Would you accept a (forced) apology?
Would you accept an apology from your skid/s who have been estranged for years, after committing some really heinous acts and treating you like garbage? I was reading another recent blog about a long term estanged SD who had suddenly initiated contact to her BD, and the anxiety the SM was experiencing surrounding the fear of what will or could happen should the SD make a come back into their lives. What really jumped out at me was the poster describing her fear of being blamed by her DH for the situation.
I related so much to this as I have a long term estranged skid who ran off with BM after committing some truly disgusting acts, and a serious case of miniwife prior to this. She broke my DH's heart and hurt so many people with her actions, as well as angered us (me in particularly, DH made up stupid excuses for her actions - he is very much a disney dad at heart) with how callous she was and how she had absolutely no care or regard for the trail of destruction she left in her wake. The situation very nearly broke up our marriage. The actions she chose to take still have lingering negative effects to this day.
Similarly to the other poster, my SD has been contacting my DH (via email only) asking to reconcile, and it is causing me serious anxiety and fear for the future. She seems to have conveniently forgotten what she did to him, (and me and my kids/family), and has not made any attempt to apologise for what she did, or try to remedy her actions. She has shown she has no remorse whatsoever and has not changed in the slightest, and has always shown strong narcissistic/sociopathis traits (which even DH says he knows is true). SD is playing a big game of acting the victim and my DH is falling right into her agenda.
SD clearly expects to re-enter DH's life, as though nothing happened and for everything to be swept under the rug while DH welcomes her with joy and open arms. This is, of course, only directed to DH. SD refuses to acknowledge he has a wife and family. We just don't exist to her. She wants Daddees attention all to herself. I suspect she wants (more) money, and to again put a wedge inbetween DH and I. Plus SD coming back means BM will be back too, they are joined at the hip and have always been in collusion. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree with those two.
The tables are already shifting from the facts of what SD did and how there is no excuse for her behaviour and how she must apologise and make good on what she did, to putting the pressure on me to forgive her and "get over it". I was honest with DH and told him I am not willing or able to "get over" what SD did, especially when she has no remorse and no consequences or restitution for what she took away from us. I set a boundary that SD is not allowed in our home near myself or my kids. So now apparently I am to blame. DH has started making snide comments about how I am an "unforgiving person" and how I am a "grudge holder" and how he is sad, as though it is my fault we are in this sitution. He also seems to absolve himself of any responsibility of creating this toxic person and is deflecting the blame for his failings and the way his daugter treated us onto me. He actually told me I should go and see a therapist to find out why I am such an "angry person who is full of hate". It is such a cop out. The person he should be directing to see a therapist for her anger and hate is SD! Why am I suddenly the problem when I didn't create them, I gave SD so many chances and DH always said I bent over backwards to show her kindness. What I am finding myself feeling now isn't hate, it is resentment for beng put in the middle of other peoples drama and not having my husband having my back!
The other poster stated how she felt physically sick about her situation and not knowing when her SD would return and her life would crumble. I feel for the poster, as I am already getting the blame and it feels horrible and so unjust. I didn't raise a toxic human, DH and BM did. I told DH it is unacceptable to blame me and that I have every right to protect myself and my children from toxic and harmful people who have already stolen so much from us in so many ways. I don't know either when/if my life will crumble because of this.
DH told me tonight that he has told SD she must apologise to me and the kids. Am I wrong in not wanting this? I don't believe it would be a sincere apology, after all she has had years to apologise. It will be a fake apology, forced by DH, to make herself look good to DH and then he will expect me to to allow her back into my and my kids lives. I don't want SD's bad influence around my kids. I just want to keep us protected from her harming us again. SD has made it clear we don't exist to her. DH wants this big happy family but fails to be cognisant of the reality of the situation. I want him to be happy, but not at the expense of our marriage and kids who were devastated when SD dumped them like they were trash.
For anyone who read this long post, thank you. It feels good getting it out as I have no one else who understands or is in a situation like this. I hope DH can understand where I am coming from and that he has a right to a relationship with his daughter but he didn't do anything to protect me or the kids and we have the right to protect ourselves.
- Justthesecondwife's blog
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Comments
A forced apology is as good
A forced apology is as good as no apology.
It's actually worse,
because it 1) opens the door to the same old toxicity, and 2) turns the SP into the bad guy for not enabling the dysfunction.
Nope, not at my age...and I
Nope, not at my age...and I am not OLD.
15 years ago I would have. Not anymore.
A forced apology is no
A forced apology is no apology at all, as it is not sincere and there is likely no remorse. So no, I would not want an apology that was forced. If your DH has to ask/tell the skid to apologize, it's not a real apology.
As for forgiveness - even if I could forgive actions like that, I could not forget them. You can forgive someone and still not trust them. You can forgive someone and still choose not to be around them or let them into your life. Forgiveness does not mean all is forgotten and we start over with a clean slate. If my husband suggested to me that I go to therapy because I'm an angry person and filled with hate, I would suggest to him that we attend joint therapy to discuss the circumstances that led to that anger and hate and a reasonable way to erect boundaries to insure that those things didn't happen again.
You have no obligations to
You have no obligations to his daughter. She clearly caused a lot of pain to you and yours and I think its great you created clear and strong boundaries to protect yourself. She doesn't have to apologize to you as you know it will not be genuine anyway so SD shouldn't waste her time. YOU don't have to accept her back in your life. If your H chooses to have a relationship with his child that is his right but it will not be in your home.
He's being manipulative because you are standing up for yourself and don't want that toxic energy in your home. So when he starts with that bullshit you tell him that you don't owe her a damn thing and for him to focus on whatever he wants to have with his child because she's not your responsibility. He's just as bad as her and enabled all this f@ckery to go on. It's not your fault that he created an unruly psychopath with his X.
This is all his mess to deal with and you need to stand firm on that. If he allows this to impact your family, outside of receiving some counseling on this situation your H needs to figure out how he's going to be able to balance and address this because you or SD are not going to be a happy camper.
You can accept an apology
without allowing her back into your life/house. Like ndc said, you can forgive but you don't have to forget or remove your boundary.
Stick to your guns, don't let
Stick to your guns, don't let her into your home. If your DH wants to visit with her, let him. My DH tried the I'm an angry person and I need therapy BS and we had it out. I showed him exactly how angry I was. I told that he enables his crazy daughter to treat me like crap, and then expects me not to be angry? Really? He is the one who needs therapy. Along with his crazy kid.... And no I will not be participating in that therapy mess should it ever happen. My SD is a teen in my home, I wish her the best in life, but I'm long past the point where even a genuine apology would be enough to entice me to cozy up to her.
You are under no obligation
You are under no obligation to have a relationship with her and a forced apology is meaningless. Let DH know he is welcome to have a relationship with her outside of your home, and if at some point in time, you are willing to see her or allow her in the home, you will let him know.
He can see his daughter
He can see his daughter offsite, away from you. He doesn't need to involve you in this. I'd tell him to keep me out of it and just give me a heads up when he's going out, etc.
I do not know this woman, but
I do not know this woman, but I am not sure it is fair to say that an apology you have not recieved yet is forced. Your husband has (strongly) suggested that she do it, but she hasn't followed through with it yet. So either she is not going to, or perhaps she is taking a little time to refect on her actions and may be able to muster a sincere apology. That is the generous answer of course she could just be brooding and contiue to ignore you until she reaches a point where she wants brownie points from her dad and will fake an apology.
If sd does express that she wants to apolgize then if you are really not ready to hear it yet, it is ok to ask for some more time before you hear what she has to say. If you would rather she write someting than do it in person then that is ok too. You do not have to see her if you do not want to. I would also insist that she still has no contact with your kids until you and sd have cleared the air somewhat.
As for therapy...personally I would not go to therapy with sd in your situation. She is not your daughter and you are under no obligation to forgive her or let her back into your life. Don't put yourself in a vulnerable position with her by being asked to either listen to her therapy session or being asked to open up in front of someone that you do not like or trust.
I would however go with my husband if I were you. You two are in a commited realtionship that deserves some care and attention to get it back to a good place. It sounds like you two do not see each other's persepectives and a therapist may help you both to see and understand how the other is feeling and it might help your husband understand why you are still upset about the past behavior of sd.
If your husband wants to see a therapist on his own or with his sd then that is his choice.
Thank you so very much!
Thank you so very much! You ladies (and gents if applicable) are amazing and have provided much needed validation and advice. I appreciate you all taking the time to assist me and provide your feedback and own experiences.
I have thought about everything and realise I do hold a grudge against SD and have not forgiven her for taking away our wedding, honeymoon and making the first couple of years of our marriage hell with it being on the brink of divorce. All due to SD (and BM). What she took away cannot be returned or rectified. She ruined what should have been special, and moments which we should fondly look back on through photos and memories. But we have no photos, because we had no wedding or honeymoon due to her stealing from us, and the memories of the first couple of years of marriage only consist of trying to survive the hell they were dishing out, anxiety and depression. And these are just the tip of the iceberg of what SD did. An apology cannot turn back time and make up for the special times she took from us, it cannot cure the PTSD she caused, it cannot remove the trauma my kids went through. Sometimes sorry just doesn't cut it, especially when the words don't match the actions.
I used to be very angry at SD, which transitioned to resentment, which transitioned to focusing on the future with my DH and kids and being grateful SD was out of the picture and the hell had stopped. My and DH's marriage had gone from strength to strength once SD and BM were gone. It just showed that our marriage issues were caused by the toxicity SD brought into our lives, as well as the way DH so poorly parented and handled her. We stopped fighting and the kids have become so much happier and secure and are excelling in school etc.
I have realised I am not ready to have SD in my life or my kids lives. I do not want to go to therapy with her. Her therapists in the past have all said SD has no sincerety in her words and just says what she has to, to get herself out of trouble. I have accepted apologies in the past from SD, which were clearly just words as she continued on her vendetta, so I am inclined to believe the past therapists. I'm just not intersted in bringing the toxic back. I don't hate SD, that requires too much energy. I just don't want anything to do with her.
I am going to stick with my boundary regarding not having SD anywhere near myself, kids or home and if DH doesn't like it, well too bad so sad. She is his problem and the result of his failure to parent, not mine. If he wants to try to blame me or manipulate me he will be in for a serious wake up call. You ladies have propped up my backbone again and my resolve to protect myself and my kids. I love my DH but I am not willing to sacrifice my and my kids happiness, security and welbeing in order to make him feel better about the disordered person he created. I hope SD does change, for her own sake as she will live a very miserable life, and make others miserable, if she continues on the same path, and for the sake of my DH who loves her. If she does make major changes maybe my stance will also change in the future. I guess only time will tell, but until then my guard is up and I told my DH to leave me and the kids out of his reconcilation with SD.
Thank you again for listening!