Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To be worried sick about my DS (18) and this girl who's dragged him through hell??

60 replies

SillySocks87 · 26/07/2025 18:57

Right I dunno where to even start but I’m shaking and feel like I need to just get it out somewhere cos no one really gets it. My DS is 18 and he’s been off and on with this girl since he was about 14. She’s a bit older (just turned 21 in June) and I’ve never liked her if I’m honest but he’s always gone running back. She’s just bad news and always has been.

He used to be such a good lad when he was younger, bit quiet but sweet. Then she came on the scene and he’s been off the rails ever since. Smoking weed every day near enough, drinking, getting into scraps. He doesn’t even really talk to me anymore and when he does he’s either off his face or shouting. He works as a mechanic (well when he bloody turns up which isn’t often) and still lives with me.

He’s not had the easiest life, I’ve tried my best. His dad’s not really around much and to be honest that’s a blessing cos he’s not a nice bloke, drinks too much and violent. I left him years ago for a reason. But I think my son’s always missed him in some way, even if he won’t say it.

Anyway this girl… god where do I start. She’s always had everything handed to her, her dad buys her anything she wants, she doesn’t work, thinks she’s better than us cos we’re working class. She’s always had something to say about how we live, what we eat, even the bloody telly we’ve got.

She gave birth to their first baby when my DS was just 15, few months off 16. He was still a kid himself. I remember standing there in the hospital feeling like I was in a dream. He didn’t even know how to hold her properly at first. But he tried, I’ll give him that. He really did. I did everything I could too but it’s hard. They broke up and got back together and broke up again and it’s been like that ever since.

This last month though it’s gone proper mad. She told him she was pregnant again and he was actually happy about it. Said he was gonna “do it proper this time” and be a family. I was shocked but said I’d support him whatever. He was walking round with his chest puffed out like he was a proper man now, telling people he was gonna be a dad again.

Then last night it all kicked off. He came in like a tornado, slamming doors, crying (which he never does), rooting through the cupboards looking for booze. Smashed his phone up against the wall. Turns out she LIED about being pregnant. She told him she “thought she’d get pregnant eventually” cos they was having unprotected sex so she thought he’d never know. But the dates wouldn't have added up and she thought he was too thick to work it out.

I don’t even know what’s going on in her head but she’s really twisted. My heart breaks for him even though he’s not easy to live with. He looked so broken last night I didn’t know what to do. We’re not even close anymore, I don’t think he trusts me or anyone.

And now… he’s back with her. After all that. Straight back to her. I wanna shake him. I feel like I’m watching a car crash in slow motion and there’s nothing I can do. He won’t listen to me. I can’t even talk to him without him getting aggressive or walking off.

I don’t know if he’s got ADHD or something, I’ve said it for years. He’s always been a bit wired, always on edge, can’t sit still. But he never got any help in school and now he’s too old to even bother with all that probably.

AIBU to just be absolutely heartbroken and scared for him? I’ve tried everything. I’ve sat him down and talked, shouted, cried, even begged. I love him but he’s not the boy I raised and I’m scared one day something bad’s gonna happen and I’ll be getting a knock on the door.

Sorry it’s long and all over the place but I just needed to get it out.

OP posts:
mumnet87 · 26/07/2025 19:12

She was 18 and having a 15-year-olds baby?

Screamingabdabz · 26/07/2025 19:14

So he’s had no male role model other than some drunken violent dick, but it’s all his girlfriend’s fault he’s like he is?

ConfusedSloth · 26/07/2025 19:16

Gosh, that is an awful lot.

This sounds quite similar to my brother growing up. A lot of drinking, a lot of drugs, some violence, definitely a temper, in hospital for doing stupid things while drunk. Barely any GCSEs, didn't do A Levels. It was me, him and mum in the house and the three of us basically never spoke to each other. I remember his 18th birthday when he went out with his mates and mum was so relieved - saying she couldn't believe he'd made it to 18. He had an on-off girlfriend (also older, also for about four years) and she wasn't pregnant but she lied about it a few times. Luckily, that relationship ended when he was 18 and then she had a baby just under a year later - not his, dad was known and on the scene, but she gave the baby my brother's first name!

He's now in his 30s. Long-term, happy, committed relationship with a young daughter. He has a solid, stable and reliable career in a field he's very good at. He's not perfect but he's just a normal guy - you'd have no idea that he went through so much and put my mum through so much too.

Ultimately, he could re-do GCSEs at 21, do A Levels at 22, graduate from a top uni at 25 and be a lawyer or astronaut or doctor by 30. And that's giving him three years to get out of the difficult place he's in right now! He's so young, he has so much time, his life isn't over. Just offer love, support and kindness - be his safe space. He doesn't need you to preach at him, give him hard truths or be blunt with him - he already knows everything you're saying but you don't feel like safety to him when you say it. So he runs to the person who makes him feel safe even though she isn't actually safe.

LadyMonicaBaddingham · 26/07/2025 19:17

An 18 year old has groomed a 15 year old. That seems to ne to get what has happened.

Newname71 · 26/07/2025 19:18

Sorry you’re going through all of this!! I went through something similar when my son was the same age. New girlfriend at 16… she convinced him that they should have a baby and get their own place. They even happily sat me down and told me their plans! I went apeshit and he fell out with me. He called me some terrible names and told me he hated me and I was a terrible mother for not supporting him. She did get pregnant straight away but had a miscarriage early on. I did everything you did, cried, shouted, threatened and screamed. It seemed to push him closer to her. In the end I backed off completely and eventually he saw for himself what a devious manipulator she was. They split up when he was 18. He’s now 25 and living with an amazing, driven young lady, He and I are incredibly close. So in short, my advice would be back off but let him know you love him no matter what. When you think you can’t take anymore, you can. When it all falls apart which it inevitably will, be there to pick up the pieces.
And fwiw, he sounds exactly like my son at that age…he has ADHD.

ConfusedSloth · 26/07/2025 19:19

Screamingabdabz · 26/07/2025 19:14

So he’s had no male role model other than some drunken violent dick, but it’s all his girlfriend’s fault he’s like he is?

Many people grow up without their dad around.
Many people are groomed during their childhood.

I'm not sure why you're making out that the first one is so much worse than the second.

Givenupshopping · 26/07/2025 19:20

I'm so sorry you're going through this OP, it's really hard when our teenage kids get involved with people who bring out the worst in them. I went through something similar with my DD, and life became a constant battle ground, until it got to the point where I literally couldn't cope with her anymore. In the end, her dad agreed to pay for her to live in a room in a rented house, where she lived like a scumbag, until she eventually met a lad who was from a decent background, and at that point, she gradually stopped all of the outrageous behaviour, and eventually married him.

I'm inclined to think at this stage, if he's not working when he should, he's likely to soon lose his job, so then he'll be even worse. Time maybe to tell him he either bucks up or ships out, and mean it. I know how hard that is, it broke my heart when my DD left, but some youngsters seem to have to learn the hard way.

Hatty65 · 26/07/2025 19:20

I'm stunned at the idea that a 17/18 year old girl who has everything could ever have shown any interest in a 14 year old boy.

It's very odd. What interest could she have in someone so much younger than herself? Teenage girls usually like older lads.

Fargo79 · 26/07/2025 19:21

Screamingabdabz · 26/07/2025 19:14

So he’s had no male role model other than some drunken violent dick, but it’s all his girlfriend’s fault he’s like he is?

I mean she's not so much his girlfriend as an adult woman who groomed and had sex with a child and gave birth to his baby. That's predatory.

It seems like his history has made him vulnerable to further dysfunction and toxicity. It's not accurate to lay the entirety of the blame at the woman's feet, but in this case she has played her part.

SillySocks87 · 26/07/2025 19:29

Yeah they was 15 and 17 when she got pregnant, already been on/off for about a year before that. She was 16 and he was 14 when they first got together. I didn’t like it then and I don’t like it now, but what could I do? I tried everything – spoke to her parents, tried to keep them apart, grounded him, took his phone off him, nothing worked. She always found a way to see him and he always went running back.

When they’re off he actually does alright. Turns up to work, sees mates, seems happier, even eats better ffs. But soon as they’re back on, it’s like he switches. She’s always putting him down, calling him useless and a shit dad, saying he’ll never be anything. And when they’re arguing or broken up, she stops him seeing their little girl. Uses her like a weapon. He’s only 18 and he loves that kid to bits but it’s like he’s got no rights.

And her parents always back her no matter what. They think he’s the bad influence just cos he’s working class and smokes weed. Meanwhile she’s doing the same and worse, but it’s all brushed under the rug cos her dad’s got money and thinks he’s better than everyone.

He does see his dad yeah but not regular and to be honest I wish he didn’t. He’s no role model – drink problem, aggressive, in and out of trouble, wasn’t there for DS growing up. So yeah maybe that’s part of why my lad is like he is, but that doesn’t mean she ain’t caused damage too.

I’m not saying she’s the only problem, I know my son’s far from perfect. But he’s been dragged through it by her too. It’s just a mess and I’m scared what it’s doing to him.

OP posts:
TheLivelyViper · 26/07/2025 19:32

.

murasaki · 26/07/2025 19:33

What is his problem with condoms?

I do feel for you, it must be a nightmare trying to balance keeping communication open with him while knowing this is fucked up.

IamGrout · 26/07/2025 19:38

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 26/07/2025 19:39

Screamingabdabz · 26/07/2025 19:14

So he’s had no male role model other than some drunken violent dick, but it’s all his girlfriend’s fault he’s like he is?

Well if he was 15 and she was 18 ( so The Adult in this relationship ) she was sleeping with an underage vunerable CHILD

Now using their daughter as ammunition, stops him from seeing his daughter and lies about being pregnant ...

She's no Mother Thersa is she ?

But of course , it;s the DS and the Dads fault .
This is MN <Face/Palm>

Strawberrri · 26/07/2025 19:39

Could DH and DS have ADHD.
Worth checking this

ConfusedSloth · 26/07/2025 19:39

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

What has OP done wrong exactly?

3luckystars · 26/07/2025 19:41

You have said you always suspected he had ADHD, what did you do about this?

Sorry you are suffering.

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 26/07/2025 19:43

OP-
your son needs to keep his job
He needs to pay his CM
You need to get something in place that he has fair and legal access to his daughter and that he doesn't create another baby with this woman.

Does he have mates who will give him an ear to bend and some advice because sadly , young men don;t listen to their mothers it seems .

JLou08 · 26/07/2025 19:44

Had he had any therapy for his childhood trauma? Many people repeat the pattern of toxic/abusive relationships if that was the relationship their parents had. If he would be up for it I'd encourage him to arrange some. In some areas a self-referral can be done to talking therapies online. Once he realises how unhealthy the relationship is for him and his child he may be more able to stay out of it. Childhood Trauma can also mirror ADHD symptoms so working on that could help with the other symptoms you mention, self medicating with drugs is also common so that may also be something he could address. Substance misuse services often look at the root cause of drug use to get over the addiction.

ManchesterGirl2 · 26/07/2025 19:51

Definitely worth seeking help for ADHD or trauma, whatever might be causing this, if he's willing to engage with it.

Also can you help him fight to get proper access arrangements in place for seeing his child. The mother shouldn't be able to block contact to punish him. It would give her less power over him.

Robin67 · 26/07/2025 20:04

Is it too late to report her to the police? Is this not statutory rape? Didn't the hospital or his school say anything or report this?

SillySocks87 · 26/07/2025 20:10

Thanks everyone for the replies. Honestly it helps just having someone listen, cos I feel like I’m going mad some days.

We did try with the ADHD stuff, he was always bouncing off the walls as a kid, couldn’t concentrate for long, always getting sent out of class. I pushed and pushed and by the time we finally got a CAMHS appointment he was 15 – but he refused to go. Said he didn’t need it and he’s still the same now. Won’t even talk about being assessed or therapy or anything. Just shuts down or gets angry. He’s never had any kind of counselling or help, nothing.

His apprenticeship is hanging on by a thread. He’s on his final warning now. His boss has been good to him, probably given him more chances than he should’ve, but if he keeps not turning up he’ll lose it. And once that’s gone I dunno what he’ll do. He just can’t get up in the morning if he’s been on the weed the night before. Sleeps all day and then stays up all night. Vicious cycle.

He don’t talk to any of his old mates when he’s with her, she don’t like them so he cuts everyone off. It’s like she wants him all to herself. It’s been like that since they were kids. Soon as he tries to get on track she’s back, love bombing him then dragging him down again. He’s proper isolated when he’s with her.

I honestly think she wants another baby. She told him she was “testing” him to see how he’d react to the news. Who does that?? She lied for a month about being pregnant and just thought it was fine cos they were having unprotected sex so “it’d happen anyway”. She even said the dates wouldn’t matter cos “he wouldn’t notice”. Makes me feel sick.

I’ve told him he needs to get proper contact sorted through court or something but he won’t listen. He says he don’t want to make things worse or upset her family more, but it’s already a mess. She won’t let him see his daughter half the time and uses her as a weapon whenever she feels like it. And when he’s cut off from his kid he always goes back cos it’s the only way to see her.

I know he needs to be working, paying his CM, doing better. I tell him all the time. But he don’t listen to me. I feel like I’ve lost him and I’m just watching his life fall apart. I’m scared this girl’s gonna ruin what little chance he’s got left and he’ll never crawl out of it.

OP posts:
SilverHammer · 26/07/2025 20:20

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Harsh.

K0OLA1D · 26/07/2025 20:23

Where is the baby in all this?

Givenupshopping · 26/07/2025 20:41

OP, when he's with her, is he still living at home with you?