You are here

Troubled teen

Friezy's picture

Im 43, have raised my daughter now 11 alone but her dad has always been good and a big part of her life & he & i get on fine. 4 months ago I moved in with my partner of 2 1/2 years who has 50% custody of his girl aged 15 and boy aged 11. They are with us 3-4 nights a week and other days just for tea then they go to their mums. My partner & I both work. They have no rules or jobs at their mothers but i have always instilled a sense of teamwork & helping family in my daughter. His 15 yr old daughter is rude, disrespectful, rarely says hello or goodbye, she tells lies and does nothing in the house at all except make her own bed & wash her own plate after dinner. If we ask her to do anything else she says she won't come anymore so my partners lets her get away with it. I clean her room, do her washing & ironing & have tried really hard with her, I smile & be nice even when ive had a day from hell at work because otherwise she tells her dad im being mean to her even if im just a bit quiet after a bad day. I take her shopping & really make an effort to be nice to her. Her dad & I work and its hard running a home & family too. All i want is her to help a bit, not loads just a little but my partner is terrified she'll stop coming if he lays down any rules. Our daughters share a room at the moment which we understand is very difficult, we are trying to sell the house to buy a bigger one so they can have their own rooms but this may take a while & we've explained that its all temporary and we all have to just hang in there for now. The thing is my daughter never complains & i know shes just as unhappy with the situation. Im on the verge of walking out. Please HELP!!!

Smomof3's picture

I dealt with the same thing until my SD15 turned some of her lies on her dad...now he could care less if she comes or not.

Lalena75's picture

Stop being this child's maid, if she can't be bothered to help out you can't be bothered to pick up her slack and let her dad pick up after her. Either you'll feel less used or dad will get sick of being at her beck and call and put his foot down, or she'll stop coming over and only have herself to blame. Your teaching her and him that you will just do things you resent to keep the peace for him, don't fake being nice be indifferent. Why would you want to suck up to someone who gives nothing in return? We teach people how to treat us what are you teaching them?

oldone's picture

Don't ask her dad to do anything because he probably won't and you'll just argue.

But YOU don't have to play suck up to her. What did he do before you moved in? Who washed, ironed, etc.?

I understand that he is afraid that she will not come over (think it's stupid but do understand). But ask him if he is afraid that you will move out? If he doesn't care if you move out - well then I think you have an answer that this man does not care about you enough for you to have a real partnership with. Dates - yes. Partnership -no.