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At my wits end with teenage & adult step children

Shandral's picture

I don't even know where to start other than I'm just venting I suppose.

I've been married for 3 years, living here with my husband for 5+.  Currently I have 2  step sons 14 (M) and 22(M) step children. I've moved into the house they grew up in, and it's such an amazing property there's no discussion of ever leaving it. I used the sale of my house, out of state, to step in and save this house after the divorce. This is common knowledge that I now own 1/2 this house, because I paid for it.

First, my husband is amazing to me, treats me well etc.  I have zero complaint there.  I've read many horror stories on here, and my situation is a bit different.  Both step sons wouldn't dream of calling me names because they know my tolerance level for that would be zero, so would their father's.  So, what's wrong right?  This.

My husband is wonderful but is terrible with money, so that falls squarely on me, and I'm okay with that. Our budge is tight.  Here's what I'm not okay with.  There are ZERO expectations in this household for the boys.  None.  Their Bio Mom says they can have their rooms anyway they wish, because it's their space. Well, they've learned that every space is "their" space, and thus think a pig sty is acceptable anywhere they go. Their rooms, our living room, my car, their cars etc.

Where I'm having the greatest frustration is the oldest right now. 22 years old, and has come to live with us so he can save to move out. The only financial thing I asked is that he chips in 50.00 a week for groceries, that's it.  In four weeks, I've had to hit him up for the money every week (why isn't dad doing that?)  Dirty clothes, dirty dishes left everywhere.  One night I finished all the dishes (again) and he looked at me and said "sorry you did all the dishes and I'm about to add more"  He was serious.  I looked him square in the eye and said, "No, you aren't.  Load them yourself"  He now rides to work with his father everyday, so no gas expenditure, but doesn't offer to chip in. He brags about his hours and hours of accomplishments in video games, and about how amazing it is that he binged watched 7 seasons of whatever.  He wakes up at the last minute for work, and my husband was late to his new job because the eldest was running late. He leaves his clothes in the washer until they smell like mildew, will shove and shove garbage into the can instead of taking it out.  We had a bonfire and he is 6' and a brick house, and watched my 5'1 self gather all the wood alone. He had his underage GF spend the night, and I had to sit my husband down and say NO WAY, unless I speak to her mom, and they sleep in separate rooms.  She's underage (this was when he was 20, and she was 17)   I wake up at 3 AM that night to find the guest room empty, and his door shut with her in there. I get no sleep...I think it's a huge deal.  In the morning I hit him up about it in front of his dad, and he lies.  I already told my husband, and the SS lies right to his face, and his dad says literally nothing. I get to be the voice of reason and the bad guy all the time. I will not have an underage girl in this house with an adult male period, whether her mom is okay with it or not (she was, but I'm not)  Now, he drinks all our liquor and will say "Let's have a drink" fix himself one from ours and drink us out of everything in a few days. His car is disgusting and I'm sick of constantly having this conversation over and over with my husband, who agrees, talks to them (more like mentions sh*t in passing) then does zero follow up.  The boys KNOW that they can just agree and not comply. So not only are they slobs, they are boys that think keeping their word isn't important.   Easy Cheesy.

There's been zero talk in the first 30 days about how much 22 (M) SS has saved, or if he's even looked for a place.  He's currently making as much as my husband is after child support, and his only contribution is 50.00.  I have a funny feeling in 6 months, he'll still be here, drinkin our booze, playing video games, making a complete mess etc.  I think he'd stay here forever if he could, and his dad will do nothing until I b*tch about it.

The youngest now 14 going on 15 is another challenge and acts way too young for his age (he's not special needs FYI).  He's also approaching 6 feet with a mustache at 15, and will eat like a toddler having food all over his face. His mom let him buy a furry onsie at Xmas last year and he wanted to wear it to the store.  I had to gently explain that he's too old to be wearing that in public as clothing. He is constantly making weird noises, yells and is dramatic with everything he does, will come into a room with his phone on full blast watching something, when we're already watching a movie or something. He comes every other week and just eats, plays video games and wants to eat fast food for every meal.  When asked to help us outside in the yard, he stubs his toe and it's like he's cut his arm off and goes inside howling. His dad lets him do it.  I ask the SS if he needs a doctor, and of course the answer is no.  Then he proceeds to ask to go 4 wheeling (the toe he supposedly hurt is his shifting foot) so I say if you can't push a wheel barrel how are you gonna shift?  He knows he's caught in the lie and has to go with it now.  I ask him to do the dishes instead while I finish his work for him outside, and he acts like cinderella.  His dad takes him 4 wheeling an hour later. I don't even wanna go.  He swears...a lot.  I had my mom here, and he comes in the room and says jesus f*cking christ before saying whatever it is he says.  He'll play video games until 3 AM, wake us up yelling with his friends etc, and again dad is mad, but there's no consequence.  After the 3rd time, I walked downstairs unplugged the router and went back to bed. He flipped the next morning when the internet still wasn't working, and I came down with the router and smiled at him, and said "you promised you wouldn't do it again, and here we are, so this is the consequence going forward"  Guess how many times he's woken us up since...zero.

This brings me to the conclusion that my dear hubby is the issue.  The boys are being teenage boys, and their father is more interested in being the "fun" parent than a father turning two boys into men. I've talked, pleaded, begged, screamed...and I'm still here, in this place where I get to be the complete asshole to get change.

They will all be here in just about an hour, and I just wanna lock myself in my clean room, with a bottle of wine and ignore them.  I feel awful, but I'm really starting to hate my situation.  Thank you for letting me rant...

tog redux's picture

Welcome - yes, dear hubby is the issue. He's not exactly "amazing" to you if he won't parent his kids and allows them to behave so badly that you are exasperated all the time. You really can't separate who he is as a parent, from who he is as a partner, when you have to live with his kids.

Seems to me that SS22 needs to move out, post haste.  And your DH needs to parent the 14 yo.

(Also, 17 is the age of consent in NY, so she really wasn't underage, BUT, I agree he should not be sleeping with his GF in your house).

CatchyUserName's picture

Oh man, I feel your pain.  Sadly this is a fairly common situation for a lot of us here.  First off, you have a hubby problem, not a skids problem.  My DH didn't want to parent either and had no boundaries or consequences for them.  I eventually realized that I can't care about his kids more than he does. But more about that in a second.  You are likely going to need to pick your battles and your first battle is to get that 22 yr. old out of the house. Sounds like he has a job.  Have DH give him 2 weeks or 30 days or whatever and say you will leave on x date or your stuff will be in the yard and the locks will change.  You have to fight to get him out. Then it's time to start thinking about disengagement. It's the only thing that really saved me.  For the 15 year old, you need to stop doing anything. Stop feeding him (dad's job), stop doing his chores for him (dad's job), stop making sure he doesn't make a fool of himself in public (dad's job). Just stop.  When SS came over when he was a teenager, I would schedule girl's weekends, work late and then go out with friends, take my computer and spend the whole day in my bedroom doing my own thing...anything to make it clear that I was not involved in the parenting. And lock up your alcohol and put a pad lock on the fridge. I'm not kidding.

Rags's picture

You have to value yourself more than the train wreck that your DH has created values you.

Please tell us that when you saved his house that you were officially put on the mortgage and the deed. If not, you are screwed.

And.. .once again we are entering the amazing mate .... except for.... zone.

Financial morons and idiot parents are not amazing mates.

PERIOD!

Up your standards in a mate. If you don't, you will remain disappointed.

BM gets no say in what goes on in your home. She needs to be told to STFU and any time either of the SS's uses the words "mom said" tell them to GTF out.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

Your failure of a father and husband DH needs regular clarity that his idiot financial choices, crappy breeding partner choices, and  poor parenting choices will not be tolerated to interfere in your quality of life and if he does not fix his crap that you will and neither he, BM, nor the boys will like it if that happens.

Amazing property or not.

Shandral's picture

I appreciate all the input everyone.  Disengagement is already happening, and that certainly does help.  For those wondering if my name is on the mortgage after stepping in, yes, as well as on all the legalities should my  husband go before me.  Thankfully, I am strong in the financial department.  I know there are a lot of dead beats out there, but my husband is very engaged in helping in the house, on our huge property, goes to work everyday, cooks, cleans etc...  I'm not going to defend his lack of parenting, but I will defend him as a partner.  I'm not looking to leave, just to navigate these waters.  I didn't plan on being a parent of any kind ever, so I knew this would be hard, really hard, just wasn't prepared for completely overwhelmed hard. However, the fact that this place (step talk) exists tells me I'm not alone.  Thank you all...I really mean it.  I was feeling so overwhelmed, and this weekend went pretty well, and what do you know hubby stepped in this time and drew some lines in the sand, and they worked.  A little win...and I'll take it this time.

tog redux's picture

Part of being a good partner is dealing with your "baggage" (sorry to refer to the kids that way) in a way that doesn't affect your significant other. He's not doing that - so he's not really being a good partner in that way. Let's say you had a dog that you brought into the relationship and you let it poop and pee all over the house and made him clean it up,  let it sleep in the bed regardless of whether he liked that, never walked it so that he had to do it - would you say you were being a good partner?

You need to demand that he deal with this stuff and post haste.  If not, do it yourself, if you don't care about your relationship with the kids. Tell SS22 he's either paying full market rent and helping around the house, or he's moving out, his choice. 

Merry's picture

I know the issue is not about whether your partner is a good one or not, but I'm curious about why you think he IS such a good partner? He seems to be ignorning some of your basic needs and allowing his kids to be completely irresponsible. Why would these kids EVER move out if they can live a life of ease and no responsibility with their Dad? 

A good partner would ensure that you have a comfortable, clean, safe, respectful place to live. All the other things our partners do for us -- compliments, gifts, great sex, companionship, etc. -- are secondary.

If his kids aren't cleaning up after themselves, why is your partner not picking up their slack? Why are YOU doing the dishes for everyone? Why are YOU hauling firewood? You're upset that his kids aren't helping you, but why would they? They don't help their parents either. Their life is all about THEIR comfort, not responsibility, not community, not family. They are selfish little pricks because their parents allow that.

Suggest you work on some boundaries for yourself. You are no longer the maid. Wet clothes left in the washer will be dumped on the floor or, better, on the kid's bed. You will do only your own dishes. DH is 100% responsible for ensuring that trash is removed.  If SS doesn't pay his $50 for groceries, then he doesn't get to have meals there. 

Until your DH feels the pain of his craptastic parenting, nothing will change. It will get worse before it gets better, and that includes with your DH, but the way you are living now will get worse for YOU if status quo continues. So put the pain where it belongs.

tog redux's picture

Yes, this! I would not call a man who is just fine with me hauling wood while his two sons sit around with their thumbs up their asses a good partner. My DH would have torn SS a new one and ordered him out to help me (except DH wouldn't make me haul wood without helping me himself in the first place). 

CatchyUserName's picture

This isn't really a debate about whether he is or is not a good partner.  You're in a marriage that you don't want to leave. There are a lot of reasons you don't want to walk away.  You entered in good faith, not imagining for a second that being a step parent was going to be this hard.  That happens a lot!  If I knew how hard it was going to be I wouldn't have gotten married to my DH either but you just don't expect it to be as awful as it is.  So now the question is what can you do with the situation you are in?  That is what you need to figure out.  Find out what your DH is willing to talk about/do?  Start to draw some boundaries and enforce consequences.  Maybe some counseling to discuss the skids with a neutral party.  Not everyone is ready or able to just walk away from their marriage.

Rags's picture

In the US the age of consent is between 13 and 21 depending on the State and classification of sexual activity and age.   (Age, Relationship, or Unlimited).  The States with "Close in age exemptions" tend to be lower as far as age of concent is concerned.  The unlimited age of consent in the US is between 16 and 21 depending on the State.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ages_of_consent_in_the_United_States