DH and SS's Bromance
I am seriously at my wit's end with this ridiculous situation between DH and SS16. DH has no problem yelling at SS- he just refuses to punish him, and this week it has escalated to a point where my lady bits dried up at DH's inability to give consequences to a 16YO, and watching SS continually get away with bending/breaking rules. It ruined the entire week and caused so many disagreements.
SS is late? DH gives more chances. SS doesn't turn in assignments? No consequences, even though he's supposed to lose video game cords. SS's gf's mom stopped at our house on Sat and had a drink with us- she's very nice and was saying how she has rules for her kids, and she can be strict...DH said, "I need to remember that it's ok to be strict and enforce rules". For real DH- Enough being a wet noodle!
Also, SS has constant issues with his car, and calls DH every time, no matter if DH is at work. I get that to a point- Dads fix cars. But he had a leak in his tire and works at a store that sells Fix-A-flat....so rather than instruct SS on how to do it (idk, maybe read the directions?) he has SS come to his work and goes outside to put the Fix-A-Flat in for SS. 2 days later they go to buy new tires and DH and I were discussing who was paying for said tires. DH has been constantly yelling at SS that he needs to work and save $. Instead, SS has found ways to call into work, get out of work, and spent all of his $ going out with his gf. So he has almost no $, even though one of his jobs pays $22/hr. DH yelling at him does absolutely nothing. I said I think SS should have to pay for something for his car- DH has paid for EVERYTHING. Crazy has not paid one cent, and neither DH or SS have asked her. I said, SS just asks you for $ because he knows you will pay for it. Which is BS, because you already pay child support- he can ask her for $ too. DH said "well, she always says she will pay but then doesn't". I said, Crazy is the biggest coddler we know- if she isn't giving him $, maybe you shouldn't either! I have not asked if DH paid for the tires because I know I will be annoyed with the answer. DH has been complaining about how much we have to pay for and how we need $ for this and that, so when there are options of asking Crazy or having SS pay also, yes, that should be done. We have separate finances, but then I don't want to hear DH complain.
Meanwhile, SD13 threw a mini-tantrum at DH on Sat when he made her come out of her room and come outside by us. She has told DH and her counselor that she doesn't want to be in her room so much, and DH should make her come out. So he did. And she pouted in a chair. When he asked what her problem was, she had an attitude and said she wanted to be in her room (laying on her bed. Where she had been for 5 hours already) on Tik Tok. Then she went on to say how he doesn't yell at SS for this stuff, how he never punishes SS, (true- yet another reason I told DH he needs to actually give SS consequences). She basically was comparing DH's way of parenting to Crazy's, saying DH is bad at this and that and she really just thinks Crazy's lack of parenting is better. Lots of backtalk. SD wanted to be allowed to sit on the roof outside of her room. SD has made repeated suicidal statements, which we take seriously and Crazy finally has too (kind of). After hearing SD continuing to whine about wanting to sit on the roof I said, Do you really think we're going to let the girl who has made suicidal statements sit on a roof?? Do you know what kind of messages we would get from your mom?? The cops would probably show up in minutes!. She said "I'm not going to jump" and continued to whine and argue with DH. I got up and went inside because I couldn't listen to it anymore, and DH was yelling at her and threatening to take her phone if she kept it up. We had been having a great time outside, and she had already ruined that. She finally just went to her room, and she has refused to talk to DH ever since. He has tried and she refuses so he stopped trying. She has been polite but short to me. Fine. I told DH I will not be surprised if she asks to stay by Crazy the majority of the time soon. She is so brainwashed and convinced DH is the bad parent and Crazy is just crushing it as a mom.
I have avoided both skids like the plague ever since. I am done. They leave today, but of course SS always leaves his crap here and comes back after school to get it, no matter how many times he's told to take it by Crazy before school, because SS does what he wants. Currently his clothes are in the dryer, because he insists on doing laundry on Sun. nights when there's a good chance he won't take them out before he goes by Crazy, and then I will have to do it in order to do my own laundry. (Note: There will be a new rule in place next time they come- no laundry on Sunday nights).
Skids come back to us on Sat already (2 days early) since DH insisted on switching the days we will be gone for our trip with Crazy, and I do not even know how I'm going to make it. I am holding onto a tiny bit of hope that DH may change his approach with SS after the hell I gave him this week and how frustrated he got, but Idk. I cannot seem to disengage this, especially when I'm the adult with them sometimes when DH works. DH just needs to put his big girl panties on and Parent his GD son for once.
End rant.
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Our coddled YSS
DH was somewhat firm with the other kids in our family, but YSS? Plenty of "talks", some yelling but otherwise, nothing. I disengaged at about age 15. DH loves him best (but would never admit it). YSS looks like him and is witty like him. It was hard to watch a young man go off the track with no guidance.
Flash forward and YSS is 55, lives out of state, is a divorced father of 3. He's done fine on his own so I guess it turned out ok.
Were you able to just ignore
Were you able to just ignore it? It is so freaking hard. DH actually came out and said "This is why SS is my favorite" this weekend (no skids were home to witness it). I am sure it's normal for parents to have favorites. DH is a good dad to SD. But he has punished her quite a bit, and never SS. After I had snapped at DH for being a wus with SS, he said that he often hears how good of a kid SS is, so then he thinks, well, he's a good kid, I don't need to punish him....
Couldnt help seeing it
I couldnt help seeing the favoritism and neither could the other kids. I think they were just used to it altho there was resentment.
The stress of it all
I don't have many suggestions but I do think you should put SS's clothes in a garbage bag and leave them with a note on the front porch or where suitable you have a your house. If they are wet, they go into the bag wet. Having to redo his laundry because his clothes got smelly will be better than any new house rule.
I actually was dreading
I actually was dreading coming home from an errand because I knew SS had been there to get his stuff and I was so sure he had left his clothes in the dryer. I was going to make DH take them out. But SS actually did it. Miracles do exist!
It doesnt get much better as
It doesnt get much better as they get older. My latest blog was about DH seeing SD as perfect and how he told her to look for a new job after she quit the one she had and when she said last night she hasnt even looked DH sat there and said nothing!!
Well right, because that
Well right, because that would mean holding her accountable and apparently that's soo hard....
I am SOOOOOOO grateful
Chef's three brats PASed out when they did after reading all these horrid stories! He too favored the youngest, YSS. The behavior was so terrible it was bad enough for six lifetimes. I still shudder over it and I haven't seen YSS, who was the worst of all three, since 2009.
Since 2009?? I didn't realize
Since 2009?? I didn't realize that. SS would never PAS out, he loves to take advantage of the Bank of DH too much. And holy crap with the whiny, poor me attitude. He actually said to DH the other day "Why do I have to find out about all of these problems while I'm at work"? DH said, yeah that's the way it always happens. I said to DH, Did you tell SS you feel the same, because SS is always calling you at work with problems? SS is constantly texting and calling DH at work with issues, big or small, zero f*cks given. He has gone to DH's work twice in the past 2 weeks for DH to help him with problems. Half the time it's just to whine and have a pity party about everything that's not fair. But yet he is DH's favorite that deserves prince treatment.... But I digress.
SD very well may PAS out in her high school years. I feel bad, but part of me hopes for it. I don't actually want it, but if she's going to be a rotten little brat and think we are so awful, she can go by her mom because I don't want to deal with it.
I don't have much advice but
I don't have much advice but I want to say I completely understand where you're coming from. Why why WHY are parents so awful at parenting these days?? It's like they are deathly afraid of upsetting their kids and quite truthfully, it is ruining this country. These kids are never held accountable and they are being sent out into polite society lacking discipline, motivation, and the emotional skills needed to deal with life's challenges.
Make them pay for stuff - they will learn to appreciate it and the value of a dollar.
Stop negotiating with terrorists - Fill disclaimer, I have no kids and would probably make a horrible parent because I would say something to my kids like "You're depressed SD? Well join the club, it's called 'everybody'. We all got problems. Life ain't easy but if you're having such a hard time you shouldn't be on your phone. Studies show too much screen time, social media, photo filters, and tick tock is bad for your mental health so I will be confiscating it until you're in a better place. That's probably why you kids are so miserable these days. Nothing helps with depression better than some fresh air, hard work and sunshine so here take these garden tools and go pulls weeds for a hour or two before dinner."
I am
In total agreement with this! I think you'd make an excellent parent. I feel this way with my stepsons and have said so. I am sad their mom is most likely a schizophrenic who is off meds, but we all have problems! And yes, it has been shown that the use of social media (FB, IG, TT), makes children more depressed the more they use it. Dd8 will not be allowed on it and I manage her screen time (no iPad Monday through Thursday).
Lol, yes! *yahoo* I feel
Lol, yes! *yahoo* I feel for her that she's sad. I really do. Buuuut when she talks about this app that she downloaded to show that she is 1 year "clean" from cutting (ONE TIME. She cut ONE TIME), I can't help but want to scream that she is not a cutter! It's all for attention, and to have an "issue" to talk about. DH agrees, and it's annoying to both of us. I have to bite my tongue. DH allows way too much screen time IMO, and if she were my kid I wouldn't be doing things like he does. But it's not worth the fight so whatever. And I completely agree, I was going to have them pick up all the sticks in the yard, but every time I had planned to do it, DH had already told SS he could go off with his gf...
Oh, and on Sat. after I had gone off on DH for the 5th time for letting SS get away with everything and not doing anything about it, he came to me later that night and told me he had talked to SS again and told him "SD sees that he treats SS differently, and lets him get away with more. And that SS needs to not take advantage of that and follow the rules, because SD is upset about it, blah blah blah". Granted he was tipsy, but I immediately said, Seriously?? WHY would you say that??? He doesn't need to know any of that, you're just using SD's feelings as a way to convince SS to behave better so you don't have to punish him! And it just pits them against each other. Just f'ng give him consequences, WHY is it so hard?! You are the parent for F*cks sake, don't use SD as an excuse- parent them equally, and give consequences! I just couldn't even handle it anymore. I need to disengage from this before I lose my mind.
“My lady parts dried up”
Yes TrueNorth, I am a part of this club. I am also part of the club of having a DH who doesn't parent his child with consistent discipline and it's super frustrating to watch.
Why. Just why is it so hard?
Why. Just why is it so hard? I'm thinking of you in this time of strife...
SS hated when his mom went to the lead in parenting and
discipline. With me he got immediate measured consequences. If he repeated, he got escalated immediate consequences. Lather, rinse, repeat.
With his mom... he got THE LOOK! Then the flesh peeling gut wrenching lecture for hours. Then... he got the day after day repeat of her ire, anger, disecting lectures, and THE LOOK!
The three of us still get laughts out of when SS-30, then in his mid to late teens, came to me and begged me to take back over the lead as disciplinarian. "Dad, mom is sooooo mad. She never lets things go, she stays mad, and it makes me feel so bad. You don't let me get away with anything, you punish me, I know to not push it, and then you reset and I am good until I do something stupid. With mom, I never can prove myself and it takes forever for her to get over it and trust me."
Lol. I told him to not screw up and he won't get his flesh peeled off by his mom's scathing looks, sharp tongue, and endless lectures.
So simple!
Actions = consequences. If you lay out the consequences ahead of time, it's a choice they are making when they are breaking a rule. DH just can't understand that and feels soo bad...he thinks yelling and talking over and over and over makes an impact (it doesn't. it's all noise to them now).