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Step-parenting

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What do we do now? Any advice so gratefully received.

21 replies

swift1 · 11/10/2007 17:04

Hi, I will try to make this brief. Dh and I been together 10 years, have 2 dd's. Dh split from his wife a year before we met, they have 2 dc's also.

THere has always been the feeling that she hates us seeing the children. WE HAVE ALWAYS TRIED OUR BEST TO GET ON AMICABLY WITH EX.oops sorry about that!
weve had the door slammed in our faces many times, and often we feel we have to walk on eggshells.

A few years ago we took them on holiday and it turned out that when they got back, they had made up lots of stories about what a terrible time they had had and told some blatant lies, one about me and what I had done to my ss. And they said they didnt want to see us anymore. Anyway , why did they do this? "because mummy", my ss told her, "you said you hated daddy and wished the lady that knocked him off his bike had run back over him". So she got to see then that the children feel she is not happy about the time they spend with us and feel they cannot say any of the nice things they did on holiday.

We couldnt understand why, after being apart for 11 years, that ex still appeared to hate dh. So i took her out for a drink, just incase it was the fact that she hated that her dc go off with a woman she hardly knows. She was very nice and insisted she had no problem with anything at all!

We have the dsc every two weeks by the way and in the hols.

So the latest thing is... dh and dsd had an arguement last time they were here, which resulted in dh taking them back an hour early as he was so angry with her behaviour. When he went back later with their stuff, ex declared that dss had said things ( that had not happened!) and was hysterical ( bearing in mind that when dh and dsd were arguing dss said to me "i love coming to your house - I say every friday - can I pack?"), and that dsd has said she never wants to see him again, and the door was slammed. No discussion, thast it.

He made no contact but went round at the weekend to pick them up as usual and she wouldnt answer the door.They n=knew he was there as he was knocking alot. He is gutted, I am gutted, and what am I supossed to tell my 3 yr old?

So now what do we do. Do we go to court with money we dont have to get access? How expensive and lenghty are these things. There is no doubt we will get access, but the point is if she is pissed off enough that we see them normally, how pissed off will she be when she is made to let them come to us? And how unbearable will it be for the children when they go home? And what if they say they dont wantto come to us anyway?

It s a horrible situation where we feel the children have to tell lies to keep mum happy. Its just surreal to think that we might not ever see them again. We are so normal - we take them back and pick them, up on time, we take them out, we love them, we haelp her out whenever she needs us ( but of course she only asks if she desperate as that would mean we would get to see them more). We just want contact, why would any mother want her kids not to have a relationship with their dad, I just dont get it.

Should we just leave it and hope they come to us when they are older? Dh's parents split when he was 12 and he saw lots of horrid stuff. He says " they have seen shit for the last 11 years, do they have to see it for the next 11?" And how awful will it be if we begin legal proceedings. It just seems even if we get access which we will, her problem is with us, or him, I dont know, and so the problem will never really be solved will it?

Thank you if you ve got this far. we just dont know what to do for the best.

OP posts:
ladymac · 11/10/2007 17:09

Your dh must not, under any circumstances, give up trying to see his children.

Write letters, phone them, send emails - whatever it takes to stay in touch.

How old are the children?

Anna8888 · 11/10/2007 17:09

Your DH should never have taken his son back to his mother's house an hour early after an argument.

That point alone makes me think that the way your DH treats his children is not quite right and that there may be more to this story than meets the eye.

swift1 · 11/10/2007 17:11

THanks lady, they are 9 and 12, . She has decided that we are not to see them anymore though, so there is noway she will let them have telphone calls or letters etc. Shes in control isnt she?

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swift1 · 11/10/2007 17:13

Hi anna, what happened was we were all out,very close to the childrens house, Dsd and dh had an arguement and dsd stormed off declaring she was going home. dh went after her , as he would not let her walk back on her own. she would not come back to t the car with him so we could take her back. she led on the floor in the moddle oif the street screaming she hated him. What choice did he have. she only got in the car because we said we were taking her home.

Should we have just let her go then?

OP posts:
Anna8888 · 11/10/2007 17:23

Why did the argument arise? Why didn't your DH contain it?

We never have that kind of situation with my stepsons. It's sounds really appalling . But if things got that bad here I can well imagine my stepsons not wanting to come here.

swift1 · 11/10/2007 17:30

It arose because dh and another adult were talikng and she kept interupting, as she didnt agree with him , although she wasnt even in the conversation.. HOWEVER.....she declared she ws going home after he made a comment about her mother - a major major mistake and Something neother of us ever ever do.

A mistake I know but I dont htink thats the cause of her not letting them seeus, we know she says stuff about us anyway. I think this was just a perfect excuse for her, if that even is the reason , cos she wont come to the door to tell us.The one time we slip up , we pay.

OP posts:
Anna8888 · 11/10/2007 17:33

Hmm, a mistake .

It sounds quite complicated though - as if the relationship between your DSD and your DH has broken down. Do you think they could see a counsellor?

swift1 · 11/10/2007 17:35

Yes a massive one, but the only one.

I dont hink a councillor is needed. honestly she does have a nice time with us here ... she said the day before " i love comin ghere its so relaxed".

Its just a massive mess.

OP posts:
Anna8888 · 11/10/2007 17:39

Please think again about counselling .

Both my stepsons see shrinks occasionally, as does my partner; he finds the feedback from the boys' shrinks very, very useful in measuring their state of mind.

alittleone2 · 14/10/2007 13:30

Message withdrawn

tigereyes1817 · 14/10/2007 19:52

Don't give up. We have had lies and still do sometimes but we know why, although we do not accept lies in our house we can not and will not get invovled what is said in their BM home. We know what is true and so does DSC. DH ex constantly causes bother for us and tells lies but we do and have to rise above it.
As for falling out. Never Never give up on them. They need more than you you know. Especially if BM is not being totally honest with them. You have to continue to go round even if you don't get contact. We travel over 100 miles and DH has had the door banged in his face on several occasions. And had to leave hearing his children screaming that they want to see their daddy. It breaks his heart but there is nothing he can do. And we have a court order. As they do try to keep the contact goign but if BM decides to not allow contact to take place although she has effectively broke the court order the courts do actually do that much about it. Possible ticking off if she turns up but not rarely much more than that.
It is very difficult and hard as your DSC are a little older so you have normal tennage problem on top of everything else.
Good Luck hope everything settles down.

swift1 · 22/10/2007 10:47

Thanks everyone....

Dh did go round to get them, but all curtains closed, car on drive. He rang but no answer , tooted horn etc. He has made his desicion to not contact them anymore, and hope they will come to find us as soon as they can.

His parents split when he was 12 and he saw lots of awful stuff. His view is ; What is better, for them to lead a happy life, albeit without their dad, or to see arguments and courts, and so much hate? He thinks they will be worse off with us in theire lives because of all the rubbish that goes with it and he wants to sprare them that.Like Tigereyes says, even with a court order it doesnt make much difference.

I have found this really hard. I cant bear the thought of not seeing them , we are a family with 4 children , not 2, and now 2 of them have just gone . Its horrible. And I think how they must feel . I know deep down there is no way they would want to ceaese contact with us. THey have 2 sisters here and a life with us too. And even if they do come to find us, we all eouldve missed out on however many years, and we'll never get that back.

I feel so helpless and I said to dh that maybe I should go round and try to talk to her, but he said that me going round telling her who she let her kids see is not going to help.

I saked him to go again this weekend at the usual time, and he said whats the point. Shes obviously not going to let us see them, as she was not there last time, and has not contacted us, so she will either not answer the door or open it and slam it in his face, and the kids will be there, and hes not puting them through that. He says it stops here. i can understand that hes doing it cos he loves them but its so hard.

OP posts:
themildmanneredaxemurderer · 22/10/2007 10:52

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

chocolatemummy · 22/10/2007 10:58

hi, I have been througha VERY similar time as you, me and m,ydh have been together 7 years and have a dd together and he has ds with ex (short term very turbulent relationship) not married and SHE LEFT HIM for someone else, however, after she had three affairs my husband and I had met and she tried to get him back and he obviously sent her packing. She has never got over this and has made our lives a misery ever since.
WE also took ss ojn holiday with us just afew week ago (my idea) and we went home early because he said he was missing his mum and he started playing up, since then we have had loads of allegations about me bullying him and starving him etc etc, ridiculous stuff.
She even phoned my employers and told my boss trying to get me sacked.(I work for s sevices)
WE have had to instruct a solicitor and she has writeen to her threaten a court injunction if she bothers me or makes any more allegations, her response was Well I get legal aid so this can go on as long as you like because I'm not paying for it , you are!

What IS it with these women, I have said i will no longer see ss anymore and contact takes place at my inlaws house one weekewnd a month instead of every other weekend.

swift1 · 22/10/2007 11:17

THanks. Chocolate mummy , she sounds just like ours.
Is he giving up to easily? I dont know. Bowing out of your childrens lives is not an easy deiscion to make is it? He adores them, and I know its breaking his heart.
If we called she wouldnt answer, if we wrote they wouldnt get the letters. He went there to get them and she wouldnt open the door. So if he goes round every two weeks, whats going to happen...will after several months she open the door and say "sorry about that , here you go bring htem back tomorrow" Of course not. She will either continue not to answer the door, or open it, tell him hes not seeing them and slam it again. And the children? Well, they will know there dad is there to get them, and that hes just on the other side of the door, and they cant see him. How will they feel? Is it right to put them through that.?
She doesn not want us to see them ang this latest episode with dsd and her dad is like music to her ears. How can we change her mond, short of getting on his knees and begging. And should he have to ? It wouldnt work anyway.

OP posts:
swift1 · 22/10/2007 11:25

Also , does anyway have any expereince of going to court for access? How long does it take, how much does it cost? Would the dsc have to go ? If they say they dont want to see us, would thee judge just say ok? THey are 12 and 9.

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chocolatemummy · 22/10/2007 11:34

we took her to court for accees in 2002
we had avery good soliciotr and it only took a few weeks and didnt cost That much really, we actually got a Parental Reponsibility order but I think you might have trouble getting that by the sounds of it, as she has to agree or you fight her for it.
Its definately worth having though
I think altogether getting PR order and access for every other weekend and a load of letters between our solicitor and hers it cost us about £700 max

swift1 · 22/10/2007 11:37

THanks - ive just been browsing the web and discovered, that the law states you have no legal right to contact with your children - only the legal right to apply for it. However you do have the legal responsibilty to pay for them. What a load of shite.

OP posts:
LittleBellaLugosi · 22/10/2007 11:37

I think family mediation might help you.

You can go to court for contact, but that's not going to stop contact being a nightmare. Sorting out differences via mediation is nearly always more successful than via legal means.

chocolatemummy · 22/10/2007 11:39

well if you and dh are serious about this and dont want to be playing this game for the next ten years or more then I would just go for PR order, that gives you equal rights to access and school letters reports etc and doctors treatment etc its well worth it

swift1 · 22/10/2007 16:02

Does dh not have automatic parental resposibilty then? They did get married , after the children were born. He is on the birth certifiactes.

Yes I think mediation is a good path, however as shes being the way she's being I dont think she would bve prepared to do it .

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