I (34F) have been married to my husband, Jason (39M), for three years.
He has two daughters, Emily (10F) and Lily (8F), from his previous marriage. I also have a daughter, Ava (12F), from my previous relationship. She has always struggled with her stepfamily. The adjustment hasn’t been easy, but I’ve done my best to create a harmonious blended family. However, Ava has been extremely rude to Jason and his daughters since day one.
She refuses to engage with them, calls Jason “the guy Mom married” instead of his name, and has outright told Emily and Lily they “don’t belong here.” I’ve talked to her countless times, grounded her, taken away privileges-nothing works. Jason has been patient and understanding, but I can see it wears on him. Last week was the breaking point. She caught her stepsister using her art supplies.
Ava came home from school, saw Emily playing with her art supplies (with permission), and screamed, “Get your dirty hands off my stuff, you little brat!”. What made matters worse is that she destroyed her stepsister’s art project. Jason intervened, but Ava shot back, “You’re not my dad, so don’t tell me what to do!” That night, I sat her down and explained that her behavior was unacceptable.
“Ava, this isn’t fair to anyone. You’re being mean, and it needs to stop,” I said.
She crossed her arms and glared at me. “You’re always on their side. Maybe I should just leave so you can all be happy.”
Her words stung, and I finally snapped, “If you can’t respect our family, you won’t be joining us for Christmas.’ When she heard that she couldn’t come for Christmas this year, that’s when things blew up.
“You’re the worst mom ever! One day, you’ll be sorry!” she yelled before storming to her room.
Fast forward to the night after the argument. Later, I was woken up at 2 AM by my phone buzzing. An unknown number had called me five times before I finally answered. On the other end, I heard a strange man’s voice saying, “You think you can just abandon your daughter and get away with it?”