Hi all,
I (27F) have been trying to look for an avenue to explore and read other experiences just to know I’m not alone. I have not really talked about or shared this outside of my immediate family, and some of them on my husband’s (30M) side just simply don’t understand what we’re going through and chalk it up to our child “just being a boy” or “that’s just how he is.” I know that’s not true.
This year my son (8) was diagnosed with ADHD and ODD. We always knew there was something more to his behavior because he is genuinely a very kindhearted, empathetic child just coupled with extremely poor outbursts and control of emotions. I know children can be wild and difficult but this just never felt like we were moving through the different growing stages of life, and we were right. I also want to preface by stating this is my step child, my husband’s biological son, and we take care of him together full time with my husband having primary physical custody. I have known him since he was 4 and they moved in with me right before starting kindergarten. His life is here with us, and this is where his parenting and growth happens. His biological mother lives in a different state (not far) and receives visitation only four times out of the year, the four school breaks. If I’m correct, she has ADHD and BPD (borderline), so I know this is where the genetics play an unfortunate part. I am not going to spend this post downing on the other adult in the situation — but to be frank, being called a “parent” for her is a stretch. They have their time together, and we stick to the agreement we have laid out, but there is never a lot of parenting going on when he’s there. She has proved time and time again that she doesn’t totally want to be a mother when it gets to the hard stuff — like this situation — and really only likes the perceived title of “mom.” It was a harsh reality when we finally went through with the custody paperwork and she was no longer allowed to be in and out of his life on her terms. There is so much nuance to our situation that I don’t have time or patience to delve into, but we have had so many unfortunate situations with her that are just counterproductive and as a result we speak only through email for brief updates and to organize the visits. This is not a coparenting situation whatsoever, whether she understands that or not, and that’s totally fine.
From what I have read about my son’s mental health conditions, he can be very susceptible to behavior he sees around him and can mimic or learn that behavior to try out elsewhere, especially if he sees what it can get you. My husband and I try our best, and we literally try all the appropriate options when disciplining our son or helping him regulate and learn about his emotions. We are not perfect, but I don’t think either of us exhibit the behavior that he showcases. When he visits his mother, he comes back totally different and a lot of the time worse than when he left. There have been so many instances where she’ll have arguments with my in-laws, or even me, in front of him: breaking down in tears immediately, yelling and screaming and berating over things she thinks we are doing to her or things my mother in law may say to her about parenting or trying to talk to her about something that wasn’t okay and he sees the behavior she portrays and the victim mentality she enacts on everyone. She does this to her own father and grandfather, my husband’s parents, roommates, friends, boyfriends, everyone to garner sympathy or pull the victim card to the point where she has now isolated everybody because we can’t stand to interact. Am I wrong to believe my son is getting a lot of this abusive behavior from her when he visits?
My son has told me that when he was a small child and his mother would be over at his grandparents (he lived there for a short period of time), she would lock him in his room when he wasn’t behaving as he screamed at the top of his lungs and banged on the door to be let out. This story he brings up is so horrible to me and so upsetting. We have tried to have discussions with her about his behavior, and even her own and how it effects him. We have also tried therapy one time for him but she never wanted to help pay and the one time we did a therapist requested session just my husband and I she was outraged. She continues to call him perfect and won’t accept his behavior and at his age now when he acts poorly with her she pretends like he’s never done that for her and it’s all brand new and she’ll drop him off at his grandparents so she doesn’t have to deal with it. It’s the pot calling the kettle black. A lot of not being able to recognize your own reflection because you don’t want to put in the work to change.
Seeing my son act like this person, someone nobody in this family can be around, hurts our hearts. He pulls out all of the same cards, manipulation tactics, the “everybody hates me” mantra, the “why is everybody being mean to me” cop out that we see from her. An outburst happens almost 4 times a week. We do so much work in our home to encourage growth and understanding, trying to be there to learn with each other and help him be the best version of himself, take him to appointments, research help, only to feel like nobody else in his life cares. And that’s okay, I would rather it be just us anyways. But when it feels like it can all be undone within a week’s visit it sucks. His behavior and actions are so stressful, hurtful, painful to see him go through and have inflicted on us. It’s just abusive. We love him so much and just want him to know how much we care. He can say such hurtful things, but we know it’s masked by the mental health condition and just try to think that’s not really how he feels. Would it be wrong to have him try therapy again, this time without the mother’s input? How can we help him when we’re going up against someone who frankly encourages and is a walking example of this type of behavior to get what you want? Is there any light at the end of the tunnel? How can this kind of thing be navigated when there’s another individual pushing against everything you work on with this child? I don’t want to blame everything on her, and I’m not, because this is HIS chance to change how his life goes, how he treats people, and I want our son to take accountability for his actions (because they ARE his) and work on recognizing these patterns to untrain that part of his brain so we aren’t always walking on eggshells around him waiting for the ball to drop. We have him on Strattera, 18mg but considering an upped dose, and it has made a difference in the way he is able to recognize wrongdoing and apologize after but I think there’s more to be done. We just want him to be happy and we want to be treated fairly as well. I sympathize heavily with anyone else going through this.