You are here

Where do I begin

Firemedic0822's picture

So I posted this in adult stepchildren but I felt this may be better since I wouldn't really call the problem coming from an adult.  Here goes. 
 

My girlfriend and I have been together for 4 years.  We moved in together about 7 months ago which was about 8 months earlier than we planned but due to her financial irresponsibility’s we had to move that time forward.  We were waiting for her oldest son to go to college. 

 

We both have 2 children. I have a 9 yo daughter a 6 yo son and she has a 12 yo daughter and an 18 yo son.  Yep you guessed it.  The 18 yo is the problem.  

 

Let’s call him John for this discussion.   Just a little background on him. Him and his sister have different dads.  My GF left his dad when he was about 2 years old. She had him at 21 and wasn’t ready for a child. They remained very good friends the entire time until about 3 years ago (will explain later).  She remarried when he was about 5 and again she left her last husband when her daughter was 4. 

 

Through the years John’s dad was an active part of his life and a great dad.  About 5 years ago his dad got a new girlfriend. John and his dads new girlfriend never got along. For good reason too. She is a little crazy. To the point to where my girlfriend and his dad no longer talk due to jealousy. Johns dad ended up getting his girlfriend pregnant and they got married.  He has been a deadbeat dad since then. No child support financially, emotionally, physically and is basically nonexistent.  

 

My girlfriend obviously feels bad for john so she lets him basically walk all over her. He is a good student. All A’s and honors classes. He got a scholarship to college and all in all is a good kid....the problem is he is lazy and takes no responsibility for anything.  

 

At times he is disrespectful to his mother, doesn’t contribute to anything around the house except when he is told(takes no initiative) and thinks the world revolves around him.  

 

When they first moved in we told him that we would buy him a car so he could see his friends since we moved 20 miles away from his old home and current high school(in south Florida that’s far lol). He has no interest in driving so his mom pays for Uber everywhere and for someone who’s finances aren’t in order is the last thing that should be happening.  On top of driving he also orders Uber eats all the time which also is a financial drain.  

 

I am very Money conscious.  Prior to them moving in I had a very balanced budget.  We agreed on sharing some of the bills which hasn’t gone so good either.  We often fight about her son and I feel like he needs to take more responsibility around the house. If he isn’t going to contribute to society like getting a job(I know right now isn’t the time due to the pandemic but it wouldn’t make a difference anyway) then he should be helping out around the house instead of logging 14 hours of PlayStation time.  

 

I come home from work and the garbage is full with another full bag sitting on the floor next to the garbage can.  The dishwasher is full of clean dishes and the sink is overflowing with dirty ones.  I feel like his mom enables him way too much because she feels bad about his dad.  Quite frankly I’m really getting sick of it. 

 

About 6 months ago when he turned 18 he took his money and opened a stock investing account.  To my surprise he did very well...to the point that we let him invest a small amount of our own money just for kicks.  We even told him we would give him a 10% commission on whatever he makes us.  Let’s just say in the first week he made us $2k. After that he told his mom he wants 20%!  She actually stood up for herself and said he should be doing it for free.  I gave him his commission and an advance because he mad a bad play on his account and a good one on ours.  He ended up loosing all of the money he made for us but it was a good learning lesson.  I received an email from my investing firm that another bank account was linked to my account and that a withdrawal was pending.  Basically John tried to take $200 from the account without me knowing.  That was after giving him $200 as an advance on future profits which never came.  I told my GF that he needed to pay me back the money but without a job it’s kind of hard.  

 

Recently we have been doing some major renovations to our landscaping around the house. I told her I wanted him to help. He has maybe put in 3 hours of work to our 80.  He sleeps all day and plays video games from 4pm to 6am. It frustrates me every day.  The fact that I have my career and a second home business and have a very strong work ethic. I feel like my GF and I shouldn’t have to do things like empty the dishwasher and take out the garbage after working all day.  

 

BTW We are both on the front lines of the pandemic.  

 

So with this frustration I try to talk to my GF about it and she turns around and gets frustrated with me.  It’s basically the only thing we fight about.  How do I get through to the both of them.  Should I confront John and possibly make things worse?  Should I continue to bring it up to my GF and destroy our relationship?  I keep telling myself that when he goes to college it will get better.  Another problem is, he is getting an apartment with 3 other friends for college instead of staying in the dorms(another bad idea I feel).  He has no life experience. Has never had a job. Doesn’t have a drivers license.  Can barely cook for himself and he wants to live in his own.   I am completely lost.

DHsfamilyfromhell's picture

This lad does need to learn to be a bit more respectful. However,.....

He appears to be a very smart lad about to go college and fledge the nest a little which is a very good thing. He won’t starve at college (they find a way, whether that’s learning to cook, eating a pot noodle or getting other people to help them).

I’m sure it will turn out fine. My son was occasionally rude to me before he went to uni. Is now a changed individual (ie better keep in mums good books in case I need a few pounds). Any progress sometimes is better than no progress. 

You may find he changes quite a lot in a good way. The very smart ones dont often drop out of college because they can do assignments ‘out of thin air’ basically and are little human sponges for exams. 

I did send my son off to uni with strict instructions not to use a grill under any circumstances. Whether he listened I don’t know, but he came back in one piece. 

The halls where my son is have occasional problems with loud music. One girl set the smoke alarm off trying to cook a steak when they first moved in. So there are pros and cons to each living accommodation (I personally like halls as opposed to living with friends, as one friend could potentially bail and leave the others with a bill).

 

 

Firemedic0822's picture

He is smart. Very. Just lazy. No drive to do anything. Especially around the house and his mom gets on him maybe half the time.  Yesterday for example. I came home from work. The dishwasher was full, the sink was piling up with dirty dishes and the trash was full.  I purposely left it there to see if he would take care of it. Did he?  Not even.  So when my SO got home from work she started to clean everything.  Let's just say I got pretty mad and said something to her....again.  This whole thing blew up into a huge fight with her saying she's moving out.  

Rags's picture

No interest in driving should not be rewarded with an at will Uber service.  Time for Skippy to hike his butt off or learn to take the bus. If he is in HS, he is old enough to get a job and pay for his own Uber if Uber is his choice of transporation since he declined a car.

smh

His college scholarship is a notable accomplishment.  Hopefully his departure for University will not be delayed by the Corona crisis.  It should be interesting to see how he navigates food and transportation when mommy isn't there to pay for his Uber Eats and Uber rides at will.

Once he leaves, your life is likely to improve significantly with the decompression his departure will initiate in your home and relationship.

DHsfamilyfromhell's picture

If he’s moving out soon, see what it’s like a few months after he has been a bit more self sufficient (and mom has gotten over her son trying to be a grown up and moving out). 

Until the covid 19 lockdown I saw my son for a 2 weeks out of 4 months when he went to uni. It was good for him, and good for me to let him be a grown up.

Let him move out, and hopefully when things have calmed down between everyone you might be able to renegotiate things a bit when the time is right. 

 

Swim_Mom's picture

I agree that her son could take more responsibility etc. but he does not sound like a lost cause, more of a normal 18 year old. Your GF though? She is a lost cause. People who cannot manage their finances are not adults. People who do not live within their means, create a budget and save for short and long term i.e. retirement, are not grown ups. How can you expect her son to be, when she is not? I realize a lot of people live like this. For me, this would be a deal breaker.