Ok, here goes….
I have four children (2 biological (15 & 7)and 2 step (7 and 10) all boys). My mother singles out my biological 7 year old and babies him and actively shows favoritism toward him. She also comes to my house and when seeing the boys, will ask them to ask me if we can go to the movies or go out to eat. Or she will ask them to ask me if they can have a snack before dinner or lunch. I think that is putting them in the middle and have told her NOT to do it anymore. I told her that the grandparent has different rules and when the grandparent it the authority figure (when I nor wife are around) she can spoil them rotten(different rules when with grandparents) but when around me or my wife, we decide what happens with them.
She even actively scolds me in front of them for disciplining “her pick” if she doesn’t think he needed to be disciplined. Given the fact that this is my house and I (my new wife and I) have custody of all four boys, I think she is way out of line and have told her that this is my house and not to question me in front of them with I am doing that. She also tells her friends and some of my family that she is supporting me because she takes all of us out to eat and shopping a lot.
I don’t have a job near as good as hers and she knows I can’t afford to go out to eat or go shopping or to the movies all the time. I nor the children am not in NEED of food or anything else, she just buys things for us that “makes life easier” . Like she bought a riding lawn mower for me to use with the condition that I mow her yard too. The mower she later told me she wanted to gibe to my great uncle. I said, you bought it, you can do with it what you want. She said she would replace it for me. I spent 10 hours going from store to store looking for the best deal on models, features and prices. After that work was does and presented to her, she asked if I would rather have a Zero-Turn mower (about 3 times as expensive) I said sure, who wouldn’t. But it is so much more. She wanted to get the more expensive Zero-Turn for me so I said, OK. She put it in my name. She also had paid for me to have Dish network installed and paid for it for six months for me for my x-mas present one year.
I have told her before that I am not comfortable with her spending that much on me because I want to be independent ( I am now 40). She now has told her friends that she is tired of supporting me and wants me to stand on my own two feet. She has told them and my family that I am asking her to take us out for food and clothing and lawn equipment. I have told her in the past that when she is in my home or with me, I am the authority figure for my children (all four of them). I have also told her to stop actively showing favoritism to the one child. I know it is hard to love non biological children the same as biological, but I have asked her to not SHOW it. She still does. She still contents that she is supporting me. I have asked her not to spend any more money on me. She still calls and wants to go out to eat when she knows I don’t have the money to do it.
Now fast forward about a month. When I found out about what she is telling her friends and my/our family about me, I told her she is no longer welcome in my home and if she cannot quit showing favoritism, she is no longer allowed around the children. The last time we were together eating ice-cream, she snuck a bite of ice-cream to the “favorite”. My wife saw it and said “he does not need any more ice-cream”. As we all walked out of the store, she did it again and I gave her an evil look. My wife confronted her about it and now my mother is REALLY mad at my wife. Wife hates my mother. Now my mother is siding with my ex-wife trying to take my children away from me and give them to my ex since my ex said my mother can see the kids anytime she wants.
Am I wrong for how I feel about me being a parent? Am I wrong for what I did and said? I would love her to be in their lives and we (me and wife) have begged her to meet with us to work this out for the kids sake. She refuses. I refuse to let them be around someone who is blatently disrespectful for me as a person and me as a parent.
2007-06-11
04:47:49
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22 answers
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asked by
Michael G
1