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BM has SD hoodwinked...What do I do?

ccbj's picture

I have a new husband with 2SD, 1SS, 2 grown children of my own.
Have been with his kids for 7 years, all the time having a good, close relationship.

I probably wouldn't have done so much for these kids except that BM never took care of them properly (in my opinion). Had to get them at least 2 hours before any activity because they all smelled like cat urine (that meant changing their clothes or bathing them), usually had to wash one or both of the girls hair because it was so dirty that it looked and smelled awful and also had to feed them because BM can't get out of bed before noon.
Child support checks went to support the WHOLE family, including the new husband she has that she picked up on the internet (reason for the divorce) because nobody worked but myself and the BD. So this meant that since they were spending all the money, the filthy clothes the kids owned we very few so we had to buy the basics. That money could have had these kids dressed to the 9's but we're not rich, so they ended up with just the bare neccessities and those weren't even clean.

Through all of this, keeping our mouths shut about what was going on and how we felt about it (BD doesn't want to "ruin" their childhoods by letting them know the truth).

Flast forward to seven years later and the oldest SD, 16, decided she wanted to start sassing her dad about his concern over her starting an interracial relationship. She said vicious things to him and when I tried to calmly tell her that she was hurting her father with these words, she turned on me like a cat. Said that I "signed on" for taking care of her and she never asked me to. I told her, in the heat of the moment, that I had to because her mother never did. The 16 yr old then told me that I ironed a couple of wrinkles out of her clothes over the years and "Big freakin' deal"

Now BD hasn't slept in two days because SD wants to still see him (their fuss was never concluded because she turned it all around to being about me "talking about her mother") but doesn't want to see or talk to me because she's mad at me.

BD now "considering" telling the kids "some" of the things that BM never did (including when DCFS was called because dog crap was so thick in SS bedroom that he had to sleep on the floor of the living room).

Shouldn't these kids know what we had to go through just to bring them to this point?+

This is the same woman who calls the kids when we're on family vacations and gets them so riled up that she misses them so much that she cries herself to sleep, just so they'll start crying and want to go home. Wouldn't a normal person tell the kids to have a good time (on these $5000 vacations that we pay for) and not worry, they'll be together soon?

What to do?

Comments

steph77's picture

I would not recommend telling the kids anything about their mom. I think they already know a lot more of it than you may think. Kids pick up on this stuff and come to their own conclusions. The problem is that when it's their mom they become protective. Until they are adults they may not express any of it to you guys (or maybe they never will). You and your husband are not a place the kids will usually feel safe to express anything negative about their mom. Hearing negative things about their mom from you will make them defensive and angry, not make them see the light.

As far as SD now not wanting to see you, is there any way you can get on the phone with her and apologize for what you said? I know what you said is true and that it's hard to hold back, but I think she's the wrong person to say it to and an apology is in order. I don't know if it will help or not, but sometimes kids respond well to adults admitting they do the wrong thing sometimes and they are sorry. Or maybe in a letter to her? I have a hard time biting my tongue sometimes too. When my SS13 back talks DH it's very hard not to jump in and tell him how it is. But if DH doesn't handle it like I believe he should have I talk to him later on about it, where the kids are not around. He has to be the one that tells SS13 to stop the attitude if it's an attitude towards him, if I step in I know it'll just piss off SS13.

It's so hard not to tell these kids what their mother is really like, but we have to keep from doing that. If we are saying negative things about their mother we are no better than the mothers who say bad things about us. It confuses the kids because kids want to be able to believe their parents. They take it VERY personally when things are said about a parent.

Just my opinions... I hope I don't sound harsh at all. I don't blame you at all for wanting to say what you said. It's just that it ends up hurting us more if we tell them the truth about their mom. When it comes down to it she is their mother and we are not. It sucks, but it's true and as kids especially they will feel that difference. I have faith that as they get older (20's maybe) there won't be as big of a difference to them between me and their mom. I know my stepdad is a huge part of my life and he's been there more than my dad. I would never have admitted that as a teenager. I felt too much guilt about it and I would protect my dad instead even though he was not really being a dad most of the time.