As soon as the honeymoon was over and I moved in with DH (we were a little old-fashioned and didn't live together until after the wedding), SS went from being a sweet 7 year old to a little devil with horns. It seemed to all change the moment I moved in. He would constantly tell me how he wishes his mom and dad were still together (which, I get is normal for a kid to want), but would also go as far as saying things like "This is not your house, mshilton!" and "I was here before you, I can make you go away!". I mean, seriously, I felt like had just moved into a weird lifetime movie starring an evil stepchild. I didn't understand it. I was not the first woman to live with DH since he divorced BM.

 DH has set him straight, to some extent, so things have definitely calmed down sense then. However, there is still a weird feeling I get that SS (now 11) is trying to compete with me -- in more ways than just for DH's attention. 

Some examples:

A couple of days ago, SS and I went and helped DH on drywall for the house we are building. We were both given the same job: float the screw holes. SS immediately started bragging on himself about how good he was at it (which is normal, SS has a huge ego and talks himself up on everything he does). I, on the other hand, humbly went about my business. When SS came into the room I was working in, I noticed that he was covered from head to toe in drywall mud. It looked like he had purposely spread it all over himself, so I asked him "How did you get it all over you?".  Over an hour later he yells out "Oh by the way, mshilton, if you're not covered in mud, that just means you're doing it wrong!". I knew he was joking, but still. He'd been making little comments about how well he was doing, I knew it was just a matter of time before he'd be pointing out something negative about me in some way or another. 

The final straw (and the reason I am writing this blog) came last night. We were all sitting around watching TV and the subject of tattoos came up. SS asked DH where his tattoo went that was on his upper arm. He went on to describe a cross tattoo with DH's last name written above it. In reality, DH does have a faded stencil of a cross on his upper arm that was tattooed by a friend when he was a teenager. However, it was done about the same way you'd do a prison tattoo, so it never really set and you can barely see it. I told SS, "That tattoo has always been faded and he's never had his last name above it." DH agreed with me, it's always been faded. SS tried to still argue that there once was a tattoo there, to which I laughed and said "SS, since I've known your dad he's never had that tattoo there." to which SS responded "Yeah, well I've known my dad my whole entire life, since the day I was born, sooo there!". Like, weird thing to say, SS... 

I also feel like he doesn't trust that I truly care for DH and have his best interests at heart. Almost like it's a competition for who loves DH more. When I check the mail, before I get in the car I will sort through it all and toss away the junk mail. One day SS was with me and saw that some of that junk mail had DH's name on it. He literally dove his hand into the trash and said "That's my dad's mail!" He almost started crying over it and didn't trust me when I said DH wouldn't want it. He protectively carried the mail all the way home so he could pridefully hand it to DH -- who then just tossed it away. It annoyed the hell out of me, but nevertheless, SS felt he had done his diligence in protecting DH's mail from me. 

It's many, many, little scenarios like these that make me think something is really off here. Does anyone have any advice on how to combat this? Is SS in some strange competition with me?