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Step child laziness

Tmomma40's picture

So before hand I truly apologize for the length and all over placeness. Thank you ahead of time I'm so happy I found this and other parents having issues as all of our friends are mutual friends so it's hard to vent and get advice from them. So here goes I'm kind of at a loss. I am with a great man for 2 years and we plan on getting married. I have 3 kids daughter is 20 son 17 and son 14. Up until last month we only had his 13 daughter and my 17 yr old son at home. Well my Finace and son would get into fights causing us to get into arguments because he would say my son was lazy, always took food to his room which I wouldn't allow, never did his part of the chores (untrue) and so forth. Finally my 17 year old had enough went to his gfs and refuses to come home. It's been a month. So fast forward now with him gone his 13 year old does allllll the things that my fiancé got mad at my son for. Disrespects my rules. Lazyyyyyyyy is actually too kind. Doesn't take garbage out of room hardly leaves her room. Won't put her dishes in the dishwasher. Will leave 2 squares of toilet paper so she doesn't have to replace it, a drop of milk in the container so she doesn't have to replace it. You get the point it goes on on and on. Well the 2 kids had chores and I mean they were minor. Each did half the dishwasher and one did garbage one did recycling. Keep in mind my fiancé and I both work full time as well. Well now that my son is gone I asked my fiancé to tell his daughter that she can now do the full dishwasher. And he lost it. Why does she have to do so much so on and so on. I was in shock. She's 13 and can't unload a full dishwasher and deal with recycling but had the nerve to ask you for dirt bikes  

so now it has gotten to the point where I won't even deal with her. To be honest I haven't even talked to her in a week because she watched the issues that happened with my son and my devestation and heartbreak and what it did to all of us, yet now she's doing it and getting away with it because all my fiancé  does is "talk to her". There's no consequences for the laziness, there's no backing me up. I myself pay half the mortgage, internet and cable bill, all the groceries and my car. Plusss I make dinner every night, I vacuum, mop, load the dishwasher and any other household chores and take care of our family dog walk feed take out. Everything And I work full time! He does nothing around the house unless it's outside in the garage or yard. Pays half the mortgage and his car he does own his own business and works a lot but he also makes a lot more than I do and don't know how to bring this up because I know he has some legal costs from his ex. 

so I don't think asking for some help is a bad thing yet I look like the bad person when I tell her to do something. I am accused to having an issue with her now that my son is gone and she just sits back in her room glued to video games. Honestly I don't know that I'm doing the right thing. I don't know if at this moment I even like my step child which is such a horrible thing to say but I just don't know what to do anymore. Her dad clearly thinks she's an angel and does nothing wrong and I'm the bad person for sounding like an evil step mom but if I just leave recycling or her room it drives me insane because I can't stand a messy home. 

I also don't feel like I can live this way but truly he is an amazing man to me personally just when it comes to our kids mine or his that's where our issues come from. He treats my 20 year old daughter who's in university like gold  she does no wrong and the same with my 14 year old son  just seems to be an issue with my 17 year old and his 13 year old is perfect  

Any advice I would be grateful for!!!

GrudgingSM's picture

He is not amazing if his behavior overstepped and got so bad that your son left. He's not amazing if he refuses to see his child honestly. He is not amazing if he grows defensive and blows up about something as basic as a 13-year-old unload a dishwasher. My first grader does that. He is not amazing if he's having you do all of that domestic labor without acknowledgement and appreciation. I think you need to have a very frank conversation with him. He needs to listen without blowing up, but if he can't, I have to suggest that you write a paragraph thinking about 5 years from now and what your life will look like if you stay, and a paragraph about what five years would look like if you leave. If you still want to stay, what do you need from your partner? Draw that line. Stick to it. At the very least he needs to be able to listen to raise points about his daughter without blow up, and frankly I feel he owes you--at the very least--an apology and real steps towards change.

ndc's picture

I'd leave.  He doesn't sound amazing, and his 13 year old sounds like a PITA to live with.  I would not have allowed my 17 year old to be picked on by a boyfriend to the point that he left.  How can you even bear to watch his daughter do the very things that he drove YOUR child out of the house over?  I couldn't.  No man is worth that.

Tmomma40's picture

So I have come down on his daughter for the things that she was doing and that turned into an argument that I was picking on her. I have never once let her just get away with it until now because she will sneak food into her room. And all this never even started until about 6 months ago and we have been living with one another for 1.5 so the first 6 months of dating was no issues. First year of living together no issues. Now it's like just blown up. As for my 17 year old I think because he battled back with my SO that's when it just got worse. 
I did offer to leave with my son as my kids are #1 and always will be however him and his gf we're getting a place in June as they are going to college together in September (he will be 18 next month). This just sped all that up and where we live we have been on a lockdown stay at home order since November and school is online here. So to save peace with him wanting to leave snd him wanting to be with his gf and him telling me to stay was in hopes my SO and I could work things out and get our blended family on track. However like I mentioned SD has now just become a frustration. 
I think maybe he's easy on her because she had a hard growing up with a BM that for drugs and would abandon her and so forth. My SO got custody when he was in a relationship with SM#1 I'm SM#2. Well SM#1 was like the wicked witch. Treated my SO and SD like crap that he left. So on. So now I feel as though that's become his excuse for all this behaviour. 
my SO is fantastic with my other 2. My daughter is 4 hours away at school and was having car troubles and he got in his car and drove to her to help her. My 14 yr old was having I miss my mom moment he drove 4.5 hours one way to get my son when it wasn't my weekend. He will do nice things and be there to support me and help me when we did go into lockdown and my business closed temporarily and had been for a while. 
So there are goods but when it comes to his daughter it's like she's 3 and that's how he treats the situations. 
thsts where my frustration comes in. 

24 years as a SM's picture

1. Your BF is a POS, he blew up at you for asking his DD to empty the dishwasher, yet caused so much turmoil with your son, that your son moved out. Red Flag, this will not change. Princess will not ever have to do anything around the house.

2. If princess doesn't have to do anything around the house why should you? STOP doing anything in the house.

3. You pay half the mortgage and other bills, plus all the groceries. You need to let your POS BF know that he needs to contribute more towards the bills, since it's just you, and it's him and his Princess. HE needs to pay you for 2/3's of the groceries and 2/3's of the other bills. Why are you helping to financially support the Princess?

I may have read this wrong, not enough sleep, please ignore if I did.  But if I am correct, I would not marry this POS and I would be looking for another place to live. If you are the only person on the mortgage, I would kick POS BF and princess out!

Tmomma40's picture

Thank you all so much I think is just stuff I needed to hear. I was single for 12 years before he came along (dated worse in between trust me) and when I met the two of them and the first 6 months of dating it was like fairy tale. 
I think tonight and hearing you guys is my last straw. He came home and our dog was super hyper. I said probably because she hasn't been out much and not enough attention. I've been in bed sick and His daughter hasn't left her room only to make herself lunch and take the dog out pee because I asked her to. So of course when I mentioned about the dog not having enough today because I'm sick he immediately snapped at me and said "well does she know you're sick". I said she shouldn't have to she's been home all day and has a responsibility. You know what he did??? He went to her room asked her so politely to go get the recycling bins from the road. She did and our inside recycling is overflowing cause she didn't put it out last week. Do you think she thought maybe I should empty the inside bin now that the others are empty???? NOPE went straight back to her hole!!! 
And her dad didn't say a word. 
I'm done and at my breaking point. I think I'm better off on my own and struggling than dealing with this day in and day out. 

Merry's picture

Oh my gosh how I've come to hate that word "amazing." Because here on STalk it usually means the opposite.

This man DROVE YOUR SON FROM HIS HOME, isn't able to see (or maybe care about) the double standard, and has you to take care of most of the chores and pay half the bills. Wow, he's got a good deal. But you don't.

This doesn't get better. His daughter will always be perfect, always his priority. Read some on the adult forum and see what your future holds.

Why do you stay? It seems you've tried to address this with him, but he's not hearing you. Sometimes a shocking change works (move out, even if it's to stay in a hotel over the weekend). He's not taking you seriously and just wants you to shut up about it so that HIS life is peaceful. Doesn't matter to him that your life is not.

Rags's picture

Time to up your standards of greatness in a mate.

He demonizes your son, and paints his own daughter as a victim when you hold his daughter to the standards that he applied to your son.

What is so great about this man?