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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Who should pay?

115 replies

wellhellobeautiful · 23/04/2013 13:31

DP and I live together and his DS lives with us just over half the time. I'd say 60:40.

We're planning a two week holiday to a long haul destination over the summer holidays. DP is expecting me to go halves on all the costs but I don't think that's fair.

He also wants us all to share a hotel room. For two weeks I've said no way.

He thinks I'm BU because we're 'a family'. I just want my own bloody space and to enjoy the holiday I'm already forking out for.

Who is BU?

OP posts:
BegoniaBampot · 23/04/2013 14:29

if you are willing to spend you can have a suite, whole floor, villa or whatever but it costs. I'd imagine many have to share with their children (like we often did) and sit in the dark!

DamnBamboo · 23/04/2013 14:29

Dreaming chuckling at your pre-parent status holiday question.

Just wait until you start playing musical beds to get a good nights sleep.

When (and even less important, where) will not matter so much as blissful, uninterrupted unconsciousness Smile

WTFisABooyhoo · 23/04/2013 14:32

but that wasn't what you were asking damnbamboo. you weren't asking if OP would apply different criteria to her stepson as she would her own child. you just asked whether she would give her stepson money or not.

Dahlen · 23/04/2013 14:32

I don't think YAB at all unreasonable to insist on having your own space while on holiday. I am happy to share a bedroom with my DC but need adult-only shagging socialising area in addition to that unless it's just a night or two. Whether or not any individual needs this space is down to personal preference and your DP may have a different preference to you but that doesn't make yours unreasonable.

I do, however, think YABU to quibble over the 50/50 cost of the holiday. You are a family. If you're not ready to share the responsibilities equally then you're not really ready to be living together. If you were living separately, I would say it would be entirely reasonable for your DP to pay for himself and DS and you pay only for yourself, but as a co-habiting couple you have taken on responsibility for your DP's child as well.

In your shoes I would live with the 50/50 cost and rationalise it as a compromise - you are paying more than your willing 'share' for DSS to come along, while your DP is paying more than his willing 'share' for the privilege of a separate room/2-bed suite.

DamnBamboo · 23/04/2013 14:35

She hasn't got her own child, I brought that up because - kids ask for money, you make a judgement on many things as to whether or not you're going to give it to them.

It's whether she would at all (within reason) give it to him, but then mentally note to claim it back from the boys dad because he should pay.
That's all I was getting at.

mayflowers · 23/04/2013 14:36

I think if you're living together then you're a family, you should be pooling resources so it shouldn't make sense to split the cost.

I have a DS from a previous relationship, we went on an overseas holiday with my then DP (now DH) but as we weren't living together yet, I stayed in a room with DS and DP had his own room. I paid for DS and me, and DP paid for his own room. I'd been seeing DP for about two years by then so it would have been too early in the relationship for us to all be sharing one room.

We're married now and of course everything is shared, we're going on holiday this summer. The cost comes out of our joint account. In practice, DH earns a whole load more than me, so he's contributing more, but those details are irrelevant to us, we just think of it as household finances not his and mine. DS is a teenager now but we will still be in a shared room, I wouldn't consider leaving him in his own room.

You need to think about how much you're prepared to play a part in this family, I think it's bound to cause problems down the line especially if you expect to have your own dc as well.

WTFisABooyhoo · 23/04/2013 14:38

and like i said. it's a pretty irrelvant question as even with your own children, at any given time you could answer that question with any of those 3 answers and it wouldn't be wrong. it all depends on too many things for us to be able to use OP's answer to determine anything.

WipsGlitter · 23/04/2013 14:45

Interconnecting rooms.

DamnBamboo · 23/04/2013 14:49

You don't get it WTF that's fine.

I don't think it is irrelevant at all, of course you could use any of those answers (duh) - it's whether or not, all other things considered you then go their mum/dad and say I've just giver your son/daughter a £10, can I have it back please.

Really not that hard a concept to grasp, and is often one that crops up in step-families where there are issues with non-biological children.

DamnBamboo · 23/04/2013 14:50

No - you are not my child, you can't have money

Yes - yes, here's £10 go spend.

Yes - here's a tenner (note to self, get back from dad later).

WTFisABooyhoo · 23/04/2013 15:21

"No - you are not my child, you can't have money"

again, that's not the question you asked. you didn't ask if she would say no because the chid wasn't hers. you just asked if she would say no, yes, or yes and get it back off his dad.

and yes i do get it. it's still an irrelvant question because the answer (as i already said) tells us nothing about the OP, because any parent (step or biological) could answer the question with any of those answers and be right to depending on the specific circumstances at that very moment.

e.g. 13 year old has a hobby with dad that dad pays for out of his own leisure spends (mum has hers too, both separate from the family pot for bills etc, quite normal in lots of families) collecting something. he sees something for their collection while out with mum and asks her for a tenner to buy it, she gives it to him and gets it back off dad later on.

WTFisABooyhoo · 23/04/2013 15:24

or e.g 13 year old asks for tenner to go to cinema with friends, mum says no as he's had his pocket money and spent it, they have an ongoing issue with him spending it all in one go and expecting more.

or e.g 13 year old asks for tenner to go to cinema with friends, mum says yes as he has worked really hard to bring his grades up and deserves a break and a treat.

wellhellobeautiful · 23/04/2013 15:42

Thanks for all your perspectives.

I should have been a big clearer about the hotel. I would never expect DSS to have a room on his own. That would obviously be crazy. We haven't actually decided what sort of accommodation to go for. Hotels have been discussed as have apartments. But whenever we've talked about apartments DP says we'll just get a one bed and DSS can share our room.

We went on holiday for a week last year and DSS shared our room. Tbh it really spoiled my enjoyment. Creeping around in the dark in silence for hours until we were tired enough to sleep. Having quickies in the bathroom instead of nice lazy sex. I don't want to do that again.

I'm not sure how I feel about paying for the flights. I can see both sides. I'm lucky enough to be able to afford it. Maybe I'm BU about that. It's funny on here because I mentioned in passing on another thread a while ago that I'd paid for some of DSS's snowboarding lessons and half of his snowboarding holiday and loads of people were telling me I shouldn't have gone halves because he's DP's responsibility etc. Some posters were even trying to tell me DP was a user/shit dad expecting me to subsidise his son's activities, etc. AIBU can be weird.

OP posts:
SoupDragon · 23/04/2013 15:49

I mentioned in passing on another thread a while ago that I'd paid for some of DSS's snowboarding lessons and half of his snowboarding holiday

So why are you now thinking it's unfair for you to pay half of the family holiday?

NatashaBee · 23/04/2013 15:50

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

maddening · 23/04/2013 15:50

if you had a private villa then a 6 year old could have his own bedroom? Why is your dp only considering one bedroom places?

As for the cost - if you are living as a family you should pay as a family imo

MrsTerryPratchett · 23/04/2013 15:54

Decide what kind of family you want and make decisions based on that. If you want his DS to be part of your family, treat him like that. Therefore you decide based on him being your own. So, would you have a 2 bed if he was your 6 yo or a one bed? Would you pay for lessons and flights?

If, however, you want DSS to be your DP's responsibility and not yours, decide that, tell DP and act accordingly.

I think families don't work well based on the second scenario, BTW.

piprabbit · 23/04/2013 16:04

If you are paying half the costs, then it only fair you get a say in the sort of accommodation you have. However I think quibbling of who pays for DSS makes you look mean-spirited.

If there are compromises to be made and a 2 bed apartment is an option which you are happy with, then it would be unreasonable of your DH to insist on his DSS sharing a single bedroom with you.

TBH I wouldn't be keen on a two week holiday where I had to share a room with my DCs. Which is just one of the reasons that the last few years we've stayed in the UK in a cottage, it's not my dream holiday but it is better than the alternative.

wellhellobeautiful · 23/04/2013 16:22

*I mentioned in passing on another thread a while ago that I'd paid for some of DSS's snowboarding lessons and half of his snowboarding holiday

So why are you now thinking it's unfair for you to pay half of the family holiday?*

Because the response to my post on that thread was so unanimous that DP was out of order to expect it that I've been wondering ever since whether I should be paying half of everything (by that I mean luxuries, not food and bills, etc).

Also the other thing that gets to me is that although we have DSD a lot more than her mum does, her mum still gets CSA, CB and tax credits. So I feel like not only does she get all that cash that should by rights go to DP and DSD, by paying halves I'm also subsidising her greed IYSWIM?

Sorry if that seems like drip feeding? I don't mean to. I think someone mentioned CB and tax credits upthread so wanted to address that.

OP posts:
DamnBamboo · 23/04/2013 16:27

Gives up

Realises there some individuals who 1) don't get context 2) are just not that bright 3) really like to be obtuse regardless

Dahlen · 23/04/2013 16:44

wellhellobeautiful - this is the difficulties of separated parents and blended families. If you have your DSS 60/40 really your DP should be claiming those benefits. I'm guessing DSS's mum earns significantly less than your DP, which is why that's not the case, and this is the best way to ensure DSS has a similar standard of living between his two homes. It would be better in many cases I think to split benefits between parents based on the amount of time a child spends with each parent. It would save a lot of resentment, but would be horrendously complicated I suppose.

When you become involved with someone who has a child, you take on certain responsibilities to that child. I'm not going to judge you for finding that hard to deal with or feeling the odd resentful feeling about it. You wouldn't be human if you didn't. After all, you've been responsible enough to ensure you didn't have a child of your own before you're ready and your DSS has two able-bodied, living parents. Many step-parents think it's simply a case of moving in and making an effort to be kind to the child and do 'parenty' things like help with homework and reading a story at bedtime. Why would you think it's anything other if you haven't had children of your own? I know I had no understanding of the practical responsibility and emotional protectiveness having a child would make to my life.

But as you've found out, it's not that simple. It's situations like this that cause problems - where doing what's best for a child means that the step-parent has to make a sacrifice that isn't a sacrifice at all to the bio-parent because the child is his. Or when new children are added to the mix and there's a question mark over treating them equally (after all, DSS will then have three parents, three incomes, two homes, two sets of holidays as opposed to the mere two parents, etc, your child has).

When you move in with someone who has DC living with them most or all of the time, you need to treat it with the same seriousness as if you are getting married if it's going to work. You have to accept that your life is now inextricably bound up with theirs in terms of responsibility for all things financial, practical and familial. It's not the same as moving in with someone who doesn't have DC. That's because DC come first and that often means being unfair to the adults in their lives. I think you did the right thing by paying half of your DSSs activity costs. What should have happened is that you/DP paid half and your Dss's mum paid half, but if she couldn't afford it, you pay all with your DP because you are now one unit.

Unfortunately, it's very hard to really understand all this until you're living it. It doesn't make you selfish. It just means you didn't understand what you were getting into fully. Where you go from here is something you will have to negotiate just like every other blended family out there.

Floralnomad · 23/04/2013 16:46

I'm now very confused ,do you have two step children ?

WTFisABooyhoo · 23/04/2013 16:46

i get it it entirely. you have changed the terms of your point each time you posted. the question you asked is irrelevant for all the reasons ive already stated. adding new conditions to it afterwards means it is a different question to the one i responded to.

WTFisABooyhoo · 23/04/2013 16:48

is it a stepson or stepdaughter OP?

DamnBamboo · 23/04/2013 16:50

No you don't, I haven't and it isn't.

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