Hello everyone! This is my first post on a website like this and I'm looking for some insight from others in my situation. I am currently 19 years old in a relationship with a man who has one daughter from a previous marriage. I am also 37 weeks pregnant with our son.

When I first met my significant other, I thought he was the most wonderful man and father to his little girl. Little did I know that when I got pregnant, things were going to change drastically. We are still together a year later, though my partner is going through a divorce with DSDs biological mother. When I first met DSD she was two years old and the sweetest child you could imagine. Now, only a year later, this child has become my absolute worst nightmare.

During the year long divorce, BM and dad decided to do joint 50/50 shared custody. My partner and I have my stepdaughter every other week for 7 days. This would be wonderful, however, I feel like I am in this child's life by myself with no support from either parent. Step daughters father works daily from 3pm-12pm and I spend his working hours caring for his child. I would have no issue with this if I felt that he backed me up in parenting his child that is obviously distraught in her situation. (What child wouldn't be?)

SD has recently become so sneaky, disrespectful, hateful, and mean that I can barely contain my anger with her. Being 37 weeks pregnant, I am unable to run around after her the same way I used to be able to. This child is the direct representation of everything I was raised not to be. She makes daily comments about how much she is going to dislike the new baby, stating that her father only loves her and will never love her brother. She continually DESTROYS the house when I will be changing laundry over or making dinner and then gets an attitude when I confront her about it. She will give terrible attitude when asked to do anything that doesn't involve television or something she wants to do. Lastly, she consistently abuses the family pet, even after she has been repeatedly asked to play nicer.

I genuinely think that most of the problem with this child lies in the fact that neither of her biological parents want anything to do with her. Her mother would gladly send her off with anyone who would take her during her visitation and her father is excessively permissive of her bad behavior. He refuses to back me up in confrontations with her because he feels guilty. I have desperately begged him to go to therapy with me in order to learn better ways to parent together but he refuses to go because "it doesn't work" in his opinion. I plead with him every single day to help me in parenting her, which I don't believe is a step parents job in the first place. It has gotten to the point that family members (his and mine) want nothing to do with us anymore because of her behavior and he still doesn't believe there is a problem. I'm tired of constantly being told that "it's my job to watch and take care of her" and "if I don't watch her, it must mean that I don't love him" I feel like being so young, I have been manipulated into a relationship where I am constantly a maid and babysitter. Even BM has called me "the babysitter." I am discouraged in thinking that I will have no help with our son because of the way he reacts to his daughters behavior and I'm also afraid for my son to be around SD because of the threats she has made against him. At this point I'm wondering if it would be better emotionally and physically for my son and also myself to just leave and raise our family with only the two of us. Any help or insight would be appreciated as I am unsure on where to go from here...

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