundries set? Is it just my responsiblity to make sure he is cared for, loved, and feels safe while here or does my responsbilty as a SM go beyond that? I mean while my SS is with me do I have to answer her phone calls to MY cell or not? I assume yeah b/c if it were my son I would want to know I was able to get in contact with him... It came back to bite me in the ass when I was nice to her and I don't want that happen again... I didn't mention that since she has been keeping our SS from us we've not even had 1 phone call from her. It's really really scary b/c it makes me think she is up to something because she was ALWAYS calling and now it's a dead silence...
I'm so pissed off right now
I'm so pissed off right now and thought I would throw this out there for some of your thoughts...
So as I said in my 1st post BM is Keeping SS from us because my husband and I are back together. Which makes no sense b/c I've never done anything that would keep my SS away... My husband has tired several ways to try and see SS but BM is just being a bitch!! He's tried to speak to SS on the phone and it turns into a battle with BM and her husband. He went to my SS t-ball game and BM's husband jumped him in front of everyone! Anyway so my DH just decided that it would be best if he didn't try and contact anyone until our court date which is the 22nd of this month.
Anyway today, my sister calls and tells me that BM & BM's mother (which is just a big of bitch that BM is) is writing things on FB about how my husband should be quote " taking out somewhere horse whipped for wanting to sign his rights away (THIS HAS NEVER EVER BEEN SAID BY MY HUSBAND, THIS IS WHAT BM WANTED AND MY HUSBAND REFUSED!!!) "how could any man tell his 6 year old son that he no longer wanted him"... NONE OF THIS IS TRUE! NOT ONE WORD!! I'm so pissed and hurt that this is being said in fear that someone will actually believe this!!!! That was on BM's mother's page. On BM's page it said quote "you sorry POS for a father can't even pick up the phone and call your son, hope you rot in hell". It's her fault he hasn't been calling!!!!!! You can't call without fighting with them!!! Please Please Please help me before I go crazy on BM!!!
I was in a situation years
I was in a situation years ago like yours and I can tell you honestly that when you are in a relationship where there's one person that's got an obvious mood/personality disorder, it's a long road ahead because they are not going away. They will use the children as weapons and basically all you can do is the best for the kids when they're with you even when they tell you all the rotten stuff that goes on on the other side. The only way this really changes is when the trouble maker finds something else to focus on and tires of the game. Until then, find the best coping skills you can and know that the kids will be grown someday and you can't stop the damage someone else causes but you can create a history with these kids so when they grow up they will have some sense of what good parenting and feeling safe was about.
I hope that she tires of the
I hope that she tires of the game REAL soon! I don't know why any mother would act this way? She is only hurting SS! I would never do that to my own BioS or my SS! It is a long road ahead and I pray that I can cope with this until he's grown! Right now I'm sure she is brainwashing him and he's probably confused, but someday he will see who never tried to use him, but only loved him.