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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Stepdaughter and grandchild

42 replies

BakewellPud · 01/11/2023 20:33

I have a step daughter. She's always been distant toward me and never really wanted to get close, which I'm sad about, but accept its her perogative. I've always been friendly toward her and tried over the years, but pretty stonewalled/bare minimum effort. (Her Dad split from her Mother many years ago and so no issues there.)
She has a daughter who is 3. DH and I are Nana and Grandad to her and I adore her.

  • For context I have no children of my own.
Stepdaughter always sends loving videos and 📸 of grand daughter to other family members, but never me. Little videos of her saying 'Hi Aunty Claire' etc to her Aunts and pics and vids to my DH. She refers to our home as 'Grandads house' and so grand daughter has started to call it that too. DH gets annoyed and says I'm over sensitive if I mention anything to him. I'm a loving grand parent, but feel a bit sidelined, as though I don't reaally matter much. I probably don't because I'm not blood related. Maybe I am over sensitive. I suppose I'm just feeling a bit pushed out of the picture. Feel free to tell me I'm being ridiculous. I'm not sure whether I am or not. Pls be kind...
OP posts:
Testina · 01/11/2023 22:36

Oh and my own children had a step grandfather. Thinking about it now, I always called it “Nana’s house”. It actually was, legally. But honestly I did say that as I saw the primary relationship as being with her.

lwishyouwould · 01/11/2023 23:23

Oldthyme · 01/11/2023 22:27

Bide your time, be the bigger person. Shut down your disappointed feelings.

Just keep being the lovely step gran you are and ignore anything you consider to be a slight.

Your step daughter is displaying a subtle form of bullying. It happens with step kids but don’t let that affect the relationship the little one.

As she grows, she will come to recognise the loving soul you are and that will be your reward and really, all that matters.

How did you get to bullying? That's a stretch based on the OP's posts. Again, she doesn't have to have a relationship with her stepmother but it sounds like she's being polite and cordial.

CatherinedeBourgh · 02/11/2023 06:53

Actually this has just made me think about my own step grandmother. She was with my gf since I was born, did massive amounts of childcare when I was small (stayed with them when my mother went on holiday - she had two dc younger than me!). I loved her to bits, but never thought of her as my gm - she was 'her name', and my uncles' mother.

BakewellPud · 02/11/2023 08:58

Testina · 01/11/2023 22:32

I have 2 adult stepdaughters. They’re both lovely young women, but neither have ever felt the need to develop a relationship with me - I’ve know them 10 years since mid teens. We are polite and friendly. But nothing more. No depth to our relationship, though they’d also tell you I was lovely. I know that if their dad died, they wouldn’t stay in touch long term. They don’t see themselves as my family in any way. I am sure that they wouldn’t see their children - should they one day have them - as related to me. They’re not bad people, we haven’t fallen out. We just don’t (and it does both ways) feel like real family. I think you have to accept that if the mother isn’t interested in a close relationship with you, she’s not going to feel that her daughter should naturally have one.
Enjoy the time you spend with them through your husband, but lower your expectations for more.

This sounds very similar to my situation.
I guess I hoped we would all be close and one big happy family - but as you say, I need to lower my expectations as this is rarely the case.
I think sometimes I just feel a bit excluded, whereas I'm a very 'all inclusive' type. I'm friendly and warm by nature and having never had children of my own, imagined a different scenario playing out. Its probably my fault for having this fantasy expectation.
I do, as you say though, have the chance to build and grow a close loving relationship with my GD, so will concentrate on the time I get to spend with her.

OP posts:
roarrfeckingroar · 02/11/2023 09:20

Thing is though, you're not a grandparent, certainly not in her eyes. I think it's to be expected that she views the house as her dad's and directs photos to family members.

HickoryStump · 02/11/2023 09:24

Keep trudging on OP, as PP have said it's the relationship between you and her that will count. We have a plethora of Grandparents, far more than should be mathematically possible. Our 3YO DS has no idea who is and isn't blood (although we've both tried very hard to ensure that's the case). He genuinely has an individual relationship with each one that is unique to the Grandparent and their time with him. Our family history isn't all his and we figure the more love he feels, the better. If you keep putting in the effort, I suspect she'll respond in kind.

Montaguez · 02/11/2023 09:31

I call my parents house "grandma's" house to my DD even though it is also my fathers. I was closer with my mum but I didn't really mean anything by it, it was just easier and quicker than saying both names. My aunt/uncles house was always Auntie X's even though my uncle lives there too, or when my cousin's lived there I might have even referred to the house as Cousin X's (picking one cousin, although there were 3!)

Weirdly though, there was one place I always referred to as X and X's house.

I never thought about it!

Whether your step daughters DD sees you as a grandma is down to your relationship with her, not necessarily what her mum thinks.

Some people get really hung up on blood relatives and "real" or "not really" family stuff. I've cousins and aunts who aren't blood/marriage related, step grandparents (so dd has step great-grandparents but we don't say step), it just is irrelevant to us.

Dweetfidilove · 02/11/2023 09:52

Ktime · 01/11/2023 21:49

I’m sorry that sounds shit.

I think for your own peace of mind, I would take a step back, don’t be so available to them or be overly helpful or accommodating, let DH handle it.

Let DSD and DSGD miss you, you may find they will be more receptive.

This would be my method too.

She probably takes it for granted that because you’re desperate for a relationship with her and her daughter, she can carry on and you’ll just be there.

Guard your heart is my advice.

ColleenDonaghy · 02/11/2023 09:59

That's really tough OP, I'm sorry.

I'm not saying she's right, or that she's treated you fairly, but if I didn't have a close relationship with a relative then I wouldn't want my DC to either.

I think all you can do is bide your time, be a fun and loving Nana when you see DGD and build a relationship directly in that way. Flowers

billy1966 · 03/11/2023 23:27

Dweetfidilove · 02/11/2023 09:52

This would be my method too.

She probably takes it for granted that because you’re desperate for a relationship with her and her daughter, she can carry on and you’ll just be there.

Guard your heart is my advice.

Really agree with the above posts.

If she sees you as desperate to facilitate and accommodate them, it askews the balance.

Step firmly back with a smile on your face.

We teach people how to treat us.

By being less available you will show both her and her father that you are not to be taken for granted.

Raisinganiguana · 03/11/2023 23:34

how old is your dh and is he unwell? Seems like she’s preparing to inherit the house and freeze you out. Might be a good idea to get your finances in order

fucking hilarious leap

op I don’t think you’ve answered how long you’ve been in the SD life? If it’s recently I don’t think she’d ever see you as a grandma would she?

AndWordsWhen · 04/11/2023 00:40

If your step daughter does not have a close relationship with you or see you as family, I don't see how you can expect to be close with her child. That may not be what you want, but it seems inevitable.

Hankunamatata · 04/11/2023 01:19

I think you need to be careful referring to her as your granddaughter unless stepdaughter refers to you as grandmother

PinkArt · 04/11/2023 01:36

It sounds like you both see the relationship very differently. You see her as a step daughter but she sees you as her dad's wife, not as a step mum. It then follows that you see her daughter as your granddaughter, but to SD that isn't the case and you aren't nana. Was that a name you/DH came up with, rather than SD? It could be that she sees you as massively overstepping on both of those relationships if that's not how she's ever wanted them to evolve.
Could you step back a bit and see if treating the relationship more like she does helps? I don't know what ages you all were when you and DH got together, but I'd find it very difficult if my dad remarried and his wife started to refer to herself as my step mum.

Vitriolinsanity · 04/11/2023 01:51

Children sniff out the people they love and who love them back. Names and relationships don't matter to children.

WearyAuldWumman · 04/11/2023 03:06

5128gap · 01/11/2023 20:45

Your SD seems determined you are not going to be recognised by her as a GP. Probably out of loyalty to her mum. There's nothing you can do about it unfortunately. However, take comfort from the fact that your DGD is a person in her own right who will grow up to bond with and love the adults who have been a caring loving presence in her life. Carry on bring a great grandma to her, whatever status her mum affords you, as before you know it she'll be old enough to bond with you on her own terms, and I'm sure will remember the lovely times she's had with you.

This.

I was in a similar situation.

My late husband left his first wife when he discovered that she'd slept in the same room as a colleague on a work outing. He'd long had his suspicions.

She claimed that nothing had happened, though she wanted it to. Her emotional affair - if that's what you call it - had gone on for some time. Their children were adults and had long since left the family home.

The daughter's loyalty was always to her mother. Part of that may be because the daughter was the OW involved in the break-up of her partner's marriage to his wife.

There was an age gap between my husband and me. There was the same age gap between the daughter and her partner. (There was also an age gap between the ex and her affair partner - but she was only about 7 yrs older than him, I believe.)

When the grandchild was born [6 years after we married], the daughter announced that she thought that I was 'too young' to be 'gran'. (Thinking about it, she was in a similar situation with her partner's kids and grandkids.)

My husband suggested that I could be an honorary aunty. That was shot down. "She has plenty of aunties. She's got her Aunty [the son's partner] and her Aunty [daughter's best friend]."

So, after that I just held my tongue. We later found out that the ex's Affair Partner was 'Grandad', much to my husband's dismay. When the AP died, a bid was made to have the next partner as 'Grandad' as well.

When he died, we then heard that the ex had a 'friend'. My husband's wry comment was, 'Aye...That'll be another Grandad.'

Now that my husband's gone, I'm no longer in contact with them. I finally snapped a couple of months after the funeral (which they didn't attend, citing the pandemic). But that's a whole 'nother story...

I do feel sad about it at times, but it can't be helped.

Finishingoff · 04/11/2023 07:32

I feel for you OP as it sounds as though you really crave to play a motherly/grandmotherly role but aren’t allowed to. I wonder if you wanted children yourself but were unable to and so you have tried to pour these instincts into your relationship with others.

However, I can also see the other side of this. You don’t say how long you have been in your SD’s life but you actually aren’t the grandparent here and if your SD doesn’t have a warm relationship with you, I can see why it would irritate her with you calling yourself Nana (or expecting the same treatment as your DH). Keep the loving relationship with the child, but also lower your expectations. It’s highly unlikely that your SD will change so neither will the things that upset you.

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