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The step daughter I used to adore...

kgoldy's picture

I have been with my fiance for about 2 1/2 yrs now and friends with him for about 6. He has a 3 yr old daughter that I love very much but I am getting to where I can not stand her. This makes me feel horrible because I know that I love her so much and the reasons why I cant stand her are not her fault, but the fault of her Bio Mom, my fiance, and his mom.

I feel the need to back track and give a little history here to better explain my situation. Like I said before I have known my fiance for about 6 yrs now so I was around him when he was with Bio Mom. Im going to go ahead and throw this out there and get it out of the way. Bio Mom is crazy. When they were together she threatened to kill herself if he left her, actually did cut her wrists, lied about a miscarriage, and lied about having cancer all to get him to stay. As a result in all of this she ended up really becoming pregnant. However she found out that she was pregnant after my fiance left her for what he thought was for good. They stayed split up throughout her pregnancy. Around 28 weeks pregnant Bio Mom took a convient fall down some stairs which caused them to have to take the baby early. SD spent nearly 3 mo in NICU and almost didnt make it. After she was born my fiance and crazy got back together to try to work it out for SD. However history repeats itself and it didnt work. Well after they split him and I started talking and eventually crazy decided that she was not going to let us see SD because if he wasnt going to be with her then he didnt deserve to be in his daughters life. We went 4 mo after SD came home from the hospital without seeing her before the court system made crazy let us have visitation. After SDs 1st birthday crazy decided that she was going to keep her from us again. This time it was because she was "sick", she would constantly tell us that SD was going to the dr and that she had RSV but when we would show up at her Drs office when she was supposed to have an appt they would tell us that they had not seen her in months and when we got her medical records they all said she was fine. Then she placed a restraining order on my fiance because he was "stalking her" because he was calling her to find out when he could see his daughter, then she called child services on us, and then there was no contact at all. FINALLY after another 4 mo of this court found her guilty of contempt and we got our visitation back. By this time SD was 1 1/2yrs, walking, talking, and all kinds of other things that we missed out on. Then the tables suddenly turned. SD reached terrible twos and crazy and her hells angel boyfriend couldnt handle having a kid around that they actually had to pay attention to so she started dumping her on us every weekend or just not showing up to pick her up for days. We already have a court ordered agreement where we have SD 4days a week and we still pay her child support, not to mention crazy doesnt work, collects welfare, and SSI on SD and there is nothing wrong with her! This went on up until recently when crazy and her biker bf split up but now she is pulling the crap of threatening kill herself again, pulled Im pregnant, had a "miscarriage" but biker bf wasnt stupid enough to fall for it like my fiance did...any how there is some back ground on the situation now back to what I originally started talking about.

SD is now 3, she is not potty trained, has no concept of yes or no, refuses to listen, she has no respect for other peoples things, she will make herself throw up if she doesnt want to eat, and when punished actually laughs. She is so far behind when it comes to things that she should know its not even funny but no one other than me gives a damn. When I try to correct her or if I tell her dad that she needs to learn some form of structure and respect and that she is behind I am told that I am being a bitch, that she is just a baby, or that she was premature. I am a nurse, I know she is not a baby, she is now a kid, the fact that she was premature no longer has an affect on her developement and if it does she needs some kind of therapy to help her, but none of this matters to him. Him and his mom are so scared that crazy is going to turn SD against us that they are afraid to punish her for fear that she wont like them. They cant seem to realize that they are hurting her for their own personal gain. Also my fiances mom refuses to leave crazy out of our lives. She thinks that crazy and my fiance should do things together with SD. They couldnt get along while they were together! She constantly brings her up and every family gathering revolves around crazy. It has been 3 yrs GET OVER IT!!
My stomach is in knots every time we get her because I know it is going to be one huge battle to try to get her to mind and develope the way that she should. Im starting to resent her because of all the problems that are caused because of her. I know its not fair because she is a child. I am ready to have another child but my fiance doesnt want to yet because he doesnt want SD to feel jealous or left out. How is that fair to me?!? I am paying for all of the mistakes that my fiance made and I fear that my future children will too. SD is already so unruly and I know as she gets older that it is only going to get worse. Im at my wits end and I dont know what to do. Kudos if you made it this far.

Comments

herewegoagain's picture

I am so sorry, but the fact is that BMs can be crazy when you date/marry their ex, even if it was years after their split up...the fact that you and him were friends, etc...for so long and the entire time they were together, will not help the situation...From my view, you are in for alot of resentment from both BM and possibly even SD as she grows older...

As far as having another child, wow, with so many issues with his first child, and again, the resentment, etc...I would wait for quite a while...I would not want to bring a child into this world with what you have going on...at the same time, if he's not ready, you should not have a child. A child should be wanted by both parents, if one spouse does not want children the spouse who does must chose between leaving and not having a child...it would be very unfair to the child to bring them into the world when the "bf" does not want a child at this point...

By the way, I understand you are a nurse, but that does not mean that this child does not possibly have something bigger as an issue...some of the things you stated sound like developmental delays, autism, etc...and that should be checked out and ruled out before attempting to straighten her out...

Good luck...

kgoldy's picture

Thanks for the advice. I have mentioned several times that we need to rule out that she doesnt have any learning disabilities but god forbid that I make mention that SD is anything less than perfect. Im almost positive that she does not have any disablities because if you can actually make her sit down and learn something she picks up fairly quickly. Its just that no one wants to do the hard stuff about being a parent and work with her. I am more than happy to help out with SD I just feel like it is not my place to do it all. I shouldnt be the one that is the bad guy all the time.

Sus's picture

The child is and always will be considered a preemie, 12 weeks delayed..always. So if she is 18 months now..she is actually 15 months, if born at 28 weeks. AND IF she was 28 weeks. She MUST have RSV shots monthly from FALL to April each & every year until 3 yrs old. Those shots are extremely Important to any premature infants under developed lungs , also check and make sure she see's a DR regularly.
I agree with herewegoagain, statement, "By the way, I understand you are a nurse, but that does not mean that this child does not possibly have something bigger as an issue...some of the things you stated sound like developmental delays, autism, etc...and that should be checked out and ruled out before attempting to straighten her out"

It might not be very noticable, but she possibilty could have some issues, that are just starting to show up. I would get her Birth dad to make a office visit & take the baby to a specialist and have her checked again. I would also TELL the NEW DR. on record the baby's living conditions..her surroundings, and those who are in her life. The Atmosphere, she is being brought up in, has a lot to do with the way a child developes, besides her premature birth, preemies need A LOT of extra care...it sounds like she didn't get that from BM or MAYBE she didn't BOND..if her BM is as you say..she probably Propped her bottle and thus NO bonding which is eccential in all babies..especially preemies...we have Triplets preemies born 32 weeks 3 days, and weighted over 4 lbs each BUT still preemie due to gestation period. And always will be, we are told. And they are developing perfectly actually ahead..due to constant attention, bonding, and the great care they have received since birth.
And on the SSD BM collects for the preemie that you mentioned, ALL preemies are entitled to SSD if under a certain BIRTH weight and gestation period. I believe its 3 lbs. But its ONLINE the chart you can recheck that...So she is entitled to that check until she is 5 yrs old...unless SS has changed their rules.
Please, help the child, even when others turn their backs,...Prayers & thoughts to you Both!!

kgoldy's picture

I know that she goes to the Dr regularly because we periodically go and pick up her records. That is how I know that she has NEVER had RSV and that she shows no signs of disability. Her well baby checks are all normal and the only thing that her Dr says is complete lack of parenting. It is not true that once a premie always a premie. Children may tend to be smaller in size for a few years but their intellectual development depends on how much they are worked with. I think that I was misunderstood in this a little bit. We know everything that happens at her Drs appointments because we make it a point to stop by and talk to her Dr. Any time that I bring up the fact that she is not being taught the things that she needs to be taught that is when the premie excuse comes up and then when I make mention of a learning disabilty because of her being a premie that is when I am told there is nothing wrong with the child. It needs to be one way or the other or the child will use that as a crutch her whole life if they use it as an excuse for her behavior.
As far as SSD goes I would be completely ok with that if her mom actually worked or had her more than we do. Our time is divided equally but we dont collect anything from her.
Its all so complicated and I feel like I cant win no matter which way I go. Im a bad person if I try to make up for where her mother lacks because Im trying to take the place of her mother and if I disengage Im a bad person for turning my back on a child that needs my help. I honestly have no idea what to do. Its going to ruin my relationship either way and it sucks because I love her father more than anything. I just feel like if I stay I am always going to be fighting a losing battle and I will never have anyone see it the way that I do.

Most Evil's picture

I hate to say this but, depending on how old you are, you may want to move on from this situation as it shows a LOT of signs of being a trainwreck for the foreseeable future.

If you feel strongly about having kids, don't wait for anyone who doesn't feel the same. Take it from an old lady ha ha, no really-!
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