I f36 have been with my boyfriend m41 for 2 years. He has 3 kids (6,12,4) while I have an 18-year-old son.
The other day my 12 yo stepson fell off the stairs and injured his ankle, his dad and I had to get him to the hospital and needed someone to stay with the kids while we were there. My boyfriend told my son to skip his part-time job and stay with and watch his stepbrothers.
When we returned, My son asked my boyfriend to pay him for “babysitting” “his kids” I admit my son doesn’t have the best relationship with his stepdad or stepsiblings but My boyfriend and I were shocked by this.
My son explained that he had to skip a workday which cost him to lose money and asked my boyfriend to pay him for his time. My boyfriend scolded him harshly and told him that staying home with his stepbrothers isn’t babysitting and he deserves no money for it.
plus that skipping one day of work won’t do much harm.
but my son disagreed and kept arguing with my boyfriend saying his stepbrothers aren’t his responsibility. My boyfriend ended up punishing him and taking away all his electronics as well as cancelling his birthday months away.
My son fought back talking about how unfair this was and asked me to get involved. I sided with my boyfriend because I really did not appreciate how my son used this family emergency to his advantage and thought he’d get money out of helping family out.
My son didn’t like where I stood in this conflict and accused me of favouring my stepkids to stay on my boyfriend’s good side while ignoring the mistreatment towards him.
I cut the argument and he’s become silent ever since. He even refused to eat with us or sit with us.
What should I do?
This is what netizens thinks:
- He’s not their stepbrother. You are not married to that man. That’s your boyfriend. Your son had to miss out on a day of work, a day of pay, and you couldn’t pay him for babysitting? The 12 year olds father could have gone to the hospital with his son alone, while you stayed home with the rest of the kids. This isn’t your sons problem. It doesn’t take 2 people for a sprained or broken ankle.
- Yes, the child’s father should have taken his son and she should have stayed home. Most hospitals only allow one person back anyway. I don’t get how parents allow someone they are dating, to treat their child like that and they back them up.