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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Am I in the wrong .

168 replies

Doughnutsarelush · 23/12/2022 07:15

Just need some advice here please . My other half moved in with me and my children . He has a child from previous who he has 50 percent of the time . My youngest has a severe weakness in her chest and is on asthma medication . Three times this month he’s child has came to my house when unwell and made my children all unwell and requiring the youngest to be hospitalised once through becoming unwell . On Tuesday child came round again when I was assured it was just a cough but child was very unwell , I had to try and keep my children away and my vunerable mum who lives with me . Child is expected to come here tonight and stay until tomorrow afternoon and come back Christmas Day Until Thursday, I am concerned about everyone becoming unwell again . Just for reference I adore my stepchild and do everything I can . Just wondered if anyone had some thoughts on what they would do in this situation . Thank you

OP posts:
xmaslurgy · 23/12/2022 09:26

Mixedupkids · 23/12/2022 09:16

Are you happy for your partner to get a place of his own separate from your home?

He has one

Doughnutsarelush · 23/12/2022 09:29

I do not confine my 4 year old to the bedroom , she has severe asthma when there is a flare up normally all she wants to do is lay in my bed and watch tv and me go in and read books etc to her . When you have more then one child I cannot sit with her constantly .

OP posts:
Mixedupkids · 23/12/2022 09:31

xmaslurgy · 23/12/2022 09:26

He has one

So he should stay there.. no point in everyone being sick. Focus on yourself and your children and your mum.
Don’t regret it later. They’re only children for such a short period of time. And horrible to think of but mum won’t be around ever. It goes by way too fast believe me. Don’t let things spoil your time

oviraptor21 · 23/12/2022 09:32

I'm confused. You mention that partner has his own place .... by air bnb do you mean he is renting it out to others?

Tbh a lot sounds off about this arrangement, the biggie being you funding the dss's school - no way should that be happening - that's between DP and his ex.
I do think that when you have vulnerable people in your household it's not a good idea to have people who come and go even when ill.
I'd be asking DP to stop renting out his place and to use it whenever his DC is ill. I'd also sort out your finances so he pays his way and pays for his DS and you pay your way and for your DC.

namechangeymcchange · 23/12/2022 09:33

Doughnutsarelush · 23/12/2022 09:29

I do not confine my 4 year old to the bedroom , she has severe asthma when there is a flare up normally all she wants to do is lay in my bed and watch tv and me go in and read books etc to her . When you have more then one child I cannot sit with her constantly .

What do you do when she catches a bug?

Doughnutsarelush · 23/12/2022 09:34

I don’t have many friends now no . When ex left even though I do get good maintenance from him though he doesn’t see them I had to up my work load to carry on living the life we were accustomed to living and I suppose keeping busy with that meant I didn’t lose my mind and I shut a lot of people out . My mistake.

Responsibilities wise erm on the nights we have stepson he comes straight home from work on the Monday and Tuesday and Thursday nights we don’t he will come back after gym , seeing family etc . Stepson here Friday after nursery until Monday morning he will usually take him out and do things .

OP posts:
namechangeymcchange · 23/12/2022 09:35

Have you had any kind of counselling?

Doughnutsarelush · 23/12/2022 09:36

@namechangeymcchange

No I cannot face it , they cannot give me what I want which is my son back. I’m just not sure I can allow myself to open that door .

OP posts:
Justmeandme19 · 23/12/2022 09:37

Is your step child going back and forth between the houses? Maybe it will be easier if he had bigger chunks at either houses? This would hopefully make it easier for you to manage the sickness and may settle it down a bit. I would find it very hard with having a vunrible child if my stepchild was back and forth constantly and often unwell. Least you can plan easier and manage the situation better.

Andonebelow · 23/12/2022 09:39

I don’t think it’s unreasonable to try to confine sickness to one household instead of spreading it to two, particularly as OP’s 4 year old has been hospitalised.

My SS came down with Covid a couple of times and he stayed with the parent he was with when he got sick. Once it was my husband, the other time it was husband’s ex. We also took SS when his mum had covid, and she took him when we both came down with it. We’ve also kept him here for an extra night when he was a bit flu-y, because we didn’t think the journey would do him good and he should stay in bed for his own health.

If that’s not an option and your partner has his own home that he could take her to when she’s sick, he absolutely should do that.

Doughnutsarelush · 23/12/2022 09:39

Stepson is with us Friday after nursery until Monday morning and then Wednesday after school and mum picks him up Thursday about 5 .

OP posts:
Doughnutsarelush · 23/12/2022 09:41

My issue also was he was taken from mums home to our house in the evening , they had got him dressed . He was unwell crying , being sick and I felt sorry for him and asking for he’s mum . When I’m sick I want my mum . He was in my bed that night with dad and I slept on sofa so he could rest peacefully .

OP posts:
Mixedupkids · 23/12/2022 09:43

Doughnutsarelush · 23/12/2022 09:41

My issue also was he was taken from mums home to our house in the evening , they had got him dressed . He was unwell crying , being sick and I felt sorry for him and asking for he’s mum . When I’m sick I want my mum . He was in my bed that night with dad and I slept on sofa so he could rest peacefully .

Why he not stay with mum?

lechatnoir · 23/12/2022 09:44

It all sounds bonkers TBH. In no particular order:
Why is DSS time so split up so he's back and forth between both parents 3 times a week?
Why in god's name are you paying for DSS school fees? what happens if you split up? This should be a very firm no but maybe offer to help with a bursary application if they don't have the funds themselves?
Why does you OH have an airBnB that he can go to? Is this his place that he rents out? TBH going there if DSS is sick sounds like a sensible idea but given everything that is going on in your house, I'd suggest you keep being boyfiend and girlfiend and at least wait until the children are a bit older before moving in together.

Newjobformoremoney · 23/12/2022 09:44

Oh OP. I’m so sorry (for everything)

perosnally in our blended household generally the view is if a kid get sick it stays in that household until reasonably well. We’ve done that with two bouts
of covid. I think theres nothing worst than having the travel (usually by public transport) while sick.

OP, I do think we can’t just be a atm for this man. I think you do need to set some boundaries.

I really hope you come out the other side of this ok.

Doughnutsarelush · 23/12/2022 09:44

I don’t know I was told he just had a cough , when he arrived it wasn’t just a cough . He was poorly .

OP posts:
TheOinkySplit · 23/12/2022 09:46

I don't know what I'd do OP, but I just wanted to send you a hug 💐

Doughnutsarelush · 23/12/2022 09:46

Regarding the private education , it was asked of me and I never want him to feel that I treat him differently so I agreed .

OP posts:
Mixedupkids · 23/12/2022 09:47

He sounds like a good dad being there 100% like any child would want and need

Schleep · 23/12/2022 09:48

Do you exclude/send away any of your own children when they're ill in case they infect the others?

Doughnutsarelush · 23/12/2022 09:48

He has 3 air bnbs and all I was thinking was whilst he is that poorly they could stay there . But from this thread I see that I am wrong and would be unfair to him .

OP posts:
Doughnutsarelush · 23/12/2022 09:49

I can’t send my children as sadly they don’t have a dads home to go to .

OP posts:
Doughnutsarelush · 23/12/2022 09:49

Yes he is !

OP posts:
Sushi7 · 23/12/2022 09:51

Doughnutsarelush · 23/12/2022 08:31

My stepsons mother asked me to contribute as her and my partner both went to private school . With my children going how could I say no ? It’s not a backstory someone asked why my mum lives with me and was he ok with it so I explained .

You’ve known this man for 3 years. Why are you contributing to his DC’s school fees and other expenses? He has a mum and dad that can pay. If they can’t afford private school then they can send him to a state school. Not your responsibility. Your boyfriend and his ex are using you!

Your boyfriend needs to move out with his dc. You have a lot on your plate and should prioritise your own dc, not a dc you’ve only just met. He’s living cheaply at your house and gets free childcare and free/low cost holidays (he only pays if it’s just him and his dc). He also managed to convince his gf of 3 years to fund his dc’s schooling when that money could go towards your own dc! He saw a vulnerable woman who was grieving the loss of a son, pregnant with another and abandoned by the baby’s dad. He has taken full advantage of you.

VikingsandDragons · 23/12/2022 10:14

Firstly can I say that I get where you're coming from, one of our children has severe respiratory issues, the first year had to be completely isolated at home (never went to baby group, met anyone except grandparents and our home nurse etc). RSV injections year 2 and 3, one lung as the other needed to be removed as it was so damaged, 8 pneumathorasis in the first 2 years, has had 3 heart surgeries, low Iga and MBL deficient, chronic lung disease, a mosaic form of a genetic condition affecting the lungs that is usually terminal within a year.... I get it basically.

With that said, what has their respiratory consultant advised? If it is complete isolation then that's what you need to do and in which case you're going to have to accept not living with a partner until your child has left home. We had to change jobs to work from home during the complete isolation period. If they're free to go to school, playgroup, a restaurant etc then there is no difference to your partner's child coming to your home. If you or their siblings go out to work and school then multiple people are going to bring back more bugs than one child? Are they on any treatment to mitigate the effect of common childhood 'bugs'? Our child has been on profilactic anti-biotics for 10 years now, as well as antihistamines to keep their lung dry as they have massive issues clearing mucus if they do get ill. However they also go to school, which despite also being a small class private the bugs don't seem to have a clue that I write a cheque for their education and they still come home coughing and spluttering every other week. So if they are going to school shortly try to look on the bright side and be glad of any immunity built up now as it's less missed school to come, it was really tough on ours to be out of school so much in the early days, but as time has gone on they are coping better with bugs and tend to only need 2 or 3 days off each time rather than 2 weeks and hospital which I think is just down to being that bit bigger. Without knowing the reason for your child's lung issues advice can be very different, however we were told when very small that lungs are very elastic, so the more they were used, the better condition they would be in, and advised 1-2 hours exercise every day. They found this very very hard at first, and we built it up, but now despite everything above they have a lung function capacity (depth of breath, control etc) better than 90% of children on most recent tests.

My thought is that you can't treat this child to a different set of rules than the rest of the family. Your house is their home just as much as their mums home. So while being younger they might be visibly ill a lot more than the adults, unless your child needs total isolation you can't really exclude them so reguarly. It's really, really scary knowing you have to expose your child to risk, but unfortunately for most of these children there is no way to mitigate it. If you really can't stand the idea of his child being around when ill then you need to permenantly live apart, not decamp if child has a bug, so that child still has two stable homes to go to.

I however agree with all of the posters saying paying for his child's private education is insane. Are you going to keep paying if you break up? That child has two parents who need to provide for them and make decisions in their best interest, but unless you're about to say your partner also chips in for your kids education so both are 50-50, or you won the euromillions so won't ever even notice that money, then this is quite possible the cheekiest of CF things I've ever read on mumsnet that they asked you to do this.