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Step-parenting

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I’m starting to dislike my step daughter

201 replies

Ashlea22 · 21/01/2022 02:36

Warning long post!!

So me and my partner have been together 7 years, he has 2 (11.13) from previous relationship (split when both children were under 2) we also have 3 together. We have the girls 50/50 split with their mum and since the day I met them, his eldest has taken a dislike to me.

I am in my late 20s much younger than their mum, so I’m unsure if that’s perhaps part of the problem. She’s obsessed with her dad that’s only way to say it, but he’s literally the best thing since sliced bread to her and can’t do any wrong. So originally I assumed you know, evil step mum taking dad away narrative is normal maybe for young kids?

Her behaviour towards me I’ve put up with it for so long now, I feel like I can’t! She screams at me constantly, I mean screams! In my face in front of my family, friends it doesn’t matter who. Its always been this way, I stopped tidying for her room because she would go mental that I touched her things.

She will come in the door il say hiya or ask her how she is, immediately she will start screaming at me so now I say nothing at all, if I sit in front of the car beside her dad she’ll refuse to get into car start shouting and crying till I move. If I sit next to her dad she’ll physically try to push me out the seat and starts an argument, over past few years she’s started to swear at me.

Bad words like I’ve never called anyone half the things she calls me daily, I regularly get called a bitch, asshole, witch, horrible, I get told to fuck off, or worse once to go die. She has slammed doors actually on me, pushed me, once she slapped my back as I was leaving her room, she puts horrible tik toks up about me, she tells people I abuse the pets and her, that I don’t feed her(we actually almost weigh the same so when she is pushing me she is strong).

She says I ignore her, that she doesn’t get anything, she says the most horrific things about me and to me, she has called me a retard because I have an impairment. She’ll tell her mum these stories that are just lies about things that I’ve done or said she must think I’m a monster!

She also said horrific things about her mums new boyfriend what he was supposedly doing, that I had to talk to her mum/dad because I was so worried about it. later she said I made it all up, Her sister had heard her telling me so thankfully told them I was saying the truth. She says things like she wishes her dad would cheat on me so I’d leave.

on the contrast her sister spends more time with me than her dad (not saying she’s a saint all time just a typical kid who has moments) but she looks forward to seeing me spending time with me etc.

Example 12th birthday I spent hundreds of pounds and hours doing up her room, so when she went to secondary it would be nice. She picked everything she wanted, she told me how she wanted it and I did it exactly like that. When she seen it for first time she took a huge tantrum screaming, swearing I was so upset.

For her 13th she insisted she didn’t want a party then morning of her birthday she changed her mind. I spend the rest of the day running around getting stuff for her friends, the cake she wanted, decorating, food etc only for her to lock herself in the bathroom and tell me to fuck off when I asked her what was wrong.

She is really mean to her all siblings, she will physically hurt them even being 5 and 3,3. She threatens them, screams at them If I ever try to give her into trouble for something, it results in world war 3.

It feels like I’m being bullied that sounds so stupid but it does. It’s so confusing because she’ll come tell me things she wouldn’t even tell her mum, she take takes my clothes, make up, she’ll ask me about boys etc one minute then next I’m evil again. I think she genuinely believes that she has a bad life.

All birthday Christmas presents/parties I do it comes from me and she knows that so will tell me what she wants, then call me a bitch later that night. All days out/holidays are me, I always do stuff for the kids, I try really hard for them all of them. I would never get one with out the other. I feel like I’m the only one that find it actually really wrong that a child is even allowed to talk to someone like that!

I’m not saying I’m perfect because I’m not, I was young when I met them I probably made loads of mistakes which is why this has happened. I’m in a house of 5 kids so there are many times over the years when I have just snapped, been grumpy or I have lost it and stormed out because I’m sick of it. Everyone says to me they’d of left by now how do I put up with it, that the worst thing I done to her was just be with her father.

What upsets me most is my kids have started to copy the way she treats me and they have started swearing at me to get what they want ,says I’m horrible, a bad mum that they hate me too.

I’ve tried and tried so many times to talk to my partner about it, even though he agrees she shouldn’t be doing that nothings done apart from a shouting match between him/her. It will normally end in an argument between me and him, I’m literally at the point of leaving only thing that worries me is her behaviour towards the kids.

(Worth noting she confided in me that she was depressed a few years back, which is why I think I’ve sort of took it on the chin most time with her outbursts. I tried to get her mum and dad to get her into counselling, made doctors appointments, anxiety treatment, I’m only one who kept pushing for her to get help. I feel sorry for her if she feels like that as I’ve had mental health issues, I love her but she’s making me dislike her. if that makes sense, which is a horrible thing to say and makes me sad even writing it)

OP posts:
aSofaNearYou · 23/01/2022 14:32

@Tattler2 Nobody agrees with you that behaviour is only abusive, or even a problem, unless the physically force people to obey them, and frankly you are not going to win the argument that the offensive thing here is women receiving help and support for the abuse they face in life. It is astounding to me that you haven't accepted that after how many times you have tried to express that same opinion on here and been met with shock and repulsion by different posters each time.

Abuse is far more complex than just forcing people to do things. You just don't give a shit about anything that isn't solely focused on children not having a choice in life. That is the only thing you ever care about on here.

Flocon · 23/01/2022 14:37

I find it so offensive that women are so often presented as victims in situations where the have actual agency and simply fail to exert it. I find it offensive that victims are told they should just exert their agency. It's not as easy as that.

Kanaloa · 23/01/2022 14:42

I find it so offensive that women are so often presented as victims in situations where the have actual agency and simply fail to exert it.

So basically nobody can ever be abused except the profoundly disabled and small children under age 5, because anyone else could immediately draw attention to the abuse.

Nobody with ‘agency’ to tell someone or to stand up and leave can ever ever suffer abuse.

Or possibly humans are complex and people stay in abusive situations (such as those of a young woman encouraged to give up work to care for her older husband’s children so he can start a dream job and dismissed when she complains that this child is too challenging) for all sorts of reasons.

Flocon · 23/01/2022 14:46

@Kanaloa

I find it so offensive that women are so often presented as victims in situations where the have actual agency and simply fail to exert it.

So basically nobody can ever be abused except the profoundly disabled and small children under age 5, because anyone else could immediately draw attention to the abuse.

Nobody with ‘agency’ to tell someone or to stand up and leave can ever ever suffer abuse.

Or possibly humans are complex and people stay in abusive situations (such as those of a young woman encouraged to give up work to care for her older husband’s children so he can start a dream job and dismissed when she complains that this child is too challenging) for all sorts of reasons.

Exactly. Please read this @Tattler2. People aren't robots with binary simple decisions to make.
candlelightsatdawn · 23/01/2022 14:51

I find it so offensive that women are so often presented as victims in situations where the have actual agency and simply fail to exert it.

I find it offensive when people victim blame and start saying you should have done x or y and completely ignore the abuser who is usually the only one with the power to end the abuse in a abusive relationship.

Idk why I'm bothering tbh, this type of mentality it's so deeply rooted in sexism I just can't. Part of me understands this bull from men, I'm always so horrified when other women betray their own gender with this type of rubbish.

candlelightsatdawn · 23/01/2022 14:55

Oh and because I know some idiot will jump on the below.

When I say the abuser is the only one who's able to end the abuse in a abusive relationship, I mean that abuse usually lasts and continues a long time after the victim has left the relationship with their "agency" usually leaving escalates into life threatening situations for the victim.

It's never as simple as leaving. Period.

cherryonthecakes · 23/01/2022 16:31

What did I just read?

You can only have agency when you can see things clearly. OP was expecting replies on the lines of she's like that because you did X or didn't do Y. This suggests someone with low confidence or has been brainwashed over time to believe that she is the problem.

A supportive man would have organised help with his dd and tries to shield OP and the other children from this behaviour. Instead he turns a blind eye if he doesn't see it and expects OP to go on pointless missions like organising the last minute birthday party. He is a parent yet seems to delegate the parenting to his young wife.

The title of this thread is heartbreaking (starting to dislike?) and shows how little confidence she has. A lot of people would have ran years ago or at least made sure he was always there when she was but she is doing 50% of the parenting of her without the parenting power of getting counselling etc sorted. I can see how someone who lacks confidence would believe criticisms like "childish" He picked OP and I suspect her young age was a positive. He can't pick a young woman and criticise her for never having parented a teenager ffs

OP's age and kind nature/willingness to please has been used to try and paper over the problems that dsd1 has but that's never going to work.

Tattler2 · 23/01/2022 17:19

I am not saying that there are not situations in which women are abused . Nor am I saying that abuse must always be physical.

What I am saying is that the choice to enter and stay in relationships are always elective absent the presence of physical force or restraint.

A woman chooses to work or not. A woman who choses not to work is also choosing the foreseeable consequences of not have resources of her own and thereby giving up a considerable amount of her own financial independence and financial agency. The husband who is less than understanding in this situation is not being abusive. He like the women is acting based upon his opinion . in instances like this ,there is no abuse just poor decision making.

Please understand that this is my opinion. This is not some Oracle from on high. I really don't care how many people agree or disagree with me. It is just my opinion and assessment of the situation as it has been described. This opinion relates to this situation and is not an essay on abuse.

I do believe that we do women a great disservice when we see them experiencing the eminently foreseeable outcomes of their own freely elective decisions and try to then turn them into victims. We celebrate their decisions when the outcomes are positive, but then try to make them victims when they experience the foreseeable negative outcomes. In real life, people of character own and accept responsibility for their freely made decisions.

aSofaNearYou · 23/01/2022 17:44

@Tattler2 Yes we all know your opinions on women who don't work and how much it impedes your ability to show empathy towards them.

winnieanddaisy · 23/01/2022 17:59

Your partner complains that you don't do enough for him? What does he do for you? It sounds as though he does no parenting at all . Does he cook ? Does he clean ? Does he give you a day off from parenting ? I bet you do all the coking , laundry, cleaning and childcare .
You need to leave this shit husband and get your own place and take your 3 youngest with you . Look into getting a job . Search to see what benefits you would be able to claim . I believe the are parties such as womens aid etc that can advise you in how to get assistance in leaving your terrible partner and his even worse child . Please don't let them treat you like a doormat any longer . Good luck .

candlelightsatdawn · 23/01/2022 18:01

[quote aSofaNearYou]@Tattler2 Yes we all know your opinions on women who don't work and how much it impedes your ability to show empathy towards them. [/quote]
I'm losing the will to live here.. am I missing a finer point, I can't quite wrap my head around Tatters responses 😵‍💫

3Daddy31982 · 23/01/2022 19:43

@Mix56

"Refuse to have her"
This!
3Daddy31982 · 23/01/2022 19:43

@winnieanddaisy

Your partner complains that you don't do enough for him? What does he do for you? It sounds as though he does no parenting at all . Does he cook ? Does he clean ? Does he give you a day off from parenting ? I bet you do all the coking , laundry, cleaning and childcare . You need to leave this shit husband and get your own place and take your 3 youngest with you . Look into getting a job . Search to see what benefits you would be able to claim . I believe the are parties such as womens aid etc that can advise you in how to get assistance in leaving your terrible partner and his even worse child . Please don't let them treat you like a doormat any longer . Good luck .
Partner or man-child?
ReadySteadyTwins · 23/01/2022 19:47

What I am saying is that the choice to enter and stay in relationships are always elective absent the presence of physical force or restraint.

Sorry, what????

Someone who has been mentally abused to the point they have no self esteem, told they are so worthless that no one else would ever want to know them, so frequently, that they now believe this to be true. Someone who has has their mental health destroyed and conditioned to believe that they can't leave, because they are too useless to function on their own.

You think they merrily choose to stay in that relationship because there's no physical restraint stopping them leaving???

sweetbellyhigh · 23/01/2022 19:54

This is straight up domestic violence. It is illegal, never mind abhorrent.

You would be well within your rights to involve police.

aSofaNearYou · 23/01/2022 20:02

I'm losing the will to live here.. am I missing a finer point, I can't quite wrap my head around Tatters responses

I don't think so no, they're responses are always based around two basic principles - that nothing matters as much as the fact that the children don't have a choice in the situation or can be worthy of consideration alongside that, and that SAHMs are all lazy POS who should be grateful to their partners for keeping them.

candlelightsatdawn · 23/01/2022 20:50

@aSofaNearYou

I'm losing the will to live here.. am I missing a finer point, I can't quite wrap my head around Tatters responses

I don't think so no, they're responses are always based around two basic principles - that nothing matters as much as the fact that the children don't have a choice in the situation or can be worthy of consideration alongside that, and that SAHMs are all lazy POS who should be grateful to their partners for keeping them.

Ah right so we are back in the 19th century rightho 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫 Brillant
SpaceshiptoMars · 23/01/2022 22:33

I don't think so no, they're responses are always based around two basic principles - that nothing matters as much as the fact that the children don't have a choice in the situation or can be worthy of consideration alongside that, and that SAHMs are all lazy POS who should be grateful to their partners for keeping them.

Mmmm, I'm pretty sure Tattler said she was a SAHM at the moment! My guess is there's a bit of a charmed life narrative going on, because her folk sound all kinds of reasonable and sensible.

Also, in the USA, there always seem to be unfortunate people who work for little more than food, so if you're legally resident and want a proper job, childcare is out there. Maybe someone here can give some realistic UK childcare costs, for the enlightenment of our US colleagues.

Pritty · 23/01/2022 22:46

I saw Tattler once compare being a SAHM with the husband housing a homeless person who should therefore do anything he wants basically to earn their keep.

Honestly absolutely anything they have to say on any thread should be ignored by everyone. Ridiculous, outdated views that honestly don't even have any relevancy to the thread half the time.

Pritty · 23/01/2022 22:56

Nevermind your horrid step daughter or partner.

You need to get your children out of this hell hole. It can not be good for them to grow up watching their mother being treated this way. You cannot let them believe this is normal behaviour.

You need to leave.

candlelightsatdawn · 24/01/2022 04:18

@SpaceshiptoMars

I don't think so no, they're responses are always based around two basic principles - that nothing matters as much as the fact that the children don't have a choice in the situation or can be worthy of consideration alongside that, and that SAHMs are all lazy POS who should be grateful to their partners for keeping them.

Mmmm, I'm pretty sure Tattler said she was a SAHM at the moment! My guess is there's a bit of a charmed life narrative going on, because her folk sound all kinds of reasonable and sensible.

Also, in the USA, there always seem to be unfortunate people who work for little more than food, so if you're legally resident and want a proper job, childcare is out there. Maybe someone here can give some realistic UK childcare costs, for the enlightenment of our US colleagues.

So I will be amenable since I find childcare costs in UK just staggering.

This is south east (not London) full time childcare at a nursery is £1200 per month. This flex's by a couple of pounds here there. Also there isn't any your child's sick and you don't pay business, you pay for their nursery place even if your child has the plague .

For most women they have to earn 30,000 per year to break even for nursery costs and I think that leaves about £20 a month in the green over to contribute to the family pot. Oh did I mention average salary for a female in this area is well below 30k

Being a SAHM is hardly a privilege when your forced into it by finances. Then add financial abuse by your partner and your really in hot water ...

Anyway apologise for hijacking thread.

SpaceshiptoMars · 26/01/2022 17:41

For most women they have to earn 30,000 per year to break even for nursery costs

This is truly bonkers, isn't it? Also factor in £ for every $ that things cost in the US, plus our swingeing petrol taxes, train fares etc for the commute. Everything costs so much more here - phones, laptops, tablets and then the suits you need for work. I can remember a boss in a very shiny-bummed suit complaining that I wore a frock to see a customer - not professional enough for him. So - he got my best Paddington Bear stare, and I then went out and bought the full Maggie T outfit (£hundreds). When he saw it, his face was a picture - like a landed trout!

PinkSyCo · 26/01/2022 17:58

Fucking hell you need to leave! If you can’t do it for your own sake do it for your little ones. They don’t deserve to live in such a horrible environment. As for your partner he is fucking useless! How dare he sit back and let you do absolutely everything for HIS kid and do nothing about it when she abuses you?! You deserve so much more than this OP.

Sallylovesdaisy · 26/01/2022 20:57

Hope all is ok with you OP

Jmp62 · 25/08/2022 09:44

What she is doing is really toxic. Thee fact that she has progressed to hurting her siblings means her behaviour is escalating to a dangerous level. You must protect yourself and her siblings as what she is doing is unacceptable. It might be worth contacting the school and seeing whether they could implement some therapy for her. Your husband should be taking an active role in getting her to behave and not continue to just shout at her or dump her onto you. At the moment he is not being a constructive parent to her in that he is letting her get away with her dangerous behaviour. Unless he gives her consequences for her actions she will go through life expecting to be able to get away with treating people horribly. I hope you point out to him that unless he stops her toxic behaviour she is likely to be friendless and have a really tough time in the future. Your husband needs to help your stepdaughter understand that this bullying behaviour needs to stop immediately. If he doesn't do this then I would suggest moving out as he doesn't seem to take this bullying behaviour towards you seriously. I also wouldn't move back in until he has endured this bullying behaviour by his daughter towards you and her siblings has stopped. All the best for the future.

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