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Help needed, anyone relate? Have you gone through this? Tips?

MinaOh12's picture
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Hi Im new here. I found this website after endless googling on my current situation. That led me to this topic of disengaging and this site. After reading some of the posts here I am not sure if disengaging is the way to go. Can you help me figure it out? Or have you experienced anything like this? It is the first time I am reaching out for help so please be kind. I feel as though I am less of myself now and I am constantly stressed when my stepchild is with us. For reference, the stepdaughter is 8.

1. I always feel that I need to intervene when effective parenting is not taking place or the child's needs aren't being met (in my opinion). For example, not preparing breakfast for her, not playing with her, and not attending to her hygiene. I have intervened so much that it has now become an expectation that I will do specific things for her care routinely and she will ask me directly now. For example "When are you going to be done with the dishes so you can help me build this Lego" or "Give me a bath". 

2. Not being notified in advance that I would be responsible for taking care of her at specific times. For example, informing me of a concert that will take place a few weeks later, I then tell him I'm excited for him and hope he has a wonderful time. Then when the concert date comes, I learn that I will be watching his daughter for him. When I was surprised by this he told me "I just assumed you were agreeing to that because you knew when the concert was and that I would have my daughter. What's worse is that when I am expected to care for the child, I am angry that nothing has been prepared to make this easier such as meal planning, feeding, snacks, and entertainment, so I am left to do nearly everything. When I tell him this is unacceptable he responds "I just don't need those things to take care of her so it's new to me". Another example is at a gathering with friends he becomes the social butterfly and I am left to attend to his daughter. Sometimes, others pick up on this dynamic and just come to me directly asking to do things for her. 

3. Over time, it appears that the child strongly prefers me to complete tasks of daily living such as bathing, playing, and bedtime routine (especially). When confronted on this, my partner says things like, "She just prefers you, I guess," or "I didn't ask you to do that, you just did it yourself, so how can you get mad at me" or "I didn't think it would be a big deal" when I express frustration or anger. I have read somewhere that another term for this might be weaponized incompetence. 

4. My own routine and personal space are violated routinely when his daughter visits. Long gone are the days when I would plan things for myself or feel completely free to leave the home without a negative vibe that I am not including the stepchild in my day when she is over. To make matters worse, my partner is constantly wanting to do things together but never alone with his child. What's strange is that he also gets upset when I want to go and do things alone with my son. He has told me that we should not be separate we should act like a family and all do things together. I love alone time with my son and have had to give some of that up in this relationship. 

5. During activities together, my partner tends to "check out", leaving me to participate alone with the child. For example, playing with a toy together, and all of a sudden, he's on his phone doing his own thing. Or worse, he appears irritated or annoyed, and when I ask what is wrong, he says, "I just don't like playing" "I just don't like doing this". 

6. When I express my frustrations about any of this he responds that our parenting styles are different and he does not feel it's necessary to play, engage, or parent the way I do. (Personal preference). I respect that but it does not solve any problems. 

7. She is beginning to show signs of disrespect toward me, such as asking her father if I can do something for her when in reality, she should be asking ME. For example, "Daddy can she take me outside now to play I'm ready" or "can she make me the snack I like now" when I am literally sitting right next to them. This has been happening nearly daily and I feel like they are treating me like property or a tool that can be used whenever. 

8. She has become excessively clingy to me, even sitting on top of me sometimes, following me everywhere, constantly talking to me. For example, when I sit down to have a snack on the couch she is suddenly sitting next to me shoulder to shoulder and will slowly climb on me, causing me difficulty in whatever I am doing. Another strange component of this is that when I say I need space she will use a baby voice and baby words, which is an attempt to guilt me. Just now, she entered my bedroom and said in a baby voice "I hope you get done soon so you can come out here". I have been in here less than 10 minutes and this is a perfect example of the constant pressure they place on me to be attached to her at the hip. As though anything I do in life I must complete in order to get back to attending to her. Another example is that I was doing my business in the bathroom and she sat outside the door knocking every few seconds and asking me what I was doing. After a minute or two she escalated this knock to a full-on drumming with her hands. She is also excessively clingy when other people or children are present. For example, I complimented her friend on a drawing and had a few laughs causing her to pout and storm off saying "no one likes her drawings". I caught myself starting to say "wait I do like your drawings too" but I stopped myself because I realized this wrong somehow. Another example, is when hanging out with an adult friend having drinks on the patio she jumps on my lap and interrupts our conversation and begins talking about whatever she wants. When I ask her to please give us some space and pick up her to set her on the ground she again pouts, cries, and storms off. Sometimes this is so embarrassing for me in public. It also takes up my time to try and mend the situation and stabilize things. 

9. Other times, many times actually, she will compare me to her mother with comments like, "My Mom lets me lay on her all day" or "My Mom always does this with me" or "My mom doesn't cook this kind of food so gross". I have tried to explain that I am not her mother and I cannot give her what her mother gives her without hurting her feelings, but she doesn't seem capable of understanding that yet.  I have discussed with her father that this is happening and he has begun to tell her to stop and respect my boundaries. However, this is done in a very aggressive punitive way, sometimes raising his voice, and that makes me feel awful. Sometimes it makes me feel so bad I will tell her it's ok and she can hang out with me. 

10. She has begun to enter my personal space and touch my personal things without asking. For example, deciding to play in my bed when she has her own room or grabbing anything of interest like a pretty brush and asking HER FATHER instead of me if she can have it or use it. I am concerned this behavior will escalate in the future if she does not learn soon that I am an individual and should be respected and treated as such. 

If anyone is wondering, yes, her bioMom is horrible. She also has no respect for boundaries and from what I gather has some sort of personality disorder. So I feel defeated like no matter what I do to try and steer this kid in the right direction I will never succeed because her primary custodian is completely nutso. 

 

JRI's picture

You don't have a SD problem, you have a big old DH problem.  He is taking the lazy way out and I'm sure the other Steptalkets will elaborate.  For starters, she's not there to see you, the purpose of visitation is to see HIM.  "Ask your dad" is your new mantra.

MinaOh12's picture

I appreciate your comment that she is not here to see me. If I could just scream those words out I would feel so much better!! 

Rags's picture

Send the kid to daddy for each request.

Lather.....rinse..... repeat.

notsurehowtodeal's picture

If you no longer want to do all those thing, disengagement is exactly what you need. You are essentially raising your partner's child and your partner is more than happy to have you do it. If you don't want to continue in this role, you need to stop doing anything you don't want to do and your partner will need to step up.

How does your SO treat you when the child is not around? Does he take advantage of you in others ways as well? It seems odd your SO would go to a concert and leave you to take care of his child. Unless you hated the band, it seems like that is something you would do together.

MinaOh12's picture

I don't mind doing these things for her sometimes. In fact, I have enjoyed playing with her and hanging out. But like I was explaining over time it's just become an expectation that I will do everything. I would like my role in her life to be a positive and healthy person she can learn from. So while I do want to disengage I am also worried we will lose that positive side of our connection. To answer your other question yes sadly I do hate that band. But I was happy he would get to go and have fun with his friends. Everyone needs that time and I get that. But he should have told me or made arrangements for his childcare in advance. The truth is that he treats me very well in every other aspect except this. I do feel like he is taking advantage. It is nice when he thanks me for being such an amazing step etc, but thanking me still doesn't make this right. Neither is buying me gifts, taking me someplace nice, or doing extra chores. I don't want those things I want him to care about this. I want him to understand how frustrating it is for me when he doesn't step up when it comes to parenting. I've only started to talk to him a little more about this so hopefully this method will assist in creating a healthier dynamic for us. 

Winterglow's picture

Why does your husband even take his visitation if he can't be bothered with the child?

Also, you are overfunctioning. There are things she doesn't need help with at her age. She can make her own snack. She can play by herself or read a book. She doesn't need help to shower or take a bath. Time for her to start taking care of herself. If you hadn't already not, she's treating you as her own personal slave (hence the addressing her father and not you).

I think it's about time you went to visit your family with your son for a week while she is with her father. Leave him to it.

MinaOh12's picture

It's just now hitting me how bad things actually got. I was doing literally everything for her. I've even said that my own son didn't need this when he was this age and was told that girls are different. No more. No no no more 

Winterglow's picture

LOL - yes, girls are different...   they tend to progress faster than boys. So he can scrap that argument.

Congratulations on putting the responsibility for her firmly on his shoulders, where it belongs. Stick to your guns!

Winterglow's picture

There are things you don't have to tolerate so don't. She is far too old to be sitting on anyone's lap so tell her to quit it when she tries. When she sits glued to you, tell her to "move away please, I need space to breathe". 

Ban her from your bedroom, completely. An adult bedroom is not a child's playground. If necessary, put a lock on your door. Forbid her to touch your things. Make it clear that your possessions do not belong to her and therefore "HANDS OFF!"

Every single time she asks you for something or to do something, your automatic response must be, "ask your dad." Even when she has just asked him to get you to do something for her in front of you, "daddy can do that for you, darling." She's there for visitation with him, he should be taking care of her. He doesn't appear to understand that, make it clear that the point of visitation is for the child to see her father, NOT to give BM some free time - because that is exactly what is happening right now because you are being treated as a nanny/babysitter.

Spell it ouit to your husband that the reason his daughter is so clingy with you is that she is desperate for attention and her father is behaving as if he doesn't know her. He MUST spend one-on-one time with her because he is ruining her self esteem by ignoring her or just not wanting to do things with her. He doesn't know how? He can learn ... like everyone else. He doesn't like spending time/playing with her? Tuff, he's her father. He says you do everything better than him so he'll just let you do it? Is he incapable of acquiring new skills at work? No? Well this is exactly the same!

Please stop trying to avoid hurting her feelings. I'm not saying to be unpleasant with her, just to be clear with her. By being strict about your boundaries, you will get the message across. If you try to explain your boundaries so she won't be offended, she will effectively ignore them. Clarity avoids confusion. Remember too that you don't have to give her a reason why you're doing anything. She just needs to know that you're busy and not available (and not "not available for the next ten minutes" which just creates an obligation for you).

So, as from today, start as you mean to go on. I won't kid you, it's not going to be easy to get rid of ingrained habits but if you don't, this whole situation is going to keep on getting worse. 

MinaOh12's picture

This has been a hard week but some changes are already starting to happen. 
1. I've told both of them that my bedroom is firmly off limits and that any time she wants to enter she must ask. One time she did knock and ask and I told her no, I'm busy right now ask your Dad to spend time with you. It didn't go over well but it did feel good to finally have some sense of freedom back. 
2. I've told him everything you mentioned. It did make him defensive at first and he was shocked to hear me say I was being treated as a nanny. After I gave examples of how a nanny is treated and pointed out the similarities he just felt bad and agreed to be better about her care. Thankfully we didn't have a fight over it but it was all pent up inside of me so I ended up being kind of mean and yelling about this issue at him. 
 

Today when I got home was the first time she has not come racing straight toward me to ask me to do things for her or play with her. So I think this is working. I headed straight into my room and just began to unwind and it feels amazing. Prior to this it was just expected that as soon as I came home I would immediately tend to her which was so awful in retrospect I can't believe I let this happen all this time. 
 

*just wanted to add that when I said I didn't want to hang out and she got upset the first thing she did was run to her Dad and tell him I was being mean to her. Now I each time I say no, I'm being "mean". Idk how to deal with that so I just didn't say anything. After a while she asked me to play again and I was legitimately busy which I explained to her. She said ok so when will you be done so you can play with me. I just said I'm not sure. I wish I had better responses for these types of things. Still trying to figure out what works without totally hurting her feelings. But I have to also get my own work done! 

Cover1W's picture

ok, your husband is problem #1 as others have said. He either doesn't know how, or doesn't want to parent. So you need to protect YOU first and foremost.

1. Hygiene. This is something you should ignore UNLESS it direct effects you. If you are going somewhere and she's with you, then you address it directly and firmly. If she smells, you tell her nicely but firmly OR you move or tell her to move. My DH was horrible at this and eventually started telling the Sds that (brushing your teeth for example) didn’t matter. I told him point blank then that I was then not helping with anything dental whatsoever. I stopped making sure they showered or washed their faces (I insisted on hand washing before eating or any meal prep, hard stop). He only started monitoring this after he was stuck in a car with them and they stank it up – and had the gall to ask me about it! Um, YEAH, I’ve been telling you! And once he experienced the full force of OSDs breath when she was 13 he tried insisting on tooth brushing but by then it was a losing battle. When YSD17 shows up here for a weekend (Friday night – Sunday afternoon) she rarely showers any longer and the last time I don’t think she even brushed her teeth. I ignore.

2. No notification to you. Then you don’t help, you do NOT agree. And tell him calmly why. You cannot have responsibility without authority – this includes planning. I stuck to this firmly when the Sds were 9/11. Oh, you need help while I’m on the way out for an appointment I made last month? Too bad, you didn’t ask. Oh, you need my car but didn’t tell me and are mad that I wasn’t home? I’m not a mind-reader (this one resulted in him getting his own damn car). You want ME to ferry them and their friends back and forth or host them but I had zero input into the decisions you made? HA, nope. This relates to activities too – you don’t want to or don’t have say, don’t do it. Don’t spend your funds on it. I was burned a couple times buying tix to fun stuff that they decided then they didn’t want to do (on the day of!) so I stopped planning events or spending $ on them. It was one of my first disengagement steps. If we did trips together DH had to sit down and plan with me and pay for the Sds share. Only do things if you WANT to.

3. Your routine. See above. Make your plans, do what you want to do. The time is for your DH to spend with them, not you. Put a calendar within sight and put your schedule on it.

4. Disrespect / Clingy – this is where you see the skid needs structure and wants it, but feels like she shouldn’t like YOU so much. It’s really counterintuitive. If she disrespects, counter her and call her out. Use your schoolteacher voice. If she’s clingy, tell her to back off firmly but nicely and discuss personal space/time.

5. Comparison to BM. “That’s nice” “Uh-huh” “Interesting” “You must like that” or just nod, shrug, “I don’t do things/this/that way” “Not everyone is the same” etc. Let it roll off you.

6. Personal space. Hard line here. Lock on the door, or lock your things up. I had a discussion with OSDthen11 when she started wearing my shirts without asking. She hated she couldn’t just do it but nope. My makeup was removed from the bathroom to our room (in our former rental home) and DH replaced some of it (and was shocked at the cost – yeah, I warned him but he refused to tell them to not do it). If she goes in, you tell her to get out.

It will take repetition. If you cannot do all at once, start with one thing, nail that disengagement down, and add another and so on. Don’t discuss this with your DH. Likely he won’t take it well. I never did. What I did do was tell him in the action. “You don’t plan the use of my car with me but demand it be there if you need it so then you get your own.” “If I cannot set limits on toothbrushing then anything dental related I will not help with moving forward.” “If I cannot help with ride-planning then I will not transport Sds anytime you / BM want” etc. I also would tell him, ONLY if HE asked, "Don't you want them to grow up as strong, independent, well-adjusted and confident women? If so they need to learn how to think, take care of themselves, and learn independence now, as kids."  Both he and BM really did them no favors and they are both wierd, entitled late teens.

MinaOh12's picture

Thank you especially for comments on BM. Sometimes I've snapped back and said "im not your mom and I don't want to talk about her". Im going to just ignore it from now on, zero comment. 

Harry's picture

And not do it the next day.  You have make DH do his job. Parent his Kid. Or SD stays with BM.  You must make DH understand what is his job and he has to do it.  Yiu are not legally responsible for SD, DH is. 
if DH dumps SS on you, you tell him NO.  If he leaves her call BM and tell her to get her BD 

ESMOD's picture

This situation didn't happen in one day.. it won't be fixed overnight.

I think it's not uncommon for guys to not really have much clue to raising and nurturing a child.. the dynamic in many households is still fairly gender aligned.. men work and do yard/car work.. women raise kids and do the house work.. (and now thanks to progress.. we also get to work.. lol.. yay).

So, probably taking full care of his kid? was a bit alien to him.. and you were able to come in and take control to an extent.. 

BUT... you do, at some point.. have to accept that the way you might raise a child is not necessarily the way every child needs to be raised.  His more hands off re playing etc?.. could actually lead to a more independent child.. she comes to you.. expects these things to be done.. because you taught her you would do it.

Now.. hygiene should not be ignored.. and he should be clearly told that she is not at age level and it's unsanitary..and bad for her health.  He should be stepping up..there.

Re getting her snacks etc...?  She should be able to deal with that more independently.. if that's what you want.. in our home.. the kids had to ask because we didn't want them ruining their nutritious meal eating a bunch of snacks all day.. or drinking too much sugary juice etc.. 

Those kinds of issues.. snacks.. playing are personal preference.. and she IS his child.. and if that is how he plays it.. fine.. that's how it can be.

If she comes to you.. it is a nice.."ask your dad".. it will take a million repeats of that since she is used to you doing his job.

At 8... she is old enough to know how to independently bathe.. and if you can't get him to step in here.. at least teach her how to do it independently.. set her up.. let her do her thing.. check in after a bit etc..

The unplanned sitting?  you could have told him.  Oh sitting ?  when you planned your concert.. I planned my own outing!  But.. if it is a matter of needing to be asked?  you need to be crystal clear.. that if he wants you to watch her.. he must ask.. and accept if you are not able or willing to.

IMHO.. it would be nice.. to watch her if he asks occasionally... just as he might do things to make your life easier.. but it should not be an assumption.

I think you do need to hand the parent reins back over to him.. barring out right neglect.. he needs to learn to parent.. and won't as long as you overfunction for him.

MinaOh12's picture

I do need to take accountability for what I've taught her. It is t her fault. It's ours. All of your comments were very helpful btw and I thank you so much. 

Thumper's picture

Are you married? The whole partner thing throws me off.

Next, visitation is for the child and his or her parent. 

Step back from his obligations as her dad.

Again are you married?.

 

 

Notthedoormat's picture

Is clinging to you because you're the one who is meeting her basic needs, even the ones she's old enough to manage independently.  You show her attention and play with her so she keeps coming back for more.

I think the others are correct in that your SO is a lazy parent, happy to see you do his job. He's already said he doesn't like to play with her, so he has a tantrum when he's expected to do it. 

I think the best thing may be to set some basic rules. Number one- kids do not enter the adult's bedroom/ bathroom unless they are invited in. Hand in glove with this one is 2. Do not touch/take anything that doesn't belong to you.

Maybe set up an area in the kitchen for her snacks, things she can easily reach for herself. 

With bathing, it may be that she needs to learn how to take care of it independently- like washing her hair and making sure she washes her body.  A couple of times with guidance and she should understand it.

Your SO needs to understand that you're not the nanny, and while you may enjoy playing with her at times,  that isn't going to be the case all the time. Tell him what your boundaries are and enforce them. 

It's not mean to expect your SO to take care of their child. I'm a big fan of the "your dad can do that" and "I'm busy right now, ask your dad" to help guide her towards turning to him for whatever she needs.

MinaOh12's picture

I've set up the snacks within reach and told her to ask her Dad when she wants something. I've been using that more and more and it feels a lot healthier to hand things over to him instead of be resentful and bothered. I have a long road ahead but I think this is going to work. 

CLove's picture

I too tend to over function and think that more parenting is better than less. For instance I used to institute "family movie nights" and those were fun gathering times, but they fell by the wayside and I didnt bother about it after that. I also tried instituting meals at the dinner table together, and that ended because I got tired of sdpower sulk powersulking her way through without her constant connection to electronics.

Once I let go, it was so much easier. Failing classes? Not my problem. Constant truant? Not my problem. Overweight?no job? no driving? not my problem.

So now youve been letting go and having these discussions with partner, your resentment should ebb also. Kiddo will be happier and more respectful also.

MinaOh12's picture

It's been a month now since beginning to disengage and many things have changed DRASTICALLY. I was asked again to babysit for him to attend a concert to which I not only declined but firmly informed him never to ask me to babysit so he can go out again. He apologized and said it wouldn't  happen again. Stepchild is now knocking anytime she wants to enter our room. I am also able to tell her to stop and respect my boundaries without much issue any longer. This means no more sitting on me, jumping on me, asking me to do everything for her. I am no longer involved in her day to day care meaning no bathing or feeding which is amazing. If it didn't get done (and she has gone without several times) I just shut my mouth and let her whine to him she needs

sometning. This has changed her behavior toward me completely. She treats me like a boss that's pissed at their employee saying things like "you're lazy" and "why can't you just do this". This has been very frustrating for hubby at times but I feel it's a good thing too because he is realizing how awful she treats me finally. I also now go with my own son on a lot more outings and focus all my time, money, energy on our bond like before and he's pepped up so much "mom I missed you". Step daughter is noticeably angry when we come back from fun things and will ask "what did you get for me" and pout when she realizes that I'm serious about that expectation now being kaput. She has tantrums and acts her usual self as before but the difference is I just ignore it and remove myself from the room. No more running to her trying to mend the situation. No more asking myself what I didn wrong. Because it's not wrong to just live my life. I also use the phrase "go ask your Dad" about 10 times a day instead of about 20 or 30 so that's a huge improvement. "Can I have a snack" "can you fix my hair" "can you tuck me in" "can you fix my toy" is all the same response. I am so much happier but my other half and step aren't. But I'm not going back to before ever again. Now the new problem is stepchild saying that we are competing. Yes you read that right. This school age girl has gone from clinging to me for dear life to now accusing her father of picking me over her and she hates whenever we spend time together or he hugs me or kisses me. So now I'm moving on to dealing with mini wife syndrome. Which I read is what happens sometimes. That girl needs therapy but once again not my kid not my problem. If it gets too awful I've decided I'm too old to spend my life suffering and I'll just leave my husband. I fortunately make a good living and can do so but I do still love my hunsand. Yesterday for example she freaked out that we were on the couch watching TV and then ran upstairs and slammed her door super hard saying he always picks me over her. I' just sort of ignored her and went back to whatever I was doing. I don't think this marriage will last much longer but to be honest im kind of relieved and thankful for disengaging. It's revealed a lot more about my husband and his daughter than myself. I don't think I need

to be a part of this dysfunctional family forever. They can fix it or im gonna leave. I also don't want my son around this anymore. His father would disapprove too. I guess I realize I just can't change them but I can change myself and live a happy healthy life. 

Winterglow's picture

This is GREAT news! Congratulations!

Your DH needs to shut the "you're picking her over me, WAAaah!" crap down like yesterday. There's no comparison, no favouritism, just a man who has a daughter who needs to be firmly put into her place as his CHILD. If she's jealous it's because he hasn't clearly defined your role as his wife and hers as his daughter. Sounds like BM might be whispering in her ear .. 

 

 

Rags's picture

Daddy's wife will always be the priority over any spawn.

As it should be.

I once worked with a much older woman who was talking with others at work about family. She was in her late 60s.  She said that if her husband ever go one her adult kids, he would be gone. I asked if he was their father. Yes, the kids were theirs together.

Your SD will have one shit life as an adult if she does to her partner what she expects her father to do to you. She will be a cerial spouse.  Her kids... will suck as bad as she does.
 

Daddy needs to take direct consistent action to get her head out of her own ass.  There is time, she is only 8yo.  However, he should not wait. She needs this lesson... immediately and it needs to be repeated for the rest of her life when she shoves her head up her own butt.

IMHO of course.