To think the DSC shouldn't come today?

[PuddleOfOrangeJuice]

The (lovely) DSC are due round today but there has been a disaster in the house. We had a flood last week which seems to have damaged the electrics, as of last night the built in cooker and hob don't work nor do any of the lights in the house. Only the plug sockets work.

The lights aren't an issue as it's summer but we have no way of cooking them a hot meal and I can see that being something their mum will gripe about.

An electrician is due round today but there's no guarantee it will be sorted by the time they come.

A builder is also due round this afternoon to examine and measure up building work that is to be done upstairs.

On top of that I'm having the period from hell and am terribly stressed.

Juggling all this with my two here is difficult enough and if my DM were available I would be asking her if she could mind them for me. With everything going on in the house I think juggling 4 children will be hard today.

I haven't said this to DH as I don't want to interrupt the DSC routine, but AIBU to think perhaps he should rearrange today?

My local boots always has feminax ultra- maybe try a local pharmacy

Yabu they are part of the family. Just dish up quiche & salad or get a takeaway for tea. It's baking hot, cold food is fine

Sorry you’re feeling so miserable, but you’d have to battle through if they were your own DC’s. The fact they’re DSC’s shouldn’t make a difference.

Part of normal family life is sometimes a member isn’t feeling well. You don’t have to push yourself more than if the step kids weren’t there. Steal whatever moments of time with the hot water bottle that you can.

Oh an idea - if you have a supermarket nearby, many have reopened the hot chicken counters, plus bread and salad. Morrison's has hot potato wedges too

Get your DH to step up & take some of pressure off. Hot meal is not needed on a hot day but if it is a must, get a takeaway. It isn't fair o. Kids to cancel at short notice...you are telling them they are not a priority....

okiedokieme Thu 25-Jun-20 13:51:05
Oh an idea - if you have a supermarket nearby, many have reopened the hot chicken counters, plus bread and salad. Morrison's has hot potato wedges too
......
Excellent idea or a takeaway or frozen lasagne.

I feel sorry for you and can tell you are overwhelmed, I probably would be too. However the children are important. Get your husband to step up. Hopefully all your electrical problems will be sorted tomorrow.

Good luck.

I'm on the sofa with a hot water bottle at the minute but will have to make myself lively when they come as I would feel rude going to lay down in the bedroom and not joining in with the day. I have endometriosis but I appreciate that's my problem and nobody else's.

Not rude at all. Let him look after his own kids!

Don't feel rude, you are family. Say Hi & that you don't feel well & lucky them cos Daddy will do it all today. Seriously, let him look after his children, they might all enjoy it....even him! 🤣

They have two other parents, tell them they'll have to cope. Not your kids, not your problem.

Do you have a tent? Maybe make it fun and camp in the garden and get takeout pizza so they can still see their Dad?

A step child is for life, not just for when it’s convenient or when you can be bothered.

@icansmellburningleaves

A step child is for life, not just for when it’s convenient or when you can be bothered.

Isn’t that ‘just for Christmas?’ Oh wait that’s puppies 😬

Awww glad they will be ok with a picnic

You sound lovely OP and glad things are dropping into place for you

A step child is for life, not just for when it’s convenient or when you can be bothered.

It's perfectly clear that OP's main misguidedconcern is for her DSC and that they'd be bored without her usual interaction and lacking the hot meal their mum thinks is so vitally important. How on earth did you take from her post that she can't be bothered? Oh yeah, because she's a step mum so deep down she must hate her DSC really.

I can always be bothered with them, I do my best to make every visit fun and something they look forward to. I put more thought into it than DH come to think of it.

They've never been made to feel anything less than completely welcome and they know that this is their home too.

This is the the only time I have ever queried whether it would be best if the day was swapped, for their sake as much as my own.

As I said on a previous page ideally my DM would have been able to take my two today for a few hours so the electrician/builder could crack on and I wouldn't need to chase them about. It wasn't that I just didn't want the DSC round. I wanted it to be manageable and didn't think it would be what with my two, the other two, a builder and electrician coming to do work and 70 percent of the electricity not working.

Everything is fine now and has gone well. The electrician has been, that's fixed.

The children sat patiently for that to be sorted and now they've gone for a picnic with DH.

Glad to hear it OP, I hope you are feeling better.

Sounds good, OP

"Most of us don’t get the opportunity to send our children elsewhere when shit happens,"

You are not their mum - as stepmothers keep being told here -
so their father should feed and entertain them, especially when you are feeling ill and stressed.

You sound like a lovely stepmum .

But you're their stepmum, you don't have to do anything except make them feel welcome (as family members, not guests).... It's their parents' responsibility to care/feed/entertain (and your DH should look after yours if you're feeling unwell). You can say, 'nice to see you, but everything's a bit of a disaster and I'm not feeling well so going to love you and leave you' and crawl back into bed. It's nice that you do so much with them normally, but it's not an obligation.

Glad all turned out well