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Teenagers

Parenting teenagers has its ups and downs. Get advice from Mumsnetters here.

House Key

8 replies

tranfam713 · 30/10/2023 15:13

My 17-year-old bonus daughter has not been following the house rules. She has to go to school, she has to help out at the house, and she has to communicate when she goes somewhere. She has only dropped by the house for a shower in the last two weeks. Her dad was asleep. I have to tell her to go say hi to her dad. We have not seen her. When she is out, she ignores our calls and our texts. She calls just for gas money. We give her the money if she does a chore. She will do an easy chore when we are not home then disappear again. I have told her dad to stop giving her money. He is just glad she called him at this point. Grandpa also gives her money to do an online school. He says she will do what he says because he is giving her good money. I think that is enabling her and she's doing the minimum. Anyway, she told her grandmother she is staying with her boyfriend. She told grandpa she is staying with a girl friend. She is lying. She is smoking weed and vaping. She is not helping out at the house. She will not answer any questions about where she goes. She takes small things like her sister's clothes but still, they aren't her's and we don't know when she will be back or if those things are gone. She took my hair straightener that is expensive. She takes shampoo and toiletries to go live somewhere else. It has been about three weeks of this. I do not know what happened or what changed because it was the same time she stopped going to regular school that she stopped coming home. She doesn't give us a chance to ask or talk to her.

Yesterday, she happened to drop by when we were home. She took her shower and said hi to everyone. Then she said bye. I asked Where are you staying? She said "Grandpa has my location". I said "I asked a question. If you cannot answer, leave your key." so she left her key. I told her mom, her dad, and both grandparents about this one-minute exchange. Grandpa says I kicked her out and now she will never feel welcomed anymore. I say I set a boundary. It was her choice. The dropping by is an issue for me if you are disrespectful. You cannot ignore me then come to the house like nothing is wrong. And leave when I try to say something. And grandpa is not helping things. When she does something to her mom or to grandpa, we have always advised that she should apologize and make things right. Nobody is telling her to do that with us. Grandpa is giving her money to live out there and telling us to not bother her with questions. He should be saying apologize and make things right. Please advise. I am going to text her with something about You are always welcomed home. But in our home, we treat each other right. Something like that.

OP posts:
JustACountryMusicGirlInCowboyBoots · 30/10/2023 15:15

What's a bonus daughter?

BoohooWoohoo · 30/10/2023 15:17

JustACountryMusicGirlInCowboyBoots · 30/10/2023 15:15

What's a bonus daughter?

Step daughter

BoohooWoohoo · 30/10/2023 15:19

It's unclear what her dad thinks or what the normal contact pattern is.

Littlefish · 30/10/2023 15:23

What does her dad say about the situation?

AgnesX · 30/10/2023 15:25

Grandpa sounds like a troublemaker frankly. That aside, you were right to take the key especially if her father isn't stepping up. What IS he doing??

FairyPolka · 30/10/2023 15:27

Seems pretty clear that she would rather not communicate with you at all. Why is that? You say you’re thinking about messaging her to tell her that’s she's always welcome but it doesn’t sound as though she is always welcome as when she does appear, she’s given a chore or asked to leave her house key. Poor kid.

Newtonianmechanics · 30/10/2023 16:05

What do her parents think about the whole thing?

tranfam713 · 05/11/2023 15:19

Her dad is very hurt and upset but he still tries to call her to talk and remind her to have plans for her own future. Her mom and mom's boyfriend kicked her out two years ago because she could not stop and would not get professional help. Her behavior was really out of control then. She totaled her mom's car. She would sneak in boys. She would runaway. She would take pills and smoke in the house. At our house, there was a drastic improvement. None of that. She is staying quiet because she feels bad about moving out. She doesn't want to say it out loud. She doesn't know how to talk about all of this with us. And she knows we would say This is a bad idea. And he is too old for you.

She has dropped by three times since she left her key. I do not know what to say. I had said What could we do about any of this? She said our house is dry and empty. Yes. It is. We are very busy. Her dad and younger sisters compete in jiu-jitsu. We eat healthy, we do not drink/party, we maybe have friends over or go out once a month. We have family time as well. We will watch movies together, go to the park, or go out to get dessert. She says No to all of this. We ask her what she wants to do. She said A YouTube video. But her ideas are like "My dad boxes my ex". That's too much for me. And she said I cannot be in any of her videos. Did not say why but I was like Thank God. That's not for me. Also, she quit school. Nobody is here during work/school hours. That's 40 hours alone. We have had the same schedule for years. School, pick ups, gym, dinner, bed. So nothing has changed.

Get a job. Go back to school. Come to the gym with us. Go to the park with us. We have been playing pickleball. She does not want family fun anymore. She wants twerking, car racing, fighting, drinking and smoking. That's fun for her. And she thinks having a boyfriend who will give he attention 24/7 is the solution. A boyfriend is not the solution to those deep inner struggles. She said Her family is broken. How? I see her mom and their family doing well. I see our family doing well. She said She feels alone. She isolates herself. And refuses to join us. And does not include us in her life.
We went to Hawaii on vacation and she complained and threw fits the whole time. We were in paradise!! She was literally throwing stuff in the hotel rooms and kicking chairs in the airport lobby. By day two she was saying she wanted to go home. We were just ignoring it until she could talk. And she said "I miss my mommy". Wtf?! Mommy?? It was one week. She doesn't even visit her mom like that when we are in town. I had no words. Maybe she was just mad because she could not vape or smoke weed. And she does have issues. Nobody acts like this. But you have to realize you have an issue and do something proactive about it.

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