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Step-parenting

DSS1's "D"M doesn't seem to care where he's been all day - DP's worried about him feeling unloved...

40 replies

SamanthaMulder · 31/08/2013 22:15

Both DSSs are supposed to be on their 2 night weekend at their DM's house. Yesterday, DSS1 (14) asked his DM if he could come home to play on his Xbox and she agreed on comdition that he went back to hers for tea when she rang him, which he dutifully did. Now, I think he must have told her that he was going back out to see his mates (DSSs have been away for a week at their DGM's), but he came back home to go back on the Xbox and she was going to call/text him when it was time fro him to come home.

She eventually called DSS1 around 10pm last night - he convinced her to let him stay at "his friend's house" because it was late. I think she must have said something about making sure he came home for tea and that she was going to call/text him.

So, DSS1 has spent all day at home sleeping until lunchtime and then playing on his Xbox again basically waiting for the summons to go back to his DM's house. HE eventually called her at 9pm to find out what's going on and she gives him a massive bollocking for not going back to her's in time for tea. DSS1 has now gone back to his DM's, and we will be collecting him at lunchtime tomorrow after "not seeing him since Friday afternoon".

She's made no effort all day to check on how he is after she's seen him for probably a total of less than an hour in a week. DP's really upset about the way she's pretty much ignored her own son for 24 hours, then given him hell when DSS1 realised that it was late (we had been asking him regularly if he'd heard from her, that he was ok, if he was hungry although DP didn't want to offer him a proper tea in the hope that DSS would go to his DM's off his own back, etc). It's just crap really.

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SamanthaMulder · 31/08/2013 22:15

Sorry it's a bit of a rant - just needed to get it off my chest.

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theredhen · 01/09/2013 17:12

Whether his mum knows or not, why was he allowed to lie to his mum about where he was?

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smokinaces · 01/09/2013 17:39

Why did you allow him to lie to his mother and spend the weekend at yours instead?

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NatashaBee · 01/09/2013 17:41

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UC · 01/09/2013 18:36

I agree with the others. Why did you accept that he was lying to his mum about where he was?

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SamanthaMulder · 01/09/2013 23:16

Long back story - long and short of it is that DSS1 doesn't like his mother and complains about going to hers almost every week, and DP & his ExW's communication is generally kept at bare minimum to remain civilised.

On Friday night, I think DP preferred that DSS1 arranged to not go to hers when she called at 10pm - DP was attacked a few years ago and suffers from PTSD. It was dark, DSS1 would've had to cross a very busy road (we're not that far from a dual carriageway, and the road he'd have to cross is a main trunk road) and pass at least one rowdy pub. On Saturday, we were expecting her to call him anytime - DP, DD & I went out for the day and were not expecting DSS1 to still be home when we got back in the early evening.

She had the ability to contact DSS1 at any time, but chose not to.

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NatashaBee · 01/09/2013 23:20

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SamanthaMulder · 01/09/2013 23:38

We understand that DSS's DM allows him to stay out until 10pm when he's at hers. When I was expecting DD last year, one evening DSS1 tracked us down to a bar 2 miles away because none of his friends were out and he didn't want to stay in at his DM's house. She wasn't bothered about where he was because it was before 9pm.

DSS1 lied to his mother on Friday night because she would have flipped about him staying home that night. He knew that he would get less grief if he said he was staying at a friends.

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smokinaces · 02/09/2013 08:47

You are completely encouraging this bad relationship. You are allowing him to demonise his mother and encouraging him to lie. He is a child. He may well moan. But it is not your place to act like a child as well. When he goes to his mothers he should stay there. You need to stop this now. Either that or he needs to be honest with his mother and make a new routine with her. It sounds like its not that she "doesn't care" but that she understands he is a teen with friends and a life and trying to be nice with 10pm curfews with his friends. But he needs to have got off his arse, off his Xbox and gone to hers off his own back.

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TheGirlFromIpanema · 02/09/2013 08:53

10pm isn't late for a teen in the hols/weekends though is it Confused

He is a teen who can obviously get himself between the two houses with no bother.

I'd be really pissed off that the teen was lying to his mother tbh. You don't get to dictate his relationship with her and she did call him. He just lied, with your blessing it seems.

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ChinaCupsandSaucers · 02/09/2013 09:14

Long back story - long and short of it is that DSS1 doesn't like his mother and complains about going to hers almost every week, and DP & his ExW's communication is generally kept at bare minimum to remain civilised

Isn't it your DPs responsibility to support his son to achieve an improved relationship with his Mum? At the moment, your DP (and you by association) are actively undermining it - hardly the behaviour of a responsible parent. He needs to put his feelings about his ex to one side and work as hard as he can to support his son; counselling, mediation, youth workers etc
He can't change his ex, but he can teach his son how to manage and cope effectively with his Mums behaviour without undermining their relationship.

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SamanthaMulder · 02/09/2013 20:50

Normally DP tries to encourage DSS1 to go to his DMs, but DP's had a stressful summer holidays looking after the 3 DCs, so I think he decided to let DSS1 get away with it for a quiet life. I know I asked DSS1 when we got back on Saturday afternoon when he was going to go to hers, and his reply was "she said she'd call me for tea" - I can hardly manhandle a nearly 6ft teen out of the house with a toddler under one arm.

Since I moved in with DP, several times we've had DSS1 come home first thing in the morning when he's supposed to be at his DM's until lunchtime or coming home during one of his DM's evenings with some excuse that he needs something from his room and staying holed up in there until DP ends up almost pleading with him to go so there's no arguments with her. DP often talks about how he wants to make sure that DSS1 doesn't feel unwanted after she walked out on all of them when DSS1 was only 9, and part of DP doing that is to not refuse to let his son in.

The hunting us down incident last year, DSS1 was only 13 and a skinny 5'4". He'd checked every pub in the town (7 of them) we live in on a Friday night before cycling to the next village to check the pubs there to find us - we were horrified and we left straight away to walk him back. When we told him that night that he couldn't come home with us because he was supposed to be at his DM's (by that time it was nearly 10pm, it would take us 10 mins to walk home, then we would have had to practically thrown DSS1 out), DSS1 went off in tears. All because he didn't want to be in the same house as his DM.

He's nearly 15 now, we can't afford to go to court or mediation to rearrange the stipulated nights, so what else should we do? She knows that he regularly arranges to stay as friends houses for the night when he's supposed to be staying with her (I think he managed it 3 weeks running at one point during my early months with DP), but it was a surprise to me that she made no attempt to contact him for nearly 24 hours.

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NatashaBee · 02/09/2013 21:04

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SamanthaMulder · 03/09/2013 06:51

Funny thing is, most of DSS1's friends live near his DMs house as DP moved to different part of town after she moved back to town with her new DP after leaving (I think she moved into the same street which was a bit too much for DP, especially as her new P threatened DP after one arguement between them. I think DP had had enough of violence when his Ex used to knock him out cold when she was drunk - something the DSSs are not aware of). DSS1 said a couple of months ago that when he hits 16 and isn't bound by the court order, he'll probably stay at her's for similar nights as he does at the moment, but he doesn't like having to be there at fixed times.

It's only in the last few months (after 5 years of separation & the divorce) that DP & his Ex have relaxed enough to amend the odd night due to her wanting them on Wednesday instead of Tuesday on a couple of weeks or asking if we could pick them up at 10am instead of 12noon one weekend, then reciprocating with having them til 2pm the following weekend. She still hasn't relaxed on her change to the school holiday arrangement that she instigated after I moved in where she used to have them until 12noon after the weekday night (she's a SAHM), then decided that she couldn't have them past 9am (although is DSS1 is still in bed, then he's allowed to sleep in, then she turfs him out as soon as he wakes up). I think it'll be at least a year by the time DP & his Ex are settled enough to discuss any changes to the arrangements, so DSS1 will be or almost be 16 so it would make any discussions irrelevant anyway.

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ChinaCupsandSaucers · 03/09/2013 08:07

I can hardly manhandle a nearly 6ft teen out of the house with a toddler under one arm.

You can call his Mum though.

It's one thing to detach and have nothing to do with your DSS movements or presence in your home - but when you begin to facilitate his lying and deception yourself (rather than leaving your DP to deal with it) then you become complicit in whatever power games they are all playing.

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SamanthaMulder · 03/09/2013 19:42

You can call his Mum though.

Haha! That's a good one. She's only made eye contact with me a handful of times in 3 years, and seems to totally resent my involvement in her son's lives even though I wouldn't be in it if she hadn't walked out on them. I keep away from her like her DP keeps away from my DP.

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NatashaBee · 03/09/2013 19:59

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smokinaces · 03/09/2013 22:54

Tbh, no wonder your stepson acts like this. You all act like children!!

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Bonsoir · 04/09/2013 07:18

I sympathise, OP, and I think you have had some very unfair treatment on this thread. You sound like a stepmother who has embraced teenaged stepsons almost FT with open arms and an open heart and you cannot be held responsible for the poor relationship your DSSs have with their own mother, which is all of her making.

Perhaps it is time for your DP to tackle his ex and suggest that the DSSs reduce their overnight contact time with her?

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ChinaCupsandSaucers · 04/09/2013 08:42

I don't think it's unfair - just a different approach!

Some parents would consider it a failing on their part if their DCs relationship with the other parent deteriorated. I'd be mortified if my DD was hiding out and lying to her Dad.

Whereas others consider themselves in competition as to who has the best relationship with their DC - so would never do anything to help improve it - as you suggest, some even take the opportunity to reduce contact between parent and DC when things are tough.

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Bonsoir · 04/09/2013 08:57

It isn't that simple, ChinaCupsandSaucers. You can wish all you like for your DCs' or DSSs' other parent to take an active interest in their children and to be a loving and effective parent, but if that parent has in effect resigned from parenting, there is extremely little you can do to change them. I am 10 years down the line with that scenario and the DSSs live with us now because they want things like an evening meal, interest in their school work and a supportive environment for high stakes exams and the transition to HE - none of which their mother has the slightest interest in providing.

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ChinaCupsandSaucers · 04/09/2013 09:45

I'm not suggesting you try and change the parent!

What I mean is to equip the DCs with the skills to cope with the different approaches of their respective parents and not reinforce the feelings of rejection that they may be feeling.

By giving them the easy option of opting out of the relationship with the less involved parent the DC is missing valuable opportunities to learn about different relationship patterns and cope with situations that make them uncomfortable.
Your DSS, for instance, could have learnt the skills to manage without an evening meal made for him at home, or sought support for schoolwork elsewhere without rejecting his mother - rather than be given the option to live in an environment that suited him at the expense of his relationship with one of his parents.

DCs whose parents are not separated don't have the option of securing a home that delivers their 'preferred' style of parenting; they develop coping strategies and parents and DCs learn together what works.

My own preference is to give my DD life skills which she can transfer to other situations as she grows up - rather than rescue her and remove her from a situation she isn't comfortable with - particularly if that involves her Dad, who is an equal parent in her life. Just because he doesn't do things my way doesn't make him wrong, just different!

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Bonsoir · 04/09/2013 10:02

That is idealistic BS, China. Children should not be expected to parent themselves by bridging the skills gap unless circumstances are dire.

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Bonsoir · 04/09/2013 10:04

And it is very wrong to victim blame and claim that it is the child doing the rejecting when it is the parent.

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brdgrl · 04/09/2013 10:35

What I mean is to equip the DCs with the skills to cope with the different approaches of their respective parents and not reinforce the feelings of rejection that they may be feeling.
Yes and yes.

If the two parents, or households, have different values, as when one places a high premium on prestige and material goods, one is not more of a parent than the other by virtue of not having the same approach. I am a little dubious of equating 'parental rejection' with 'not helping with 'high stakes exams'.

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