to not want DD's to meet up with their step siblings?

[alisunshine29]

DD1 (DP's stepdaughter) is 5, DD2 is 7 months. DP has a 5 and 6 year old from previous marriage. When we first met DP had regular contact with his kids for the first year, DD1 really liked them (though they were sometimes mean to her) and all was going well, considering. Contact dwindled/was cancelled last minute and irregular for a year before stopping altogether about 14 months ago. DD1 was very upset and missed them terribly - she has just about stopped asking about them now. DD2 has obviously never met them. DP has been 'planning' to take his ex to court for contact since she stopped it but hasn't done anything about it yet, despite my support and encouragement. However, he includes them in calculations for things - i.e. when considering how many bedrooms we need/how many seats in car etc. When our car broke we got a 7 seater on his basis that we'd need it when we have his kids. However, if he does pull his finger out and sort contact out via court, I would not want our DD's to meet up with his kids til contact was established, regular and his relationship with the kids was rebuilt. IMO it isn't fair on any of the kids to keep getting attached then losing each other. AIBU?

[StuntGirl]

I was going to say YABU but I can see your point. Why did contact stop last time?

[Andro]

I don't think it's being unreasonable to try and protect your children from more pain.

[waterrat]

Blimey, your partner has made no effort to try and see his own children? That's awful - 'pull his finger out' - as though it's some kind of casual issue.

The issue here isn't about your children meeting them - it's about his failure to be a father to them!

[alisunshine29]

Ex wants DP to have normal contact (midweek and every other weekend) but he works shifts which will not change and has 3 weekends off in a row about every 6 weeks. She moved 40 ish miles away so DP says that's too far for midweek contact. Ex said he wasn't committed to contact by only seeing them every 6 weeks, though he can have them for extended periods in school holidays.

[DontmindifIdo]

why doesn't your DP want to see his DCs???? I know if I ever tried to stop DH seeing DS, he'd move heaven and earth to get to see his son, nothing else would matter to him. I can't comprehend being with a man who doesn't feel that level of attachment to his own children.

But yes, avoiding pain for your DDs is best, you can only protect them. does he see your DDs as optional parts of his life too?

[LemonBreeland]

YANBU. Not just for your DC but also because his DC need to rebuild a proper relationship with him first.

Why is he not bothering to try and see them? Poor kids.

[millie30]

YANBU to not want your DDs to be hurt. However, it may not even be an issue- your DP hasn't seen his young children for over a year and if he goes to court may well have to prove himself with contact slowly building up to re-establish his own relationship with them. I doubt he will be allowed to dictate that he brings his new children along, that also wouldn't be fair on the children who haven't seen their father for so long.

[alisunshine29]

He says he wants to and misses them. Think he had been hoping ex would change her mind and let him see them without involving court - he hates confrontation. But after leaving it so long the Judge will rip him to shreds if he gets that far (haven't told him that!) which I think will put him off again. I worry that his youngest will barely remember him if he leaves it much longer as they've had sporadic contact since he was 2, none at all from just over 3.5 years old.

[ENormaSnob]

Your dp sounds a bit of a prick IMO.

Does he actually want to see his kids or is he just paying lip service?

[GoldPlatedNineDoors]

Id worry whether he would be fussed about seeing your dcs should you split.

How far in advance are his shifts.done?

[Booyhoo]

those poor children.

[millie30]

So he might be put off by a scolding from the Judge? They are par for the course in family court, if he was that desperate to see his children he would take whatever was thrown at him. But the fact that his Ex offered him regular contact and he hasn't stuck to it, or made any effort for over a year, make it sound like he really just can't be bothered. I pity your DCs if you and he ever split up, I would have no respect for a man like that.

[DontmindifIdo]

Saying he misses them is one thing, acting like it is another. I hate confrontation (in real life, I'm a right bitch while hiding behind my keyboard! ) but nothing would keep me from DS.

I don't understand. Actually, I do, he doesn't care, he feels he should so says he misses them, but not enough to actually fight for them. Surely if he works weekends, he also gets time off in the week making the 40 miles for midweek visit easier as he's got the time to travel... I would just not be able to respect a man who didn't have a relationship with his DCs and wasn't fighting in every way possible to fix that.

You are right to avoid any futher upset for your DDs.

[LoopsInHoops]

If you think your DD was upset, imagine how his children felt? :(

He sounds like a twat.

[KobayashiMaru]

They are half sisters, not step sisters, which is an entirely different thing.

Your DP is a terrible father. I think you are worrying about the wrong issues here altogether.

[LoopsInHoops]

I agree, Kobayashi

[LemonBreeland]

Actually only one is a half sister. The other child, who is the one old enough to get upset is a step sister.

[LoopsInHoops]

But we have DP's daughters, who are half sister to DD2, and DD2, who is half sister to DD1. They are just as 'related' to DD2 as DD1 is.

[poshfrock]

40 miles is nothing. My DH travelled 250 miles round trip every other weekend for 10 years to see his kids ( in fact it was 500 miles in total - 250 to pick them up and 250 to take them back). His is a police officer and works shifts. He frequently finished work at 3am on Friday night / Sat morning, slept for 4/5 hours and then got up to collect his kids. Spent a couple of hours with them and then went off to work for another 12 hours. I looked after them while he worked before he drove them back on a Sunday morning, getting home at 2pm and going back to work at 3pm. He did it because he loves his kids even through he was a) exhausted,b) skint ( petrol was £80 every 2 weeks) and c) quite often only actually "saw" them for a couple of hours when they were here. Your DH needs to make much more of an effort. Those poor kids.

[Beamur]

On one hand I agree that you should ensure that any relationship with the siblings is on a more secure footing as you don't want to cause them distress, but I agree with a lot of the posters on here so far - why is your DP being so crap about getting access organised?
It's all well and good planning car seats/bedrooms etc - which frankly sounds like a sop to his conscience (I must be a good Dad and thinking about them, I've bought a 7 seater car) but what about how the abandoned kids are feeling?
Access is supposed to be about what is good for the kids, not the rights of the parents.
40 miles away is not the ends of the earth.
I know my DP would happily drive and hour and back to spend time with his kids in the same evening if that was all that could be managed.

[BigStickBIWI]

Hmm. You started a thread on Friday complaining about your DP not divorcing his exDW, where you said you had 2 children. That's a bit confusing.

[WhereYouLeftIt]

It's very easy to say you want to do something. But if you take no action to make it happen, then frankly you don't REALLY want to do it. You just want to think (and to make others think) that you're the sort of person who would do it (but x,y,z gets in the way, blah blah blah boo hoo).

alisunshine29, you've presumably been with DP for over three years? To be blunt, has he replaced his own children with yours, because their proximity makes them so much more convenient? And would he repeat this pattern were you to split in the future?

"However, he includes them in calculations for things - i.e. when considering how many bedrooms we need/how many seats in car etc. When our car broke we got a 7 seater on his basis that we'd need it when we have his kids."
What? Next time such a calculation comes up, refuse it. He's doing it purely to convince you/himself that he really still wants to see his DC but he doesn't. I expect you could have spent considerably less or got a more appropriate car if he wasn't being so delusional.

YANBU to not want your DC sucked in to his, frankly, nasty fantasy. But I'd suggest you consider him a little less favourably. He's being completely shit to his children.

[2blessed2bstressed]

Biwi I read it that op has 2 dc, the youngest with her dp, who has 2 other children with his ex.

[DontmindifIdo]

yep, to me the house the car etc sounds like so he can say to other people, "oh I need a 7 seater because I've got 4 kids" not because he either wants to have all 4 at the same time. sorry to be harsh, but judge a man on his actions. What he says is what he thinks he should say, what he does if what he feels.

[Booyhoo]

op does have 2 children BIWI