How can I get my husband’s daughter to go live with her grandmother? I can’t accept his child.
I married a man with a daughter from his first marriage. Her mother abandoned her and moved abroad with a new man, leaving the child with her father. Now I’m living in hell, trying to share a home with his difficult daughter in our little town of Wellingborough. I dreamed of a happy family, but instead, I’m stuck with a spoiled, rude girl who makes my life miserable. Now that I’m pregnant, I need her to go stay with her grandmother. But how do I make her want to leave?
When Anthony and I first started dating, his daughter, Emily, mostly lived with her gran. I barely saw her and thought I could accept her as part of his life. But after the wedding, everything changed. His mother declared she was too old to handle a young girl and moved Emily in with us. I tried to connect with her, but every effort crashed against her indifference and defiance. She ignores me like I don’t exist. Worse—she acts like she owns the place, leaves messes everywhere, and complains about me to her dad or gran at every turn.
Every day, I hear my mother-in-law’s lectures: “Be more patient, Emma, find a way to bond!” Anthony begs me to be understanding, but why should I reward a 12-year-old who openly disrespects me? She isn’t mine, and I refuse to be her nanny. I’ll soon have my own child, and I won’t tolerate her behavior. Why does no one discipline her, put her in her place? Anthony and his mum spoil her, blind to her rudeness and laziness. If this continues, she’ll grow up into a spoiled brat.
Emily is messy and lazy. She leaves dirty dishes, scatters clothes, and I’m stuck cleaning up after her. Her sly, spiteful behavior shocks me—she does everything to provoke me. Anthony works late, so Emily and I are often alone. She isn’t a baby, but he and his mother refuse to leave her unsupervised. Why must I sacrifice my time and sanity? I want a job, a life, freedom!
Her grandmother visits for a few hours, coos over Emily, then scolds me: “Why don’t you spend time with her? Why aren’t you stricter?” She truly believes I should take full responsibility for Anthony’s child. Their pressure suffocates me. If they didn’t demand the impossible, maybe I’d cope. But now I regret marrying a man “with baggage.” Emily will never be family, and I won’t pretend.
Pregnancy complicates everything. I want peace, to prepare for my baby—not waste energy on his daughter. Emily is part of Anthony’s past, but I shouldn’t suffer for it. How do I make her leave without tearing us apart? I’m at my limit, and I need a way out.
