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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

...to want to never, ever see my step-daughter again as long as I live?

260 replies

IrisMurdoch · 24/01/2011 16:02

The worst thing is...my dp says he doesn't want kids with me because it would be 'too complicated' eg I've had my two kids so I'm OK and my daughter has also told me not to have any more kids! So instead of having a family of my own, I have to put up with his awful children for the rest of time. Anyone been in a similar plight and found a way through? Thanks so much, Iris. Sorry that I sound like a child-hating cow.

OP posts:
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ZoeEvangeline · 26/05/2025 15:03

I wonder how this all panned out. For those of you naive enough not to realise- step children especially step daughters to step mums can be cruel.
That was my experience. I didn’t know what to do and it usually passed under my husbands radar.
Over the years they’ve gradually accepted my existence and been quite nice but I have come to think that it was probably easier for them to treat me badly than face the hard truth of their anger towards them mother and father whom they loved of course.
I’m not sure how long it will take to recover. It’s now 20 years.

MrsCampbellBlack · 01/11/2011 20:27

Rather old thread

BabyDubsEverywhere · 01/11/2011 20:26

Doh!

Greythorne · 01/11/2011 20:25

Why has an eight month old thread suddenly resurfaced?

BabyDubsEverywhere · 01/11/2011 20:25

Sorry, just seen references to another thread, obviously more behind this i spose.

StinkyWeimaraner · 01/11/2011 20:24

Woooooowooooo zombie thread (rubbish spooky sound effect sorry). Hallowe'en was yesterday, no?

BabyDubsEverywhere · 01/11/2011 20:23

OP please dont take this the wrong way, but do you have any special needs yourself? Your reaction, or rather non-reaction to emotionseems a bit odd to read. Perhaps ts just the way Im reading it, but you seem a little child like and as though you dont understand that hating a child you have know and been in a semi caring role with for three years is, well, strange and unfeeling. You dont appear to be able to emphasise, with the little girl or any of the posters trying to explain the feeling normally behind such a situation...

rupert1 · 01/11/2011 20:13

Life is to short for all this awkwardness it really isn't right for you.

alivewithfive · 01/11/2011 19:57

or do as my dp s ex did and give the kids up to be with her new partner as he did not like her kids

Bogeyface · 26/01/2011 08:28

Also from the OP "Sorry that I sound like a child-hating cow"

I think that might be as simple as the fact that she is! And that in itself is no crime, providing you dont actually have any!

Bogeyface · 26/01/2011 08:27

"There is nothing in this for me" jumped out at me too.

It concerns me that a huge problem within the OPs relationship with her DP is that he wont have another child with her. If she has these feelings about the three children on her life then why on earth is she making an issue about having another?

Having another will only make these problems worse surely?!

mathanxiety · 25/01/2011 23:02

'There is nothing in this for me'

and

'I never thought that motherhood would be so profoundly empty, boring, one-sided and depressing'

jumped out from the other thread at me.

pinkstarlight · 25/01/2011 21:29

so you say shes a strange and rude child and you also wish she didnt exist and yet you call this young girl cold and heartless.no wonder shes playing up i garentee she knows you cant stand her.

sounds to me your putting all the blame on this child instead of being honest with yourself about the issues that are going on with your partner like you dont live together and your already arguing,he doesnt want any more children and the fact he wants you to spend time with his kids every other weekend which is understandable else how is your relationship ever going to move forward.

i wouldnt worry about it to much as i cant see your relationship lasting.

ElleAndBump · 25/01/2011 21:24

so if he found YOUR son awful would you abandon him to have children of your* own with him??????

Mrswhiskerson · 25/01/2011 21:09

I have read the other thread and it does change things a bit , I still think you could have worded things differently , I would go for counselling as you could have depression or issues you need resolving and from the other thread you sound very unhappy . There is a lot of help out there see your gp to help take the first steps .good luck

duchesse · 25/01/2011 20:41

After reading the OP of that other thread I wonder whether the OP has some undiagnosed PND or MH issues stemming from childhood. If you read that OP, much of the same words are echoed here regarding the child's behaviour and demeanour. I wonder whether the OP was herself the victim of some spectacularly poor parenting.

The thing is OP that you cannot expect children to give anything back. What you gain from them is not intelligence conversation or twinkliness or entertainment value, any more than in a civilised country they exist to provide labour. They do not exist for our convenience, they exist for themselves. We merely look after them while they still unable to look after themselves, and hope to have fun along the way. If loved most children will be entertaining and loving, but you cannot expect them to be so.

I think that maybe you need some counselling about your role as a parent OP and address those underlying issues. I feel sorry for you as well as for your children and boyfriend's children now.

bubblewrapped · 25/01/2011 20:25

Well.... after reading the other thread, all I can say is how sorry I feel for that poor unloved little boy. I sincerely hope he gets love and affection from someone in his life because it certainly wont be from Iris, who is quite possibly one of the most self centred individuals I have come across on these boards.

cumfy · 25/01/2011 20:10

You sound from the other thread like you have a significant alcohol dependance.

Whilst you frequently accept you are miserable, you seem completely blind to the fact that this affects others.

When you see humorless, rude, unhuggable, malign people in your DS and DSD you are looking directly into a mirror.

Angelmist · 25/01/2011 16:20

You all need to sit down and talk.

Just for the record, having your own is no guarantee you'll like them any better or you'll get on with them any better.

Your husband needs to work with you on this otherwise the future could be very short as a family.

GabbyLoggon · 25/01/2011 16:14

sometime extreme harsh feelings last but on occasions they fade away. Good luck "Gabby"

mathanxiety · 25/01/2011 15:23

Babyheave, thank you for the link. It's clear to me that IrisM thinks love is a magical feeling (not a verb which it should be as was so eloquently pointed out by Bumpsadaisie) and that a relationship with a child should fill some void in her, basically a one way street, something she is entitled to, and entitled to feel angry and resentful about if it doesn't magically appear to transform her life.

IrisM, children don't have to like you. You are not entitled to their affection. They are not there to meet some need of yours.

You have no right to pour scorn and hatred upon them when they refuse to play the role you have assigned to them.

You are not thinking or feeling or behaving like an adult. You are not interested in a discussion of uncomfortable subjects either. You seem to have a hard time accepting that everyone doesn't have to like you. You are engaged in a sulk, a slow burning tantrum.

Your problem lies in your relationship with this weasly man who has blamed his DD for his own decision not to have any more children (with you), who used weasel words like 'complicated' to explain past events and relationships, and whom you have put between a rock and a hard place.

Stop scapegoating this child and deflecting your anger from what should be the real focus, and stop thinking this child, or any child for that matter, should fill your emotional needs.

monkeyflippers · 25/01/2011 15:04

Also in the thread when you said your DS was charmless you later added all these cute and funny things that he does. It's like part of you was blocking that out and just focusing on the negatives about him. Is that how you are generally?

By the way, how is that problem with you DS now?

monkeyflippers · 25/01/2011 15:02

Reading that other thread where she said she didn't love her child completely changes things. I can't help but wonder if that's just how she feels about all children. She described her own as charmless and her SD as humourless. (not critisising all parents who don't feel love for their kids, just that reading that one and this on together changes things)

I think you OP need to get some help. Counselling or something. You seem to have strange ideas and expectations of children. Maybe this is something you can learn and change?

JamieLeeCurtis · 25/01/2011 15:01

monkey-flippers. yes, distressing

Iris - if you are still reading God knows what this is bringing up for you. I hope your relationship with your DS is better now.

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726 · 25/01/2011 14:58

How long has DP actually been your partner, OP? You say that you've known them for many years. Are you actually a proper couple?

It might sound a really strange question but, I was friends with somebody in school whose widowed dad used to get regular visits from a woman in the street... she used to refer to my friend as her 'stepdaughter'... Shock

If you've been friends for this many years, you ought to have some accord in whatever relationship you have... you don't seem to have this at all and it sounds as if you DP doesn't see you in his family's future... that's how it reads to me from your posts anyway.

You might think that this girl doesn't know how you feel but unless you are an extraordinary poker player, she does - and so does her dad. This man's children are always going to come first to him and that's as it should be. He needs to find a woman who at the very least have genuine affection for his children.