Stepchild Resentment & Sex
Okay, I'm about to get really personal here so if the topic of sex makes you uncomfortable please don't continue reading.
Does anyone else struggle with sex drive/desire for sex with your partner based on the resentment of their child(ren)/your stepchild? As well as the resentment towards your partner that DERIVES from the child?
I'm trying to determine if this is a common issue or if my relationship is getting past the point of no return.
Basically, when I first met my S/O I had a very high sex drive (which has been normal for me my entire adult life-I'm 29) and that continued for about a year; then we moved in together and SD11 is here 50% of the time.
Because of the issues with SD11 (you can read my past blogs to see what I'm dealing with) my sex drive has virtually plummeted to almost nothing.
I feel like I'm losing respect for my partner because of the way he parents/doesn't discipline and I resent SD11 so much that I'm thinking that's the correlation between why I don't ever feel in the mood. It affects how strong I see him and it's difficult for anyone to feel sexually attracted to someone they don't respect or view as an equal.
Maybe this info will be helpful for this post- I'm kind of an alpha female. I have always been very independent, successful, driven and I hold myself and my life to a high standard, but never minded being submissive to my fiancé at first because I viewed us as equals and felt he also had a lot to offer and that he complimented my life.
For the past 2 years I have been gradually losing respect and a feeling of equality with him and our sex life is probably the #1 area where I see the change.
Any others? Thoughts?
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Comments
Seems to me that it's fairly
Seems to me that it's fairly normal to lose respect for a ball-less wonder of a partner. No need to be an alpha for that. I'd also add that it's pretty hard to get turned on by someone for whom you have no respect.
I suggest you tell him exactly how you feel so he can at least understand why your sex life is dwindling - who knows? It might even motivate him to do something about it. If nothing changes, pack your bags - why stay in a sexual and communication desert of a relationship with someone you have come to despise ( you may not be there yet but it's only a question of time).
True.
I agree with all this. In the past I had been correlating my lack of sex drive to feeling like the maid because I felt like I was picking up after everyone non-stop; although I'll admit I am a total neat freak perfectionist so I could understand how my standards could feel unachievable in that regard but I think as I really started to dissect it more I realize it's the parenting/SD issue because after expressing feeling like the maid he did actually pick it up with the cleaning and pitch in more, yet my sex drive still continued to decrease.
I'm entirely nervous to bring this up because I know this will be a blow and difficult to hear and I'm sure he will naturally get defensive. I don't want to emasculate him and make it worse but I need to express it somehow.
No, no, no, no, he is
No, no, no, no, he is emasculating HIMSELF. Don't you think he has a right to know why you're less enthusiastic about sex than you used to be? Or would you prefer he just think you don't love him anymore or that you've found someone else, or that you're frigid? He needs to know so he can change/adapt. Maybe it would be easier to discuss In couples therapy? It would seem less "blaming" if it came up naturally with a thirst party (therapist) present?
Whatever you decide to do, please don't wait too long because once the longer you wait, the deeper the damage will go and the harder it will be to get your desire for him back
Talk to him,it doesn't have to be accusatory.
You’re right.
Thank you, this is true and makes sense. I've also thought about suggesting therapy but that will be a conversation for another day.
We are taking an impromptu trip to Miami this Saturday that I just booked a few days ago and the whole reason I planned this was to use this time to reconnect. Maybe I can talk to him about it tonight, get the feelings out and use our trip to try to make things better for the both of us.
I personally let don't want this relationship to get past the point of no return and I certainly know he doesn't want that either.
Thank you for your input. *give_rose*
I'm just going to say it...
This is not the relationship for you.
Seriously? Why are you holding on to a relationship that is affecting you so negatively?
Not all bad…
I know my posts on here seem to only express the negative but there are certainly a LOT of wonderful things about my fiancé that make me stay, but I'm in this weird season right now of deciding what's worth it because my tolerance has patience has been shrinking.
He really is crazy about me and does a LOT for me. He adores my mother and treats her very well and was there with both of us and helping to get us through my dad's death a year ago.
He compliments me constantly, brags about me to all his friends, family and employees, buys nice gifts for me (I don't care about the gifts but just the fact of doing it because he cares.) Like, for Valentines Day he bought me a $8,000 billboard (I'm a Real Estate Agent) so that was a huge thing.
He is always there to fix anything for me if something breaks, he builds stuff for me that I need and is generally and overall a very hard worker. His employees all love him and so do my friends and family.
He DOES have so many great qualities and I admire a lot about him, but his daughter and family are his cryptonite.... and the way he is with them affect so many other areas of his/my life. It's the one thing that affects so many other things and it's just so hard to get past.
Yes. Regardless of the reason
Yes. Regardless of the reason, if you lose respect for someone, you're not going to have the same level of desire.
Changing how he parents is a tall order, but he can't change anything if you don't tell him what the problem is.
It’ll be a tough conversation.
I'm trying to find a good way to bring this up since I know he's going to want to shut down.
In the past I thought my lack of drive was from feeling like the maid because he and his daughter can be kind of messy and I did have that conversation with him, but after deeper digging this is what I think it truly is.
I'm just nervous and don't want him to feel emasculated, but I guess that's the risk I need to be willing tp take tp work this out for good. Ugh
I lose my desire when my DH
I lose my desire when my DH would give in to SD or BMs ridiculous demands or otherwise suck up to them. It seems natural to lose your drive when your SO is focused on something other than you and being a lousy parent. I think my DH made the connection and started parenting better. Of course that meant he wasn't as much fun and SD didnt want to see him as much.
He's a great parent to our kids. It makes me a little sad sometimes that he got a vasectomy because whenever he's being a great dad I want another baby!
Relief.
It really relieves me to know that I'm not the only one that feels this way.
I'm glad that your DH seems to have self diagnosed the problem and made changes. As much as I love my fiancé, I don't think she would be able to take the initiative to find that correlation of his on so I may have no choice but to talk to him about this because I personally do want things to get better.
Intimacy is tied with your home environment and relationships
If you have a spouse neglecting you, allowing his kids to shun you, disrespect you, abuse you, basically allow their toxicity to enter your home environment and your partner is not 100% protecting you and supporting you, sex drive and intimacy will go downhill because there is nothing remotely appealing with your partner
4.5 yrs ago i told my hubby that the so called family time weekend meet ups with his kids (2 were adults 1 a teen living with adult sister), killed intimacy for me. Their continued disrespect and cheap digs against me and our kids killed intimacy. Their miniwife mentality killed intimacy because my husband allowed and encouraged this nonsense to continue.
i made it clear to my husband if he thought he could come home and just get on top of me to de-stress via sex, that he was kidding himself. He was forced to address these issues
my biggest turn off was when we visited his dad at his childhood home (we have our own bedroom with our furniture and this room was created after we married specifically for us and our 2 young kids), it was early morning 7am, sds (then 23 & 13) knew our 2 toddlers were sleeping in our room, all of a sudden eldest sd is banging our door screaming dadddddeeeee non stop, apparently she wanted to get a bag of special sugar she bought the day before to give to her aunt.
it wasn't urgent, her aunt wasn't using it and sd was perfectly capable of waiting 20-30mins for my husband to leave our bedroom to ask for it. We were having sex at the time she banged and screamed and was waking up our kids in the process. My husband was inside of me at the time.
all I remember is him rushing to get off of me, getting dressed and opening door and saying ok to sd and walking to car to get her stupid sugar. I just laid there in shock like did this just happen?
believe me hubby didn't get sex for weeks! I had no intimacy for him and told him he just killed it completely and I certainly wasn't gonna have sex due to wifely obligations. Had to address that nonsense with him how does he think i felt when that happened?
he was so desperate for the tiny crumbs of attention from sd he was willing to allow that crap to continue. That incident ended it for me. I told hubby there was never gonna be another trip that sds would be at with me and our kids present, that i had completely disengaged. I had disengaged about 9 months from sd's when 1 day eldest sd calls daddy guilting me and our 2 toddlers for existing and for hubby marrying me. Apparently she wasn't happy hubby prioritised us and preferred to spend time with us more.
sd's refused to see how their behaviour towards others contributed to why we didn't prioritise them. Every outing they last minute cancelled or rescheduled pickup time and location. Hubby stupidly went along and it was some nonsense they did so hubby could cowtow to them. Their behaviour At every meet was deplorable. Yet they expected we all suck it up and because i and our kids had disengaged from them, i cut off their ability to do those cheap digs and to cause issues and that angered and frustrated them.
me and our kids have had 0 contact with sd's since nov 2018 (so almost 4.5 yrs ago), my husband in fact told eldest sd she sabotaged a relationship with us over her petty behaviour for what?
Her mum and stepdad she continually bragged about abandoned her and want nothing to do with her. She's living on her own. Hubby told her that he couldn't in his right mind force us to tolerate their bullshit behaviour and when it came to a choice which relationship to prioritise it was always gonna be us because i am his wife and we have 2 young kids that we will not allow sd's toxic dysfunctional bs affect our household.
its been crickets. I honestly am curious how sd's and ss getting married will go. Because hubby has not seen or been in biomums presence since mid 2009 when they divorced. He never wants to see her face ever again
Cringe.
Oh my goodness I cringed reading your story. I'm so sorry that has happened to you! How gross and what terible behavior.
The way I feel it is supposed to be is spouse comes first before children. Children realize mom and dad (whether Bio or not) are unified and nothing comes between them.
Kids grow up and have their own lives one day and milking their parents for every shred of attention and affection their entire life so that that are never "uncomfortable" is unhealthy and sets them up for total failure.
They need to be equipped for the real world with discipline, tough love and positive reinforcement, not coddling bullshit.
I never acted this was with my parents and I am so grateful they never coddled me. I know that's why I'm self-disciplined and successful and guess what? I know my parents love me, a lot! So much so that they didn't put up with my whiny shit behavior just because it would have been "easier."
I think it's harder to love your kids in a tough way than it is to cater to their whiny demands. It's okay to be the bad guy!
Yes and i told my husband it’s ridiculous a 23 yr old is
Fake crying on the phone that daddy doesn't love her the same way he loves and spends times with our kids. Are you saying daddy needs to spend the same amount of time nurturing and being around a 23yr old like he does a 1 & 2.5 yr old? Of course not and its stupid to even think so.
the way my hubby saw it is whether skids liked it or not, they are at ages they should be more independent and actively working towards independence rather than acting like toddlers.
multiple times my husband said, if i ever left him because of this skid/exwife shitshow, he knows that skids would abandon him and he would grow a lonely old man. Thats why i reminded him years ago the importance of protecting us and ensuring the toxic shitshow of skids doesn't enter our household and our kids as hubby promised years ago multiple times.
so when eldest sd fakes the whole you abandoned us for that half naked Christian whore and to have 2 kids with her, hubby tries to ignore it but what upsets me the most is hubby and his family sugarcoat and coddle the skids. However his nephew and nieces funnily enough hold them to account when they see the shunning and disrespect going on.
my parents divorced and i never got to use yhe whole cod copout. If sd's aren't happy that they're in split homes, take that shit up with biomum and hold her responsible. Nobody in their right mind would torture themselves being married to her any longer but sd's are convinced and told hubby to get over what biomum did to him. The affairs, the abuse, the neglect, the torture, the stealing, threatening to shoot/stab him to death, yup forget it.
i told hubby after that occurence of sd banging the door whilst we were having sex when a stupid person with half a brain would know door closed, toddlers sleeping in the room means wait 20-30 mins if not life threatening and urgent but nope, sd's have no respect for boundaries yet think they are far more superior and of authority compared to me.
hubby made sure eldest sd realised she was low on the hierarchy and not in any position pf authority when she spokes to me regarding our kids or our household . She sulked as expected.
removing myself and our kids from their dysfunction is the only way i can survive this crap. Ss has come a long way but my husband has reminded him that we didn't kick him out of our home, he was always a member of our household if he chose to. But he needed to remember his sisters are under control of their mum and don't have a proper relationship with him and therefore if he screws up with us and we don't want anything to do with him, hubbys priority is being with us and our kids everytime and in that scenario what does ss have? His own mum abandoned him, his sisters have a fake non existent relationship with him so he will be miserable and alone.
my husband knows there will never be another family getaway or holiday where sd's are with us or i will divorce him. He knows that boundary is firm because i have tolerated so much crap that i had enough. I refuse to be anywhere around those 2 selfish bitches who were more obsessed with breaking a marriage and home for a dad they abandoned when we were there building a life and future with him.
When spouses make one another the priority, thats when kids see to put their spouse first and build a functional respectful and inclusive home. Its even more important in case of dysfunctional ex families and spouses who have give a twisted view of a home. At the rate sd's are going, they won't ever put their spouse first because biomum and stepdad will be given superior authority for meddling and inserting themselves into sd's lives. I don't ever see them becoming independent yet alone have a long lasting marriage until they decide to wake up.
last i heard, their maternal grandfather's 2nd wife hates bio mum because even she tried to control the dad and he eventually cut off his relationship with her on his wife's advice and frustration lol. That stepgrandmother feels sorry for sd's and invites them when it's religious holidays because biomhmand stepdad whom sd's stupidly hold in high regard have basically abandoned them again.
hubby on the other hand flies to my country as he works o/seas so lots of back and forth trips we do and hubby made it clear he will spend religious holidays with us for the next decade at least whilst our kids are at school and since sd's burned any chance of a relationship with us over petty disrespectful vindictive crap, they can be alone because hubby isn't putting them before us.
sadly not often do the dads here always get to that realization and place
It's called RESENTMENT
YESSSSS!!!! The resentment and anger that builds up inside of you not only affects your mental health but also feelings towards your partner. I see it as he/she is the parent therefor his responsibility to correct step kids, when this does not happen it affects the relationship tremendously.
Yes!
Yup! Agreed. It sucks because for 8 years before I came into the picture the relationship with SD/bio mom/my fiancé was so toxic and disfunctional.
Now I have to deal with the garbage and pick up the pieces. I'm resentful that I have to drag him along to be a good father instead of a Disney Dad.
When Mama ain't happy ...
ain't nobody happy. That includes horny DHs.
True.
Yes! I've BEEN truly trying to get my sex drive back because I know it effects him and I don't WANT to have a low sex drive but no amount of supplements, working out, weight loss, lingerie, sex toys, etc. is going to make up for this kind of behavior that makes me resent their relationship and see him as weak.
It definitely takes a toll
It definitely takes a toll and not just in the bedroom! When my husband is in round 3,472 of trying to fix his drug addict, 45 year old daughter, he gets depressed, stops laughing, can't sleep, isn't fun or charming. Not to mention jumping right back on the "have to protect my little angel from the wicked SM!" wagon. It is NOT sexy. So I pull back, avoid touching him, don't send funny vids or links to interesting articles. I do a lot of reading and crocheting, make my own plans with the grands. I am not putting my life on hold for that nitwit. I just have to make sure my moat is full of alligators so he can't try to bring her here!
My husband has told me he de-stresses with sex
So all the stress from work, skids etc he needs sex to de-stress.
so when there are major issues regarding skids especially sd miniwife behaviours and toxic dysfunction, i don't want sex with my husband because i'm turned off by him in this instance until he corrects the issues and addresses it. He might not be able to fix skids but its the turn off for me in him not addressing it with them.
so when he gets no sex, he's even more stressed at work and more pissed off with his kids from exwife for causing further unnecessary issues just because they enjoy the toxic petty dysfunction nonsense they continue to do
Yikes!
Ooooof, that's tough with the druggy daughter. I couldn't even imagine.
I genuinely fear for my SD turning into something like this would if this lazy shut coddling behavior doesn't stop. She's always looking for the next shock factor and way to be the center of attention constantly and I fear a drug addiction could be a desperate attempt in the future to make sure "daddy is still revolving his life around her" because he would certainly have a difficult time with setting any boundaries and not catering to it.
So hard. I'm so sorry.
I went through this with my
I went through this with my ex husband. He was always putting me last, always helicoptering around his useless son, every single thing in our lives revolved around his son. He was the "friend" parent. It was nauseating. Over time, I got to the point where I just had no interest. Couple his sh&tty parenting with the fact that he treated me like sh&t 99% of the time and I just froze up. He sensed this but made no effort to fix things - like he was relieved he didn't have to be intimate with me anymore so he could focus all of his energy, every last drop of it, on his son.
I think your response is normal given the situation. I was so disgusted with my ex's parenting that I just couldn't have sex with him. I could barely look at him. Sounds like you're in the same boat.
I feel that you should take some time to think about yourself and what you want for your future. I doubt that your partner will change how he parents.
Please take care of yourself and keep us posted! :)
Validation.
Thank you for the validation. At least I can genuinely say that my fiancé is truly bothered by our sex life and wants to change it. I have sensed effort and I did lose my shit on him recently about the behavior with SD, which he's been making some progress with.
I am not naive though and he knows I'm on my last nerve with the behavior with her.
Her recent failing grades in every class has completely sent our entire household into a tailspin and I totally lost it and told him if this shit doesn't change with his lazy, entitled, clingy immature daughter that I'm out.
The mini-wife stories I could
The mini-wife stories I could tell you... Well, there was a really bad period of time shortly after DDstb23 was born. SD33 was almost 11 at the time and she couldn't stand that there was another girl "in the way," so she ramped up the mii-wife crap. DH responded to it all and allowed himself to be diverted away from an infant we just had and his newly post-partum wife. After my nether regions started to feel better and DH wanted to get frisky, I was not interested at all. He asked if I was still in pain. I said it wasn't that. I laid it all out there for him that I'm so turned off of a man who has authority and skill to lead an entire orginization but allows himself to get totally powned by an 11 year old girl. Even SS would make comments and he was 9 at the time.
There have been a couple of other periods like that too. DH finally got it when I told him that I have actually wondered if he thinks of SD while he's ramming me. SD had this thing where she would dress very minimally in the house, even in the dead of winter with goosebumps all over her and claim that she was hot while she constantly bent over in booty shorts and very low-cut tops with no bra in front of DH. I wouldn't go near DH sexually for weeks. He claimed he didn't know what to do and was very uncomfortable. I reminded him of the "silence is assent" saying that I have used on him a zillion times to explain why SD does what she does. In that situation I told him that unless and untill he actually uses his fucking big-boy words to tell SD to knock it off and unless and until DH starts acting like he desires me and not his own DD, maybe I can get my desire back, but it'll take a very long time. I told DH that I need to learn to trust him again and I don't trust that he won't "smarten up" for a few days to get laid and then start fawning all over SD again. I need a lengthy period of sustained change first. That marked the end of SD trying to seduce DH with her scantilly clad body. She moved onto others instead. DH also stopped acting like he was in lust with SD. The mini-wife crap continued until my nuclear melt-down 8 years ago. I'm coming close to commemerating that day soon. It'll be 8 years in May LOL.
Curious
So curious about when you went nuclear!
The issue here is until your husband puts sd in her place,
The crap nonsense will continue. It took my husband 1.5 yrs to have that sit down with sd after i told him i had disengaged from wanting anything to do with sd's and would not have any holidays/meet ups with them.
he actually told eldest sd who was about 24 at the time that she is his daughter, not his wife or the mother of his kids which meant she never answers me back ever regarding the parenting of my kids.
if i tell her to stop doing something harmful and inappropriate with my 2 kids, thats it!! There is no answering back from her or her saying its ok i'll still do it or its only a little bit. What i say is what goes!!
hubby told her i was the expert in raising our kids as the stay at home mum, sd's barely spent a few hrs with our then toddler kids yet felt they had superior authority regarding them. Hubby said he would 100% stand by me regarding anything that involved the raising of our kids since i was the one who knew them best
he also told eldest sd that it was 100% inappropriate for every meet up for her and her sister to rant non stop biomum and stepdad bullshit. They continually tried to make them relevant when not. Hubby had to explain that when he divorced their cheating affair mum, it wasn't hubbys care or concern to give a crap about biomum and stepdad. Biomum was stepdads problem to deal with so sd needed to stop the nonsense notifying daddy that mummys marriage might wnd any moment as its not on good terms.
hubby told sd me and our 2 kids was his primary focus, present and future and sd's and ss were late teens/adults and independents or should be independent and therefore it was my husbands belief that me and our 2 kids were his only care concern and prioritity as skids did not require at their age the same level of affection and nurturing as what we reqd.
oh princess b sulked and still is sulking. It didn't occur to her that hubby wouldn't give a crap about bio mum who cheated on him with stepdad. Sd's are so messed up in the head to not understand that
Also curious.
One day I'd love to see a blog about the day you went nuclear!
I cringed so hard reading your story and in some small ways reminded me of my fiancé and SD.
When I met him, she was still sleeping in his bed with him every night at 8 years old. He was also still bathing her and I was so fucking grossed out by those things. Also, the way she would hold her arms out for him to "cuddle her" in a baby voice constantly. *bad*
It was so weird.
I did tell him how I felt and that if the sleeping arrangement didn't change I was put because I wasn't going to come over and stay the night with his 8 year old sleeping in between us. No effing way.
Glad you stood your ground with your attention whore SD.
I would have never gotten away with that kind of crappy as a kid.
He was using his 8-year-old
He was using his 8-year-old daughter for a type of companionship that one gets from an adult partner. No wonder you are grossed out and not attracted to him. Even if he wasn't molesting her, the ick factor was there and you were/are repulsed by it.
Sd’s both behaved like miniwives glued to my husband
It was so unappealing and unattractive. It really killed my intimacy with him and I couldn't have sex.
even on weekend lunch outings, right after leaving restaurant when my husband was pulling our 2 kids in stroller, like clockwork sd's would be hanging off hubby walking side by side with him. At weddings or engagement it was the same.
if i happened to be at engagement and wedding, sd's dressed in dark brown and black which for malays is a depressing colour when vast majority wear colourful clothes. If me and my kids weren't there, boom, they were in bright colours
i remember a poster years ago having a similar occurrence where sd would dress goth around her to subtly show she was mourning daddy being married to her. All these things put me off hubby
when i had on our 3rd trip that eldest sd was screaming and banging on our door, i put my foot down. Hubby came home from work grovelling because he knew he fucked up and if he can't de-stress with sex, he isn't a happy man.
i told him he couldn't pay me money to endure this torture, that sd's were absolute torture to be around. Funnily enough, his first outing alone with them, he said he got real upset when the skids didn't see us and didn't give a shit, not one asked why we weren't there and hubby had spent his time claiming they loved us when i pointed out the facts that this wasn't true.
he said not having us there made him really upset that on his weekend, he wants to be with his family and me and our 2 kids are his family and because of skid/sd bullshit, he has to split his limited time and that upset him. I reminded him that he still chose on those weekends to leave home Saturdays at 11am and come back 7pm or later. No messsages asking did we eat, do you want takeaway or dinner. Nope, hubby came home showered and slept. Didn't give a crap about us then next day sunday he was out from 5am till afternoon playing golf. Got home at 2pm showered and slept.
that was our weekend. Believe me, he got bitchy wife when that happened. Didn't take long for me to say if he couldn't make time for me and our kids considering he is out for work from 7am till 10pm due to his job, meaning me and kids didn't get him during the week, sundays he was out playing golf and sleepingc meant he had no business taking off all day Saturday entertaining skids who didn't even bother contacting him and always ignored him with excuses like "i'm busy"
Me too
I, too have experienced this. I was just telling my DH this because we were having a conversation about what the one thing a good relationship needs is. He says respect.
I mulled it over for a bit and I realized that it was true that I had lost respect for him for his lack of parenting. That lack of respect was also coupled with a lack of desire for him because in my mind, the definition of a man is someone who handles his business. DH handles his business in most respects, except when it comes to his first 2 children.
Further, I feel that they were allowed to disrespect me, even though DH says he always told them they were wrong for things they did. My issue was that he never made them take accountability for the things they did.
Ss18 is almost done with high school. I'm hoping he either completely changes to do the right thing or he has to go. He is always home early, and doesn't work anymore so he's home weekends too. DD will get picked up by my parents so I'll have alone time with DH but with SS there, it's almost impossible for me to want sex.
Ugh.
I feel your pain. Sorry you also deal with this but it feels comforting to know I'm not some unreasonable monster for feeling this way.
I hope your SS gets his shit together. I had a conversation with my fiancé about SD and when she turns 18 after graduating and what the plan will be if she's not working or going to college. He said if she isn't doing at least one or the other that she will be out. We'll see. Hopefully we can turn things around with her before it gets to that level.
Sending you well wishes!
Have you had blood work done
Have you had blood work done to test your thyroid and horomones? Yes a ball less wonder can kill a sex drive but I would highly suggest a visit to your dr to rule out any health issues. Then if you check out ok, you can tackle the state of your relationship. ( and he can't use your horomones against you. Men tend to use that as a gaslighting technique to distract from the real issue: his failure to parent, and keep his priorities and responsibilities separate and clear.
I haven’t.
I haven't done this but I will. Thank you for this suggestion. I've wondered if it could have something to do with something going on internally.
At least whatever happens it will give more answers.