<t>Hello all<br/>
<br/>
I apologize for the length in advance, I am married to my wonderful wife who I adore, her son was 6 years old when we met, and he is now going on 11. He is a really nice kid but very emotional and VERY attached to mom. His father sees him for 48 hours every 2 weeks, my step son adores his dad, which I wouldn't expect less, his dad's idea of being a good dad is letting him stay up until 1am playing video games and telling him eating vegetables makes you skinny. My step son has always been adept in manipulation and I feel like he sees me as coming in between him and mom. He’s good at playing his mom against me and us against his dad. Recently my wife gave birth to our son, who is amazing and I absolutely adore him. My step son was very difficult during the build up to birth; he gave me a tough time in particular and even said he wanted to kill me during a meltdown. He told us he would never have anything to do with the new baby and hated his name. When baby was born my step son went completely the opposite way, he absolutely adores his new brother which was a relief, but he has quickly become obsessed and jealous of my time and relationship with the baby. For instance, I come in late from work and he waits for that time to spend time with baby. He says I’m "lucky" because I get to hold him, he said this when I was carrying him through the busy parking lot at the hospital. He tries to tell me how to do things, I was about to put his binky in his mouth when my step son said "not yet", he tells me what baby likes and doesn't like. I had to tell him to back off and remind him that he is the brother and I am dad. He went right to his mom to ask her if I was right about putting the binky in his mouth, she told him he shouldn't question my parenting. I'm doing my best to involve my step son in everything. I buy him gifts and try to spend extra time with him doing what he likes; I cuddle him and show love but this still ends up with him being difficult, it’s like it’s never enough. He's very self-centered, I guess most kids his age are but it hurts me especially when he sees his mom going through a tough time and he wants her attention. His mom is not 100% back to full health after giving birth and has been to the ER since, this causes a strain on us all but step son still wants all her attention, he will fall over when no one’s looking and cry, he likes to be out of his room multiple times after bedtime (I counted 13 the other night). Today he was slamming doors hard while his mom was sleeping, I tell him to be quiet and he ignores me, he then stomps out the door for his bus with me following behind. He later sent a negative text to me. I am working hard for the whole family, mine is the only income, I try my best, I am a good hard working family man who would do anything for anyone and I’m just exhausted with his behavior. Any advice you have would be very welcome, I apologize for the length of post and thank you if you got all the way through.<br/>
<br/>
Regards</t>
<br/>
I apologize for the length in advance, I am married to my wonderful wife who I adore, her son was 6 years old when we met, and he is now going on 11. He is a really nice kid but very emotional and VERY attached to mom. His father sees him for 48 hours every 2 weeks, my step son adores his dad, which I wouldn't expect less, his dad's idea of being a good dad is letting him stay up until 1am playing video games and telling him eating vegetables makes you skinny. My step son has always been adept in manipulation and I feel like he sees me as coming in between him and mom. He’s good at playing his mom against me and us against his dad. Recently my wife gave birth to our son, who is amazing and I absolutely adore him. My step son was very difficult during the build up to birth; he gave me a tough time in particular and even said he wanted to kill me during a meltdown. He told us he would never have anything to do with the new baby and hated his name. When baby was born my step son went completely the opposite way, he absolutely adores his new brother which was a relief, but he has quickly become obsessed and jealous of my time and relationship with the baby. For instance, I come in late from work and he waits for that time to spend time with baby. He says I’m "lucky" because I get to hold him, he said this when I was carrying him through the busy parking lot at the hospital. He tries to tell me how to do things, I was about to put his binky in his mouth when my step son said "not yet", he tells me what baby likes and doesn't like. I had to tell him to back off and remind him that he is the brother and I am dad. He went right to his mom to ask her if I was right about putting the binky in his mouth, she told him he shouldn't question my parenting. I'm doing my best to involve my step son in everything. I buy him gifts and try to spend extra time with him doing what he likes; I cuddle him and show love but this still ends up with him being difficult, it’s like it’s never enough. He's very self-centered, I guess most kids his age are but it hurts me especially when he sees his mom going through a tough time and he wants her attention. His mom is not 100% back to full health after giving birth and has been to the ER since, this causes a strain on us all but step son still wants all her attention, he will fall over when no one’s looking and cry, he likes to be out of his room multiple times after bedtime (I counted 13 the other night). Today he was slamming doors hard while his mom was sleeping, I tell him to be quiet and he ignores me, he then stomps out the door for his bus with me following behind. He later sent a negative text to me. I am working hard for the whole family, mine is the only income, I try my best, I am a good hard working family man who would do anything for anyone and I’m just exhausted with his behavior. Any advice you have would be very welcome, I apologize for the length of post and thank you if you got all the way through.<br/>
<br/>
Regards</t>
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