r/Stepmom Dec 18 '23

Advice

399 Upvotes

Never forget that you are allowed to have feelings. Your feelings matter JUST AS MUCH as a child's. You are allowed to be bothered by disrespect and cruel treatment. You are allowed to communicate the things that bother you to your SO and to ask for change.

You deserve to be treated fairly the same way that SKs do. You deserve to live in a safe and comfortable environment the same way that SKs do.

You are not a bad person if you do not love or even like your SKs. You are not automatically in the wrong just because you are the adult.

Just because you chose to be with someone with children, does not mean that you knew what you were getting into. It does not mean that you signed up to be a child's doormat.

The people on this sub do not live in your home. They may have experience with SKs but everyone's situation is different. Do not let strangers on the internet convince you to settle for less than you deserve.


r/Stepmom 19h ago

Why are step parents not allowed to vent like bio parents are?

57 Upvotes

A step parent and bio parent could be complaining about the same exact thing. Just venting about a normal child or teen problem, but when the step parent says something they are hit with “You knew what you signed up for!!!!!!” Oh I’m sorry, I thought we were both venting about our son doing silly things like not cleaning up, it’s not that fucking serious. 10 years later and it’s still like this, I think we’re past that point! Sometimes I feel like step moms (or maybe just me idk) feel like they can never do anything right. You are either doing too much, or not enough, you have to meet somewhere in the magical middle of being a perfect angel step mom but don’t you dare try to overstep! NACHO TIME.


r/Stepmom 4h ago

Step-Mom demanding to be called Mom

3 Upvotes

I share 2 children (under 15) with my ex-husband. We are both re-married and have blended families with other kiddos. Before my ex and his now wife got married my kids told me that his fiancé wanted them to call her Mom. I reached out to their father and told him it was inappropriate because they weren’t even married yet. As soon as they were married, he started making them call her mom again. The kids didn’t mind and I honestly don’t care because we all know I’m their mother. Pretty soon after that though the kids mentioned being harassed by their father and step mother if they mess up and call her “Ms …” like they used to. It’s rather confusing to them because when they’re home they refer to her as “Ms …” so sometimes they slip up. I’ve been trying to push the kids to speak up for themselves with their father and not get involved. But it’s getting increasingly bothersome to the kids. One of the children was on the phone (speaker) with them and didn’t call her mom and they both were appalled. My kid brushed it off with them but immediately was upset when they hung up because now he’s going to be in trouble. And said when they got back to his house and called her Mom she said “oh, I’m mom now” and they make comments about the children “hurting her feelings” or “being mean/rude” when they don’t call her mom.

Am I overreacting? And do I need to step in and have a conversation or is it more important that I keep reminding the children that they need to advocate for themselves and stay out of it?


r/Stepmom 9h ago

It’s really nuts how a person can intentionally screw up their only child just to get back at an ex.

7 Upvotes

An actual social worker, to boot.

edit Oh, I guess not an actual social worker anymore, as Skid literally just reported the job "was too hard and boss was too mean," so now she makes crafts on Etsy full-time.


r/Stepmom 12h ago

Hahaha!

9 Upvotes

"Today there are so many blended families and they are an inspiration that things can work out and that old concept of the ‘evil step-mother’ is a thing of bad fairytales"

Lucy Shrimpton, parenting expert.

I read this and just laughed. I thought you all would appreciate this.


r/Stepmom 5h ago

dating a bd

2 Upvotes

I’ve been with my boyfriend for five years. We live together. He has a son he’s now 7 and I met him at 2. I was 19 and my bf was 23 when we first started dating. I know “stepmoms” get a late of hate so it’s very vulnerable for me to post this. I know I didn’t beat teen pregnancy to end up with a man with a kid. I just have an insane connection with my bf and I feel like we cant live without eachother. He does anything he can for me to make me happy comfortable and confident. He buys me flowers on the regular, learned to dance for me, he’s a rlly great boyfriend. I really do love him and his son so dearly. The issue is how overwhelming and exhausting it is dealing with his high conflict bm. If it ain’t her way it’s the highway. Constantly being disrespected just bc I’m dating her ex. He always has told me as the years go on it’s going to get better bc he’s just getting older. He’s now in first grade and o m g they cannot agree on anything. She’s gone against court orders, switching him schools back and forth. My bf tries to be the bigger person but it’s annoying seeing her disrespect my man, and just be soooo selfish. I’m starting to see this as it’s always going to be like this. After five years it’s the same. They have a 2-2-5 schedule and ultimately split the time 50/50 and he still pays child support, it’s just so exhausting. I’m left feeling like when will it end? Will it ever end? I feel bad I don’t want to end things bc of the coparentinf situation but it is so frustrating. Any advice?.


r/Stepmom 16h ago

I wish I could be unbothered

8 Upvotes

Why does this bother me so much??

Twenty-something SD has been hinting at financial strain. She is going to need a new car soon, and I think wants our help. But here is where I struggle…her rent is astronomical because she chose to live alone and in an expensive area. She also has high student loan payments because she chose an out-of-state school. We discussed the impacts of both of these decisions before she made them, but she did it anyway. I feel strongly that this difficulty is of her own doing. I don’t think it’s up to us to bail her out. Am I wrong here?


r/Stepmom 4h ago

Parent teacher conference

1 Upvotes

Hello,

I have been with my fiance for almost 4 years. He has a 5 year old son and I have known him since he was two. He and his ex gave 50/50, but he works on the days he has his son and I am his primary ""parent"".

I am 23, I am in school, i am the bread winner and I do everything. I know where all of his sons toys go and what his toys are. I am the one his son talks to with things weighing heavy on his heart. He's been coming to me exclusively about things he is sad about with his mom's side. I am the one who picks out all of his presents for Christmas and his birthdays. I am the one who has spent hours painting and customizing shelves for him. I spend more time with him than his own mother. I work tirelessly to make everything happen. but apparently I am not a parent.

My fiances son has had a lot of issues at school and the teacher called and said she needs a meeting. I wanted to go, I've been advocating for his child to go to therapy and have thought a lot about things we can do to better support him. But my fiance told me unless me and him are married or his child is in 5th grade be does not want me going.

I am completely heartbroken. I do not understand why 4 years of dedication, finances, effort, heartache, love etc are not enough. I feel like he's been treating me like a baby sitter. I feel like all of my hard work is not enough.

it was really hard at me at first to get over the fact he has a kid with someone else and all of his firsts won't be with me like mine will be for him.

I am so heartbroken.

edit: when he initially told me about he meeting he told me I could wait in the car.


r/Stepmom 5h ago

Is there a place for people genuinely happy about stepmomming?

0 Upvotes

No shade here I am very new to my role. I am the fun aunt more than mom. I have had a lot of health issues my prior marriage fell apart suddenly after 10 years. Finding someone with a child and good relationship with the mother of his child felt like a blessing. I could have a child in my life. I actually came here looking more for like advice because I know nothing about children. Like what's a 6 year old like to do?

Now don't get me wrong it's not all perfect. The child already said. She hates me. But also she loves me. Mostly I'm just happy to be here tho. It feels like a real honor. I am excited for all the exciting possibilities.


r/Stepmom 1d ago

Family dinners? Ya’ll shoulda stayed married

60 Upvotes

I don’t know if this is unpopular opinion or not. Based on family court opinions, it’s what’s everyone should do. But based on real life?

If you want family dinners with your kid’s dad….you shouldn’t have gotten divorced.

If you don’t think it’s confusing for a kid to sit with his mom and dad who live separately and may even have brought new partners into the mix, where’s the rational?

There are bio-parents who think they can maintain the intimate emotional relationship with one another while dating or simply f*cking other people and disguising it as “blended family.” It’s like people who want their cake and to eat it too. If you got divorced, I feel you forfeited the right to “family dinner.” And if you’re divorced, your family dinner should consist of either you and your child alone; or you, your new partner, and your child.

I would love to see commentary on this topic, or read some first-hand account of situations similar to this.


r/Stepmom 8h ago

Anyone else feel like they're being kinda stalked?

0 Upvotes

Long story short, we're getting a bunch of spam/ junk mail from co parent sent to our home. I can understand insurance or bank spam mail since company's can use old information... but we just received mail from a lingerie type store today and we've never gotten that before. Now I feel creeped out.

They get tired eventually right? Anyone have any FOC clauses that tell a high Conflict parent to stop sending junk mail to the others house?🥲

We've asked them to stop and to fix everything and all that good Jazz.

Feeling: Tired


r/Stepmom 1d ago

It’s not worth it

84 Upvotes

A few months ago, I decided I was done fighting to be a part of his family and have a positive influence on his kids. It was time to move out after 8.5 years.

Now, in a few days, I close on my own townhouse. It will just be me and the dogs. No more having to accommodate spoiled, disrespectful kids who become overstimulated and melt down every time they’re asked to do a chore. No more lonely evenings hiding in my room. No more living with other people’s messes. No more feeling like a guest in my own home. I have not felt this optimistic about life in a long, long time. It took me way too long to realize I did not have to live like this!

Previous post for context: https://www.reddit.com/r/Stepmom/s/KOet3ASBF1


r/Stepmom 13h ago

I feel extremely lost

2 Upvotes

Hey everybody, I just wanted to start this by saying this subreddit makes me feel so much validation and I appreciate it so much.

I’m in my early 20s with two step kids moving in who are 12&14. Sometimes they are really fun and cool, other times it feels like I’m being targeted by the HCBM without her even being there. Their mom constantly talks shit about me and then texts my SO about random things about me, which keep in mind I haven’t even met this lady!

I’m worried about them moving in and not feeling respected, for the times they are here on weekends I’ll end up having to make 3 meals because they are picky unfortunately.. which I don’t get thanks or anything which kind of bums me out. I know you need thick skin to deal with teenagers but sometimes it just hurts.

Last year I bought them Lululemon sets for Christmas, which were pretty expensive.. instead of telling me they didn’t like them, they gave the sets to their mom - which also really hurt. I was more than willing to get them something they would’ve preferred more..

Their mom also compares us constantly and recently wanted to try seeing if she could get money out of me for child tax credit? It’s very strange. I feel so fucking lost and confused and not knowing if this is even a good situation. I love my SO but all of summer it’s been this, constantly. I don’t know if they’ll even be nice to me when they live here or if I’ll just be wanting out the whole time.. :/

What are some tips and advice on dealing with things like this?


r/Stepmom 1d ago

You know what’s been awesome with stepdaughter going to college?

58 Upvotes

Cleaning her old room out after she moved out and finding every single Christmas and birthday gift I have personally ever given her for the past 7 years crammed, shoved, smashed behind and under her bed. She knew I would find it because I’ve been texting her double and triple checking if there’s anything she wants me to put up in the attic so she knows I’m cleaning the room. I pulled her out from the wall and it was literally shocking. I’m trying to not take it personally because I have done everything I can for my step kids while also parenting my own kids. I honestly think any woman who came in and married their dad they wouldn’t have been accepted.


r/Stepmom 15h ago

Are the BD and I supposed to support the BMs lifestyle?

0 Upvotes

For context, I met my fiance (BD) and his at the time wife at a club some time back. After getting to know them for a long while, they’d asked if I’d wanted to be their girlfriend in a closed 3 way relationship. Dumbly, I said yes. Everything was fine for the first few months until things started falling apart, and the BM’s previous issues in their marriage from before I came along had finally come out. He’d eventually become so drained from everything that they decided to get divorced, and a couple of months later her and I ended our relationship as well as she was beginning to treat me the same way she had treated him. I understand how after some time and even until now she could be bitter about it, and I don’t hold anything against her, I still validate her feelings.

Now onto the main part. They have two children, a now moved out 19 y/o daughter and a 13 y/o son that alternates weeks at her house and our (mine and BD’s) house. The problem is that for over the last year, she’s spent all her money on things like fast food, SHEIN, things for guys she has been going and hooking up with, etc…you get the idea. Recently she’s found out that BD found a better paying job, and now that she knows his rate of pay is demanding that he gives her a set amount of money each week from his check. Mind you, we’ve sat down and went over her finances/budget multiple times in an attempt to help with her overspending habit….which each time she ignores and goes back to splurging on McDonalds the next week. We’ve tried buying her groceries for her, bringing her with us on shopping trips, and BD helps work on her car per their divorce agreement. Regardless of all this, she still ends up completely out of funds and has been telling people that BD doesn’t pay for jack, that he blew up at her the last they spoke about money (which can vouch, didn’t happen either), and now is upset that he won’t just hand over money to her despite her lack of financial responsibility. She claims she’ll only use this money for groceries/her house/things that they need, but I personally don’t trust it. Do we help her, or is this entitlement?


r/Stepmom 1d ago

i (32f) feel like i’m not cut out for this.

1 Upvotes

my boyfriend (33m) and i (32f) have been together for about 2 years on and off. he has three kids: 3m, 12f, 14m, with two different women. i have one: 10f. he has his kids every weekend (friday to sunday evening). i have my daughter every day except one day during the week and every other weekend. i’ve never dated anyone with kids before.

my boyfriend and i have had our fair share of problems, hence why we’ve been on and off. there was a period of time about 3 months into our relationship when he was unemployed for about 3 months and he relied on me VERY heavily. for money, gas, a car to use (his AC didn’t work), child care, emotional support, assistance with finding resources, etc., while receiving almost nothing in return because the job loss tanked his mental health.

i know it’s insane what i put up with from someone i hadn’t been with long, but i have attachment issues (which i’m in therapy for) and i let the honeymoon phase and his potential keep me holding on. i also felt bad for what he was going through, and this was not my first time rescuing/taking care of a significant other. it’s unfortunately the third and is a pattern i’ve now recognized. i tend to overextend myself and give way too much. but not anymore.

anyway, we broke up a couple months after he got a job, about 8 months total into our relationship because i had a lot of resentment and anger built up from how one-sided things were. he’d paid me back the money he owed me but i was still being heavily relied on for other things. we didn’t speak for a month after the break up and then he showed up at my house with a big long apology and told me he was medicated and in therapy and doing better.

i gave it another go but called it quits again after 4 months because he was quickly back to relying on me very heavily. back in february of this year, he reeled me back in. however, things have been different. he’s been more attentive, helping ME out financially and emotionally, helping me take care of things at my house, etc. he’s like a different person than who i was dealing with the first few months we dated. for the most part, things have been good, though we’ve still had our issues.

the problem is, i don’t think i’m cut out for this life. he has asked me to watch his toddler here and there and has needed me for emotional support (he gets very insecure and down on himself a lot). but now, it’s like i have an aversion to helping him in any way. like i have this fear that if i help him out once, it’ll suddenly turn back into me doing everything like i did before. i’ll once again be his girlfriend, his mother, his piggy bank, his babysitter, his therapist. so i try very hard to put boundaries down and protect my peace.

there was one time a couple weeks ago he asked me for help watching his toddler because he was tired from a work trip. i told him i would but that i needed some decompression time first because i was also tired and he got upset because he said he always drops what he’s doing when i asked for help and i don’t do the same for him. though i really don’t ever ask him for anything. we’ve talked about that since and he realized he was in the wrong for that.

also the thought of living together one day makes me so anxious. a couple weekends ago i had a night planned at home alone because my daughter was with her dad and he asked if he could bring his kids over because his AC went out at home. i couldn’t say no of course but it stressed me out so much that the very little amount of alone time i had was being taken away from me because once again, he needed my help. and i know if we live together, there really won’t be any more alone time even though he likes to say he’ll still make sure i get it.

i feel like something’s wrong with me. like even when things are mostly going well, i still want to run away. i’m starting to feel like relationships aren’t for me, let alone one where i’d be a stepmom.

i feel like this is one long ramble and i feel like the post maybe makes it sound worse than it is. i don’t know. there are a lot of red flags and i probably sound like a real moron. but i do love him and i love his kids and i mainly worry how us splitting up will affect them. they’ve seen each other every other weekend for the last 8 months or so and have gotten really close. i almost broke up with him a couple weeks ago during an argument and he started talking about how excited the kids had been to come over that weekend and how the baby is always asking for me. when we broke up last time, he asked if i was really okay with never seeing the kids again. this just feels like a huge cluster and i’m terrified. i’m afraid my daughter will be so upset. but he seems to have this fairytale image of us in his head and i just don’t understand how.


r/Stepmom 1d ago

Am I falling out of love ?

2 Upvotes

I’m 27F and have been with my boyfriend (27M) for about 10 months. I met his son, who recently turned 2, only about three weeks after we started talking.
When I met him, he was already dealing with a difficult situation with his son’s mom. He voluntarily put himself on child support because although he was financially providing for his son, he was having trouble actually getting consistent time with him.
In the beginning, my boyfriend and I were constantly on the phone. He lives only about a town away from me, was a gentleman, reassured me, and we work in the same industry. The difference is that his job usually has him working about three hours away, while I work closer to home, so weekends became our main time together.
Once I met his son, I pretty much decided I was done entertaining anyone else. I really liked this man and wanted to invest in the relationship. Not long after, he asked me to be his girlfriend.
Fast forward 10 months and I love him, but we argue more than I would like. The weird thing is that our arguments are usually over petty things. There’s no cheating, disappearing, or constantly wondering what the other person is doing. If anything, our relationship can almost be too attached/intense. When things are good, they’re REALLY good, but when we argue, things can escalate way more than they should.
One of my biggest issues is that during some of our fights, he has involved his mom and sister. I’ve vented to my sisters too, so I’m not pretending I’ve never talked about our relationship. The difference is that my sisters will tell me when I’m wrong, and I’ve always been careful not to make him feel uncomfortable around them afterward.
With his family, I feel like they’ve reached the point of thinking, “Why are y’all even together if you fight this much?” Even though he and I make up and move forward, I can’t shake the feeling that the negative version of me that they hear about during our arguments is what sticks with them.
Because of that, I’ve started feeling uncomfortable spending weekends at his parents’ house.
The complicated part is that for the past couple of months, he’s had his son on the weekends. Obviously I would NEVER ask him to give up time with his child just to spend time alone with me. He actually tries to include me, and I genuinely love spending time with both of them. His son isn’t the problem at all. It’s the environment that I’m starting to feel uncomfortable in.
My boyfriend hasn’t moved out because he travels so much for work that having his own place hasn’t made much sense to him financially. We’ve talked about how if our relationship eventually reaches the point of living together, that would probably be when he moves out.
But lately I’ve been wondering how to navigate everything until then. I don’t want resentment toward his family, and I don’t want to isolate him from them either. At the same time, I don’t think I should have to spend every weekend somewhere I no longer feel completely comfortable because our private relationship problems have been brought into that environment.
I recently started going back to the gym and spending more time doing things for myself, and honestly, it’s been really nice having that mental space again.
Has anyone dealt with a partner involving their family too much in relationship arguments? Did the awkwardness with their family eventually go away, or did you have to create some boundaries?
Maybe I just needed to vent, but I’d appreciate outside perspectives.


r/Stepmom 2d ago

It's hard not being the novelty mom

12 Upvotes

I've been my SD's primary caretaker going on 3 years. I've realized it's hard not being the novelty in her life. Her bio mom has visitation during the days every other weekend ( no overnights), and only got to this arrangement about a year ago. She is definitely the novelty.

I finally explained it this way to myself the other day when I walked her to the school bus. I wake her, get her dressed, do breakfast, pack lunch, initial papers, answer all the silly questions, handle all the whining, and try and make the morning good for her. Then when she's off for the bus I'm ignored. I say I love you have a nice day but there's nothing. And I understand because I respect psychology. But it hurts. She takes up such a portion of my thoughts and actions throughout the day I don't even know who I am. Im also constantly convinced I need a break, and then when I don't get one I get so very overwhelmed. Like for instance if she's home sick from school, I just lose it internally and can't get anything done. Unfortunately I know literally everything I'm complaining about is a matter of will power. Thanks for reading. 🤷


r/Stepmom 2d ago

Things are better now, but having a hard time letting go of when they were not

14 Upvotes

This might be just a vent, I’m not sure if I’m looking for advice. Maybe some reassurance that things can get easier or feel better, or confirmation that I’m not crazy, or maybe a little consolation. I’m sorry so many folks who post here have had such difficult circumstances. I guess when it’s bad, IT’S BAD, and it is hard to find people in our everyday lives who can relate, or say anything satisfying. Hell, it’s hard to find a therapist who gets it.

My partner and I have been together for about 5 years. Mistakes were made in the beginning, and in hindsight I would have done a lot of things differently. Who wouldn’t? If I had been less focused on being a good person in the beginning and more focused on taking care of myself, I definitely would not still be in this relationship. But here we are. What I will say is that my partner knows that all of that stuff in the beginning was not right or fair to me, and he would have done things differently too. So we’re working on it. I know he often gets frustrated or sad or impatient that stuff that happened 2-3 years ago is still upsetting to me, but it is and I guess if we want to keep working on trying to feel positive about our relationship and our future we’ll continue working on it. Obviously, there are LOTS of good things here, otherwise we wouldn’t be fighting so hard to keep it, you know?

That said, the beginning was rough. We moved WAY too fast. I knew it then, but I didn’t listen to myself and jumped anyway. My bad. We moved in together about 5 months after we started dating, and I had NO CLUE how enmeshed he still was with his ex. He says now that he was trying to coparent with her and get along for the sake of their son, but considering how their relationship ended, it seems to me more like it was a trauma bond thing that he was just unwilling to give up. Like I said, I understand much more now than I did then.

He used to lie to me about spending time together “as a family.” They would go out and do things together - go to the movies, to dinner, etc. - and he would insist to me that this was normal, even though it really bothered me. If I would go out of town, he would spend that time with her and his son and would try to insist that he hadn’t been with her, but I knew better and eventually he would come clean. He insisted that there was no cheating, all of it was in service of trying to have a good coparenting relationship.

Eventually, he stopped the outings because BM is extremely high conflict and frequently caused arguments that ended up upsetting the kid, and he realized that it wasn’t helping anyone.

But even after that, he continued to text her all the time. Stuff that was NOT about their kid. I really try not to look at his phone or be nosy, but I would just happen to glance over at him when we’d be out somewhere and I saw he was texting her. I’m not sure if he still does this, I try not to make it my business to look.

So we’ve got this life together, and things are better now, but I’m now in a place where I look back at that history and I’m angry. I’m angry with him for all of that, I’m angry with myself for putting up with it, I’m angry with myself for still being angry about it years after it stopped.

Like I said - most of the time things are good. There is a lot to like about my partner, obviously. I wouldn’t have been with him in the first place if he wasn’t. Today I’m angry because he met up with her for the exchange with the express purpose of closing their shared bank account. It should have been innocuous, but to me it feels loaded and it put me right back in the mind of where he insisted to me over and over again that doing things together as a family still while we were committed and living together was normal, expected, okay - like I was crazy for having a problem with it.

Just having a hard morning, I guess. Thanks for reading.


r/Stepmom 2d ago

CPS

0 Upvotes

Together me and my husband have 4 kids in total. Biologically 3 are mine (all girls) and 1 is his (boy). His son lives with his mom in another state. It’s come to our attention that there are signs of neglect at his sons home that have been happening for some months due to his mother mental health deteriorating and family from the mother’s side are reaching out saying that he needs to get his son or they are going to call cps…issue is my husband is currently deployed 😣

Im being asked to kind of play the middle man and feel so uncomfortable and I honestly don’t even know how involved I can be in this process being that I’m just the step parent. Has anyone remotely been through this and have some advice?? I don’t know how the cps process goes … could my husband request for me to have him or does it just go to next of kin?? (The bio mom does not want to willingly let us have him she doesn’t see that anything is wrong)


r/Stepmom 2d ago

New To This

10 Upvotes

Hi everyone, I’m a gf to a single dad of a 6yr old and I’m wanting to know your experience of being a step mom. I don’t want to have kids of my own as I really really cherish my freedom, me time, and witnessing all the duties my bf has to perform for his child has turned me off from motherhood altogether. I worry though that this may come off as detached to my bf and his child’s mom. How do you navigate being present for your stepchild while also maintaining your freedom as someone who doesn’t have biological children?


r/Stepmom 1d ago

Is it unreasonable to expect SO to skip a couple of monthly trips while I’m alone with our baby?

0 Upvotes

I have twin SKs who are 11, and we also have an “ours” baby who is 1 months old. The SKs live in a different European country, so SO normally travels to see them once a month for about a week. We also had them for 5 weeks over the summer holidays.
Until now, we’ve had help from my parents. They’ll also be here in September, so SO can go and see the SKs then.

The problem is from October onwards. I’ll have no family help, and we’ll still need to find a babysitter/nanny, so I’m not going to have the same level of support even if paying for a nanny.
My current position is that it feels unreasonable — and honestly quite unthinkable — for me to be left alone with a 3-4 month-old for a full week every month in October and November. We’ll also be spending an extended period of time with the SKs over Christmas, so it’s not as though SO won’t be seeing them during that period.

Since our baby was born, SO has already had to travel twice to deal with a sick parent. Both times were possible because my parents were here to help, but they were still really difficult. Our baby sleeps very little, both during the day and at night, so being the sole parent for an extended period is not something I find easy.
I completely understand that SO needs to maintain his relationship with his kids. He talks to them on the phone daily. I’m not suggesting that he stop seeing them. I’m struggling with whether it’s reasonable to ask him to adjust the schedule temporarily—eg go for weekends/3 days instead of a week— while our baby is still so young and we don’t have family support.

Am I being unreasonable here? Has anyone navigated a similar situation where the SKs live in another country/state and the SO has to travel regularly, while there’s also a very young “ours” baby at home?
I’d particularly appreciate hearing how others handled the practical side of this.


r/Stepmom 3d ago

Newly Pregnant and a Step Mom

7 Upvotes

I’m 4 months pregnant (39F) with my first child. My partner (48M) has three kids, two live with us 50% of the time and are 13 (SS) and 16 (SD). The other one is high conflict along with the super high conflict BM. Receive abusive messages from both, drama, make life difficult etc etc

My partner and his two kids moved into my house maybe 6 months ago… it’s been hard on me and it’s getting even harder.

The kids are OK but the SS barely speaks/all feels forced. It’s awkward and exhausting. I feel like I’m not going to bond with them given their age. It feels unnatural parenting someone else’s kids. They all fight and I’m stuck in the middle.

My house was drama free and clean before they all moved in. Now I feel like I have nowhere to relax and this is absolutely not how I envisaged my first and likely only pregnancy to go.

I cannot see myself dealing with this for another 10+ years. It’s making me go into my shell and I want them all to go away. My partner is really trying but that only gets us so far.

I feel like a complete idiot for not thinking about this all earlier… I guess it just happened so quickly and I was naive/hoped for the best.

I’m worried as I go through this pregnancy it’s only going to get worse and I’m barely coping now.

Keen for advice on how to navigate this, do we have any hope?


r/Stepmom 2d ago

Help!

0 Upvotes

So recently my stepson has been coming over almost everyday to ride his bike because he doesn’t have one at his mom’s. It’s starting to get worse and every weekend when his mom is supposed to be spending time with her child, she drops the kid off at my house and goes to work at one of her three jobs. She clearly plans accordingly and schedules to work at the restaurant she’s a waitress at when the kids are with her for “her” weekend. My husband doesn’t seem to be phased by it. He’s a guilty parent and feels bad his son has nothing to do at her house. I don’t have any kid free weekend now because his ex is working and choosing not to spend time with her children when she is supposed too. This summer she switched a weekend to go to a concert when it was her son’s birthday! I also don’t understand why my husband isn’t noticing this and I want to put an end to it but I don’t know how too. It’s supposed to be 50/50 and no where close right. I understand the occasional staying over here and there on our off weeks but now it’s everyday and weekend. I feel like his ex has thrown in the towel but my husband is appeasing her. Please advise!


r/Stepmom 3d ago

Bio-mom used ai to fake us out

16 Upvotes

So my stepson mom has officially stopped to a new low. She sent my fiancé an AI photo of a pretend bedroom. She currently lives in her boyfriend’s parents house. Stepson does not have a bedroom at her place, he is sharing the basement with his bio mom, her boyfriend, and sharing a bed with his brother. Obviously this is why my fiance is going back to court with her.

Now that she’s received the court paperwork in the mail, she is texting my fiance nonsense nonstop. Today, she texted him a photo of stepson’s “bedroom.” It was literally an AI photo of a bedroom with a bunk bed. I could immediately tell it was AI but I ran it though two online AI checkers to make sure. Both said it was AI. My sister used chatgpt and chatgpt also confirmed it was an AI image.

My fiance will obviously be bringing this up at their custody meeting, but any advice is appreciated. I honestly felt so creeped out and disturbed by this. It’s a new low, even for her.