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just a rant, i need some help on this

PinkQueen's picture

don't know how to feel about my husband anymore, we in combination have 4 kids ( 2 biologically mine, and 3 biologically his ( we share a child, a child from my previous relationship and 2 from his previous)) 

we hve VERY big diffrences when it comes to how we raise our children, he's very strict and im semi-leniant , like anymom , but there are several issues that always stand out and that are bugging me. oviousbly we have my bio 2 FT they live with us. the older to ( my step children ) we get them friday evening - monday when we drop them off. Here's my issue, when it comes to disapline he's so strict on me being strict on my 4 year old (from my pervious) he sometimes makes me feel bad for comforting her or even giving her a goody. he says i let things slide with her and that she uses that to her advantage. maybe she does maybe she doesnt, before he came in the picture it was just me and her. he came in the picture when she was just about 2.5 years old. for those almost 3 years it waas just me and her and she was my little best friend. when we moved in and got married ALOT changed for her, she got a new biological sibling, and 2 step siblings. it was alot for her little self. he always expects me to have this like hard-core front when i really am not mean... it breaks my heart to think that she would assume that mommy doesn't love her. when it comes to him and his children, they listen to him at thier convienece, they are rude and lets be honest here a little spolied. they just EXPECT him to get them toys or whatever they please. and they use the "we never get to see you" excuse to make him feel guilty and he gives in. they are sometimes mean to my 4 year old and exclude her from playing when they play. they never listen to me, they only are nice to me when i do something that benefits them. and don't get me started on the " Well my mom let's us do this ect...." 

their mom is another issue, she's a mental case in it's self. she recives about $500 in CS a month yet is always crying to us that "she can't buy things for the kids" not that long ago she made my hubby drive 40 min (we live in a diffrent city) cause she didn't have tylenol. this infurriates me. yet i always see her posting that her partner got a new tattoo, and new device , a new this and that ect ect...

A couple days ago, the issue of school uniforms came up. she just told my husband " you have to buy them" just like that. no talking it out or working. i suggested that they go half on everything. we buy the clothing she could buy the school supplies and shoes. this instantly trigggerd my husband and he went to argure with me that " i never care about the well being of his children and that i hate buying stuff for them" when in reality i do care for the kids, i just thought since "technically" she gets the CS she should help out to... it's been tension in the house ever since that. we havent spoke in about a day in a half cause of it and honestly it makes me ponder if i even want to do this any more,

any time i question the "ex wife" motive or anything that challenges her he gets all defensive about stuff and throws it in my face that " i don't care about the other kids"  what's the use of all of this, what's the point in even being together if my feelings always get dismissed and never aknowleged. i feel so torn his expectations for me and her are on SOOO diffrent levels and i feel that he praises the ground she walks in and i am put to the side... can anyone help? should i stick this out or just throw in the towel ?

Comments

ProbablyAlreadyInsane's picture

If you ever hear the "well my mom lets us do this..." Inform them this isn't their mom's place and that that's not how things work here. Then enforce it. NEVER give leeway just because "well mom said." Because mom isn't an adult in your household.

PinkQueen's picture

oh trust me i do, or i tell them, well call your mom and go back to her house.. what are you doing here.

 

susanm's picture

Have you asked him why, if she is so great and he clearly prefers how she does things, why he doesn't pack up and go back to her?  He may not realize how he is coming off to you.  Or he might and the answer may be that she has moved on and he is making do.  Either way, it is a reasonable question to ask and may give you the information you need to make a decision.

PinkQueen's picture

he tells me up and down " im over her" " it's for the kids sake" 

but where are we drawing the line, cause to drive to another town cause she's to "broke" ( or freaking lazy) in my opinon to get some freaking meds. 

he claims, he wants to be cival and not have her be mad cause she then keeps the kids from him. and i tell him up and down, you guys have a custody agreement anytime she breaks that agreement call the police, this can be used to gain full custody ( as he claims he wants) his expecations for her and me are so diffrent. i get the short end of the stick while she stomps all over him and gets what "she wants" . 

i was talking to a friend of mine, and he asked me "aside from loving him, what's the reason you're with him" and i didn't have an answer it's not like i am unhappy. i just hate that this is a BIG issue in our household. 

Siemprematahari's picture

So basically your H is allowing his ex to have him walk on egg shells and he's scared of making her "mad". Well what about you as his wife? Does he not care how you feel and if you're upset? Why are her feelings more important than yours? If there is a court order he has to be a man and have her enforce it by calling the cops or filing a petitition that she's not obeying the order. He's making it more complicated than it needs to be and creating more problems in your marriage.

I personally would not be able to be with a man that cares how someone else feels rather than my own.....He needs to get a set a balls and stop making excuses. If BM is not able to get the kids tylenol than why does she have custody? I'd also tread this lightly because I'm not sure I'd want the kids full time either. That would create a whole other level of crazy.

PinkQueen's picture

EXACTLY, it'd be a mess. the oldest (being a girl) is coached by her mom to say stuff that she KNOWS will irk me. she's mentioned it several times that " her dad only loves me now" " you love her more". and her being his eldest, makes him feel bad like it makes me feel that i replaced her and that i should feel bad for living with him.

it's taking a toll on my emotional health and it's brought up anxiety that hadn't bothered me in a LONG time 

Siemprematahari's picture

He's acting off of guilt that the step kids are not always with him so he feels he needs to over compensate and make up for it in some way. You get the sh!t end of the stick because you're his wife and he feels you should understand, but that's not how it works. Ask him to attend therapy to address these issues and how you don't feel you have value in the marriage because he dismisses everything you say and do.

Also, as a poster commented when the kids say "that's not how my mom lets us do it" you tell them different house, different rules, and this is how we do things HERE. If they refuse to listen I'd wash my hands of it all and let your H handle EVERYTHING when it comes to them. From the meals, to the laundry, to dropping them off, whatever it is he'd have to do it and I'd have no parts of it.

You have your own kids to take care off, why get frustrated and lose your mind over skids that could care less what you say or think. I'd rather focus my energy on people that care and where it would make a different. Since you and H are not on the same page they will not respect or listen to you until he sets clear boundaries.

SteppedOut's picture

This is really bothering you and you need to get to the bottom of what you are going to do. Prolonged stress has horrible effects on your health; both mental and physical. 

Not only are you troubled because you feel like your husband isn't letting you parent how you want, but he is letting things slide with his kids. If this is true, your bio children will notice when they get a little older. 

I'm sorry you are going though this, but if you can't work this out with your husband, you AND your children might very well be better off without him. 

PinkQueen's picture

it really is it keeps me up at night, makes me question if what i am doing really matters. he claims he loves me and what not, but i don't think the love is PHYSCALLY there anymore. i feel that he has love FOR me. but that's it 

lieutenant_dad's picture

I think you both are at fault and you both are doing your own brand of guilty parenting.

On you, you referred to your daughter as "your best friend". My guess is that the guilt of all the change in her life, which I am sure brought out negative emotions, mixed with you relying on her for emotional support when you were single causes you to be far more lenient with her than you realize. Yes, young children need compassion, but they also need guidance to understand that all because they have a negative emotion doesn't mean that it's catastrophic. I am going to make the assumption that you baby her, and it annoys your DH just the same as his lack of boundaries with his kids annoys you.

Regarding your DH, I totally understand why his behavior bothers you. I deal with nearly the same situation - down to BM needing Tylenol while getting herself a new tattoo. However, your DH's failure comes from being guilted by his kids because their mom cries poor. You aren't wrong in expecting her to chip in for clothes and school supplies, or wrong in expecting him to enforce that. The kids won't stop crying poor themselves until Mom does, and your DH setting boundaries with her will help that.

My next steps would be the following:

1. If you don't have a child support order for your daughter from her father, get one. If you don't have one, it is unfair that your DH pays CS for his kids and then also helps supplement yours, but your daughter's father doesn't help her financially yet you harp on DH for paying dor things for his kids. That breeds resentment at a level your DH may not know he can even breed it at.

2.) Take some parenting classes for blending families with your DH. You both seemingly have a lot to learn, so learn together.

3.) Find a counselor specializing in blended families that can help you two communicate. You are both right and you are both wrong. I don't think either of you have the skills to communicate your issues effectively without getting defensive.

4.) Remember that he is a stepparents, too, and a full-time one at that. Your daughter will annoy him just as much as his kids annoy you, and he gets even fewer breaks. You're going to HAVE to be harder on your daughter than if you were single because his threshold for her is going to be lower.

5.) Disengage from anything affecting his XW. If your bills are getting paid and he still has money left over that he wants to spend on  his kids (within reason), let him. As you start making the full weight of her actions hit him, he'll likely get fed up faster. Mix that in with some therapy, and he may be able to actually set real boundaries.

I think you both have fixable issues, but you both are going to have to realize that you both need to change.

PinkQueen's picture

the subject of my daughter you're right.. i was lenient and over friendly due to her bio-dad leaving her. i felt like i had to make up for that part of her that's missing. i get it children need boundries, and it's all with thier age limit and capacity.

it's little things that bother me to him and his "discpline" his older daughter can come and go as she pleases and come into our room, even after she's told not to. with no repercussions, while my kid has to be put in timeout "cause she was told to stay in her room" where is the line for that. i get it he's a full time step dad, and i couldn't be more thankful for that. but i support my child 100% both of them at that. and i still pay the household bills and what ever stupid demand he XW makes.

why should i put a limit on what i want to buy my kids, but's it's ok for him to buy his kids $80 toys every weekend? 

my oldest bio kid, doesn't have her dad he skipped out when she was months old. so regarding the CS who knows where that man is, i was left alone and staranded when it came to her. 

TwoOfUs's picture

Wait - your DH doesn't contribute at all to the bio child you have together? Is that right? 

 

PinkQueen's picture

we only have one in common, and he does

he has a very hard time managing his money.

i usaully am in charge of paying the bills (with our joint account)

but he has a hard time dealing with splurging 

marblefawn's picture

Agree with you, lieutenant, sir!

The way OP talks about her 4-year-old is just how her husband thinks of his kids: poor kids, been through so much, awful BM... That's why he lets them slide, that's why she probably overindulges her daughter. Good for the goose, good for the gander, but bad for the marriage.

So they're actually on the same page without realizing it. OP, you guys need to stop fighting and really consider why the other is annoyed because you'll likely find common ground there. You're both just protecting your own. That doesn't blend a family very well, but if it's noble when you do it, it's noble when he does it. You can work on that, though, because you share the feeling of wanting to protect your kids who have already been through a lot.

I agree, OP, that if he pays child support, and it's a fair amount, BM shouldn't be asking for more. (I'm not a parent, though, so maybe it's unrealistic to expect CS to cover all expenses. Still, CS is court regulated, so it's the deciding factor when arguments arise.)

Regardless, I don't think your husband is favoring BM over you. I think it may look that way to you, but I suspect your husband would rather just pay for uniforms than deal with BM after their unpleasant history that likely included a lot of fighting. He got divorced to be away from her. He remembers when he was with her 24/7, so now it's easier to buy Tylenol and be done with her than stir her up again.

If you can get a handle on your parenting styles, you can deal with CS issues later. When you look at what annoys you about his parenting, can you see that he might be acting out the of same motivation you are to protect your kid? Just a thought.

PinkQueen's picture

i totally get where you're comming from. yes, i think we just have an inclination to take care of whats yours. i think every mom does. 

when it comes down to the CS, what makes me mad and upset is that it's ALWAYS happening. " i need Tylenol" "i need this, that, that, this" why should he be to the rescue everytime. it should be BOTH thier responsibility to get what the kids need. aside from paying that CS we also pay for thier health insurance which let me telll you it's not cheap. how can you show off all these new things and claim "i make more money than him" yet still be to broke to buy your kids the basics. if that's the case, we can stop the CS and have him petion for 50/50 it'd be the same thing right ?

i honestly feel like she does these things cause the IRK me, it does anything about her makes me mad. i have this HATRED on her and i don't deal with her, it's her personality disorder that pisses me off, shes ALWAYS the victim. 

IMO i think that when the kids are on her time, she should deal with them. it's her time she shouldn't be contacting him unless the kids are absoloutley in trouble. 

he gives her SO much room and lee-way. in my eyes, he still prasies the floor she walks on

ndc's picture

What are you getting out of the relationship other than stress and anxiety, and having to treat your daughter in a way that is not what you'd naturally want to do?  I'm not  a big fan of counseling, but especially if you have anxiety that is coming up now, I would find someone to talk to about these issues.  You need to stand up for yourself.  If your husband is walking on eggshells with the skids and his ex-wife, then you're not making it painful enough for him to choose to cater to them instead of to you.

PinkQueen's picture

honestly i don't know... its to the point where it seems that we are just co-exisiting in the house. 

we have oppisite work scheduals, which that it self causes MORE on us, i don't know i know i love him, but i am tired of his shit.

i just don't know what to do anymore 

marblefawn's picture

Can you set aside an hour a week to talk (not fight) about this stuff? I said in a comment above that you and your husband might be parenting differently, but from the same motivation. That common ground might be a good starting point to work this out.

 

PinkQueen's picture

it's something that has been brought up, yes.

do we ever go through with it.. maybe once.

i think we both hold a resentment

marblefawn's picture

Sure you do. That's expected. Would it even BE a marriage without resentment??? ROFL

If you want to stay married, if he wants to stay married, you have to force yourself to let go of the resentment. Your best chance of letting go of the resentment is the hope that the marriage will survive. But you have to want it enough to pry each finger off that resentment and just let it go, even though you're pissed off, even though you want to cling onto that grudge, even though you want to stick it to him so he hurts the way he's hurt you...you gotta let it go.

Reluctantly try the hour a week suggestion. Nothing will change if you don't do something different. Pick a day and time and talk to him even if you don't really want to, even if you doubt it will work. Just give it a try. If you don't act like the marriage matters, it's tough to convince each other that it's meaningful enough to save. It's one hour a week. You talk when you're not particularly angry and he's not particularly so that you have a better chance of really hearing each other.

If nothing else...it's easier than divorce.