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Are any of you step parents to adult children?

11 replies

faintpinkline · 12/04/2012 20:06

I am asking as an adult step daughter.

My SM is 8 years older than me and has 2 children with my dad (10 and 8). We live a long way from each other (about 4 hours drive) but try to meet up a few times a year. Over the last few years I've really felt as if she resents mean wants to push me away from "her family" as she puts it. Sometimes she'll try to organise things which I can't get to normally for distance or timing reasons then try to make me feel guilty about not going. I made a special effort in the summer to invite them all to stay and she rejected the invite because she doesn't like cities. I always feel like I can't get anything right where she's concerned and that makes me feel pushed away from my dad.

We lead completely different lives. I'm pleased my dad is happy but I really don't know how to relate to this person who seems to sway between trying to make me welcome on one hand and bitterly resenting me on the other hand. I know it must be really hard for her too but does anyone have any advice from a step parents point of view as this is worrying me more and more. She tries I try but somehow it all goes wrong

OP posts:
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thewickedestSMinthewest · 12/04/2012 21:17

This sounds horrible, tbh I don't really have any advice. You'll find that the step mums on here (although we offload a lot!) are welcoming of our stepchildren so if you're looking for someone to explain why she's behaving like that you might not have much joy.
What is her relationship like? Is she taking other insecurities out in you?

wheredidiputit · 12/04/2012 21:42

I'm not a step parent.

But I did have a similar problem with mine. She wanted nothing to do with us. I don't whether it was because she was the OW or because she was the same age as my brother and 2yrs older then me.

I think the only way she could live was to make sure that there was a clear defined line. E.G. dad had a life with his children and their life and the two were never to be joined. To the point when dad died some of his 'friends' didn't even know he had 3 children.

Dinosaurhunter · 12/04/2012 22:06

That's so sad op , my dss is 18 and me and his dad have a 5 year old together , we have always maintained that they are brothers and dss is part of our family eg always inviting him on holiday etc ..
Maybe your step mum feels she doesn't know how to act and the two of you need some time on your own ? But sadly I think this happens quite often in step families , I have a friend with 2 step children and then the couple have 2 together but at weekends they are 2 separate families which I consider madness ! Good luck

brdgrl · 13/04/2012 10:11

I'm not sure I should reply, as you are seeking answers from people with adults SCs and mine are only teenagers! On the other hand, DH and I have been thinking ahead to the not-so-far off time when the teens have left home and started their own lives, and there are definitely worries about how that will feel for everyone.

You say that your stepmum sways between trying to make you welcome, and then seeming to resent you. Obviously, I don't know what her attitude to you is, but simply based on what you have said here, I wonder if maybe you could be misreading some things? If she is welcoming most of the time, and you are seeing them several times a year (which to me does not seem unreasonable given the distance) is it possible that you are seeing as 'unreasonable' or personalising things which she'd see very differently?

[Her decision not to visit you because she 'doesn't like cities' does sound off, though. Possibly there was something else going on there?]

I think the bottom line is that you live at a distance from your family. I do myself, and have almost continually since I became an adult. It is not unusual for people to move away from the family home, and I think it is a healthy thing, but it is hard. Can I ask if you moved away from the famly home, or did they? Once I left home, I had to accept that my parents and other siblings were sometimes doing things together that I could not attend, or that there were times when I could not make it to a gathering because of money, time, or my other obligations.

If your stepmum is deliberately and maliciously scheduling things in such a way that you clearly could not make it, time and again, that is one thing, but I'd also say that she (and your dad, because surely he is just as much to blame for the scheduling of events??!) isn't responsible for making sure you can attend every time. She is inviting you, and if you sometimes can't make it, I think that is probably fair enough. (As I say, if there is somethig else going on and she is truly making it impossible, then you do have a reason to be upset, and I would suggest discussing it with her and with your dad as adults.)

Your stepmum may also just be trying to get on with things with the other kids - not to exclude you, but simply in the reality that you are no longer a kid, and that there are things they will do as a family unit of "parents and juvenile children". You say you live completely separate lives, and if that is the case, that is clearly a problem that needs to be addressed; maybe there are things you can both do to make it more possible to spend time together?

DH and I have a much younger DD, in addition to the DSCs. My DH and I had a conversation recently about future holidays. He was saying how there was probably only one more summer when DSD would be coming on holidays with us, because then she'd be off to university and wouldn't want to come on holidays with us. I told him I thought it was quite likely that DSD would continue to want to holiday with us and her siblings! But I also think that DSD will have a 'life of her own' at university, and begin to plan holidays with her friends, boyfriends, eventually with her own children...in ten years time, when our DD is 12, and DSD is 27, will she still be coming on holidays with us? It might be nice, but I fully expect we'd be making plans for holidays without working around DSD's schedule and convenience.

I do know that we will have some conflicts over this in the first couple of years after DSD has moved out - DSD is likely to expect that if she is going on holiday with her friends, for example, that we will avoid scheduling the family holiday for that time. Whereas I feel (and my DH feels the same, I should hasten to add!) that we need to be able to schedule holidays in a way that suits us and the minor kids still living at home, and that if DSD is living as an adult and making her own plans, we can only go so far to accomodate those. If she is living at a distance from us (which seems very likely), then there is only so much we can do. I hope she'd always feel welcome and a part of the family, but the fact is that an adult child is in many ways separate from the 'at home' family. I'm not trying to dismiss your feelings, but I wonder how much your stepmum is entirely to blame for them, and how much it is just the sad circumstances of living far away (which for me personally is the greatest unhappiness in my life; I don't have child siblings still at home and I am sure that just makes it even harder, so I feel for you).

sportinguista · 13/04/2012 12:18

I am in a similar situation to you except that my SM doesn't even make me welcome in fact she has said she won't have us (me, my DH andDS) in the house! She is also very hostile to my sister and her DP to the point where they have stopped going round. Her children and grand children are however welcomed. I have tried to broach this with my dad many times over the years but he won't tackle it largely. It appears to be in our case largely over money as we will inherit upon his death and as he has never married her she will get only what is specified for her in his will.

I am also a SM myself so I can understand both sides of the situation and my DSS is also nearly an adult (although I have been involved in his life since he was 18months old). Conversely we always organise around him!

There are always tensions in these situations. I have often been made to feel like my SM's family are better family and that because I live a long way from my Dad and logistics and time off from work for both of us are a factor that we are somehow being difficult. I find that ignoring remarks of that ilk is the best way or making sure that you do organise times that suit you to do things and then she cannot say that you don't make time for them. Just make it clear that you have a life, it's busy and you're not going to be able to make every occaision but that if she asks you when you're free you're much more likely to be able to attend.

You also need to talk to your dad and make it clear how you feel. It doesn't always work but at least he'll know how you feel and that you will always make the effort for him.

Petal02 · 13/04/2012 17:46

Brdgrl, that's a superb post. I can understand where the OP is coming from, but her step mother possibly (and understandably) views her as an adult who's moved away and now has her own life. At what point should a parent (step or bio) be able to arrange their lives independently of their adult children?

emjanedel · 15/04/2012 16:12

My partner has a step mother who makes life a nightmare. Is very unhappy with FIL having a previous life. She makes everyone feel unwelcome at their home to the point where SIL and us refuse to go and wait till they come to the house. When she arrives at our house she sits with her head in her hands telling us how ill she is.

Eliza22 · 18/04/2012 09:11

I've been a step daughter and am now a stepmum. Actually, it sounds a bit wrong to say that as my steps are 18, 22 and 23. My dh and I have been together 7 yrs and married for 3 of those. I treated my steps "all the same" ie, was welcoming, didn't try to take over as a "second mum" (that would have been preposterous) and I thought if I included them, welcomed them, didn't poison them with my heinous cooking and was just friendly in a not-over-the-top kind of way, all would be well. Not so. My 23 yr old dad has been a delight and I always look forward to her visiting. I like and admire her, very much. My 22 yr old dss was wary at first but was always great with my own ds (11) and we now have a lovely family time on his visits or if we go to see him. The 18 yr old resented me from the off. Was dreadful actually, but being younger, we made allowances. I have done nothing wrong but "exist" ( and I was not the OW......I came along after their mum's affair which ended the marriage). She now will not visit us and barely speaks/texts her dad. He is upset by this but has no idea how to handle it as he says, I treated his all the same and it's just HER and she won't ever "like" me because frankly, she doesn't like dad having a girlfriend/wife.

It could be just a personality thing with you two? Don't try so hard, is my advice. And as BRDGRL says, living at a distance is well, just hard. I'm sad for you. Sad for her. Sad for your dad, too. I hope that over time, this will improve again for you.

Eliza22 · 18/04/2012 09:13

Sorry, meant to type "my 23 yr old dsd". Not dad!

Smum99 · 18/04/2012 10:23

Do you know what relationship she has with her dad? I'm just wondering if she assumes that as you're an adult you don't need to have much of a relationship with your dad..based on her experience.

How do you get on with your dad? I would encourage you to develop this relationship - emails, texts and calls.

I did pickup on this - "she'll try to organise things which I can't get to normally for distance or timing reasons then try to make me feel guilty about not going".

The distance prevents you for going, fair enough, but does she make you feel guilty or is she disappointed? Could it be that she feels you don't make sufficient effort?

Eliza22 · 18/04/2012 15:29

An excellent point [smum99]. I was kind of "let go" as an adult by my dad. I think he felt I was all grown up and didn't need him anymore. He was wrong.

For that reason, I always encouraged my dh to spend time individually with his kids, WITHOUT ME being there because, I know they need that. That could be perceived as my "not wanting to join in" but it wasn't that.

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