The time has come for DSS18 to be given a key to our house, I was uneasy about this, but DH and I tried to compromise and have come up with some sensible ?conditions.?
DH suggested that he gives him the key tonight, and that I?m the one to explain the conditions. I asked DH why he couldn?t do this, but DH looked at me in horror, and said that the conditions need to come from me. This irritates me slightly, it just proves that DH won?t tackle any of the less savoury elements of parenting, just in case this threatens his status as ?preferred parent.?
So rather than let DH wriggle out of it all together, I plan to speak to DSS when all three of us are round the dinner table tonight. This lessens the chance of things getting lost in translation between all of us, and of DH doing a u-turn pretending to misunderstand what we?d agreed.
We?ve agreed that if DSS wants to call round, he just gives us a call first, rather than just arriving. And also that he needs to follow our usual ?going out? routine, ie making sure pets are in the right place, setting the alarm, closing the front door and then locking it. He can?t usually manage all four steps in the right order, so DH has prepared a check-list with pictures on.
We also plan to take his key off him when we go on holiday; I?d never be able to relax on a beach, whilst wondering if DSS has left the bath taps running or the hob still lit.
And I shall tell DSS18 exactly what my mother told me: a key is a privilege, not a birth right !!!!
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Not the end of the world - but DH isn't very brave!!
18 replies
Petal02 · 19/04/2013 14:44
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