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Can I please just have a rant about my husband and step son

133 replies

GratefullyDecline · 12/01/2022 11:46

And how much my husband babies him. It infuriates me.

My step son is 12, nearly 13, and is never made to lift a finger, ever, to do anything.

And it's honestly starting to really annoy me. When I grew up, chores were just part of life. My parents were never hugely strict but by that age I was expected to do small things to help out, tidy my room, wash up sometimes, set the table, that sort of thing.

My step son is made to do nothing at all. He's never washed a glass, set the table, has tidied his room less times than I can count on one hand. He doesn't even make his own breakfast before school my husband rushes around in the morning making sure he's got a bowl of cereal placed in front of him whilst he sits there watching TV.

I'm a SAHM and sometimes help out in the mornings. But I am now refusing to take him to school unless the weather calls for it. I'm not messing all the other children around driving a 12 year old 15 minutes down the road. At that age I was getting on public transport for 40 minutes to two towns away to go to school! I also refuse to sort his breakfast out too and if he doesn't make any for himself (which I shout down to him and tell him to do) then that's tough, we'll still be leaving.

His room is absolutely disgraceful. I have given up asking for it to be tidied because DH doesn't enforce it. But I won't go in there to do things now like change bed sheets etc.. there is just shit everywhere, all over the floor, rubbish etc.

I've just had enough and am now completely detaching. Whenever I bring anything up to H he says it's nothing to do with me if he wants to make him breakfast or whatever, fine no it's not (even though it still annoys me watching it), but I'm not going to be expected to do the same.

He says I won't be as hard on my DC when they are that age and I'll be exactly the same which is absolutely not true. I absolutely plan (and do already) to get my children to do some small age appropriate things around the house and I certainly won't be rushing about every morning making pieces of toast for teenagers! My toddler already knows to put toys away and things when asked.

I appreciate this is not my step sons fault, he's never been made to do these things but it's just making me resentful of the whole situation. I understand teenagers are lazy, I'm not expecting the world. But even if he was just asked to do some things, keep his room tidy or whatever, I'd feel better. Even if he didn't actually do it in a weird way?! At least I'd feel like DH had some actual expectations of him and how he treat the house if that makes sense? I used to pull my face at being asked to tidy my room and it wasn't always tidy at all, but my parents still told me to do it, I couldn't have just gotten away with being treated like a 5 year old all the time.

Driving me nuts.

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Coffeepot72 · 14/01/2022 09:52

OP should have done an AIBU and said he was her son not her step son. She would have got a completely different response.

Sadly this is so true

YetAnotherSpartacus · 14/01/2022 10:14

Yes, so true.

sassbott · 14/01/2022 11:59

@Tigertealeaves and keep at it with your DD. Those are all great starts. I doubt the older ones will pick up on anything as tbh why would they? Their lives sound pretty easy right now.

The lazy route is absolutely doing it yourself. It takes me 2 seconds to flush and I flushed toilet. It takes two minutes to locate a teen, get them to said toilet, tell them to flush and have the chat about how leaving an Unflushed toilet is disrespectful to the rest of the household. The latter is a ballache vs just doing it myself.

All of these aswell are opportunities for parents to organically teach their children and equip them with skills. Every time a parent opts to not take that opportunity, it’s a parenting fail. It’s just that simple.

My exp’s eldest DC (who absolutely knew better by this age) used my downstairs communal toilet. Left it smeared with poo (including the seat), it was gross. I refused to clean it and told my exp to find said child (as it was also likely they hadn’t potentially cleaned themselves properly) and gently explain that this is not how toilets were left, and that in the future if this happened, to get a grown up who could help clean it up. But in my book this was a non negotiable that a child of this age left a toilet in such a state.

What did he do? Semi snapped at me for not cleaning it up and then cleaned it up himself muttering ‘what’s the big deal?’. 🤷🏽‍♀️. Like I said, perfect opportunity to gently teach a child something quite important, totally missed.

If my children would have seen it, they wouldn’t have been quite so subtle or tactful. They would have immediately said (loudly), who left this toilet in this disgusting state? come back and clean it. Leaving said child exposed and embarrassed in front of everyone. Not ok.

But apparently it’s not his problem as a parent to deal with. Nor is it the child’s issue to learn how to respectful to a wider household. The accommodations should come from everyone else. It’s really messed up parenting and a form of the parent/ child asserting their own dominance and rules.

whistleryukon · 15/01/2022 22:15

I can't believe the amount of posters on this thread who have fallen over themselves to lambast the OP for not making a nearly 13 year old breakfast and driving him the 15 minute walk to school 😂 bet you won't all be so smug when he marries one of your daughters!

YourenutsmiLord · 16/01/2022 08:42

I always thought the walk to and from school was a quiet time before and after being locked with hundreds of others in school. Also meeting up with pals enroute. A good thing not something to be avoided.

RandomMess · 16/01/2022 08:56

If it's only a 15 minute walk to secondary I can't believe it's worth driving it and the bun fight for parking unless your DH is one of those drop of pricks pulling in somewhere dangerous or illegal.

Certainly not worth getting much closer than a 15 minute walk near the schools around here and it's not like I live in London or other large city!

Needresolutions · 17/10/2025 01:55

This is my husband exactly. I grew up on a farm and helped with a family business. We worked a lot as kids. I in no way expect my own 2 teens to do that much but simple chores around the house help a lot and my 2 usually don't complain. Pretty sure on the other hand my husband's kids have been coddled from birth. His daughter moved out at 17 and won't talk to her dad. She had minimal chores, but did them ok. Never talked to me or my kids though. Just sat there and starred at us at meals not a word. So weird. Probably 4 years of that. His son is now 15 and still has no chores. We start a chore and then he half way does it each time so its frustrating and his dad doesn't teach him. He's literally told me he'd rather do the chores himself then listen to his kid whine and complain about it or have to teach him. Yet Dad isn't lazy. Hard working man with good values and character. Wasn't lazy as a kid. Loved helping his dad on oil pump jobs and helped his grandpa farm and of his own choice. So I'm so confused as to why he refuses to have his kid help around the house. This has lead to fighting and me for the most part giving up on stuff. His son's room is a mess. He'll leave trash on the floor if you let him, dresser drawers wide open, you name it. Probably 5 pairs of socks in his bed. He sleeps with random stuff in his bed. I keep my home neat, tidy and very clean. My kids make their beds and their rooms are clean but I have taught them this. They do have some stuff laying out but not much. The thing that gets me is my husband is fine that I serve his son yet he doesn't expect the same for his son towards me. I actually have received a lot of disrespect over the years. He says I'm annoying and pick on him because I ask him to put a glass in the dishwasher or pick up his stuff from the main spaces. I feel I treat all 3 kids equally on all fronts. I buy them all things, clothes, take them out for summer treats, I even buy him stuff without my kids present. His dad also says the spot on the couch downstairs is his son's spot and I'm pretty much not allowed to snuggle with him if said 15 year old is here. I have to wait till we head to bed. I talked to him about this the other day again. I said he's literally 15. He can sit a cushion away and you still talk to him just fine. He said no I'm fine with it and thats how its gonna be. So either I just relent or find a new spouse. But this has been years of this. When kids aren't here he's a great husband. Just holding out 3 more years till his bratt moves in full time with his mom like the other one. So tired tho.

Butterfly1728 · 20/10/2025 10:15

I feel I know where this may lead. My SS is 27, has never left home and does no chores whatsoever. Good luck!

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