Father gives his daughter's room to his stepdaughter without permission: "Was I irresponsible?"
In families with more than one small child, jealousies between siblings are completely understandable and natural: providing the same amount of attention to each child is certainly important in order not to feed any negative feelings which may develop between the infants. And if we are talking about extended families, it can become even more complex. If two partners get together after they have already become parents and decide to live under the same roof, the relationship between the step-siblings can be delicate to say the least - at least in the early days of the relationship.
A man questioned his decision, telling followers that he had given his daughter's room to his new wife's baby and without asking her permission. He posted his story to the internet, asking for an opinion about his decision.
via Reddit
The man began his story by explaining the context: "My new wife and I have already had children: I have four of my own and she has had three. My children are much older than hers. In fact, the two older ones have already moved out."
The man explains that, even before the wedding, he had promised his new partner's children that each of them would have a room of their own, since up until that point they they had never had one to themselves.
When the time came to welcome them into the house, however, he realized that there was not enough space: his two minor children would still have to remain in the house for at least another year, so all that remained was to ask the older ones for permission to give their rooms to their step-siblings.
“I called my eldest son, and he said he was ok with it. My other child - my daugther - however, gave me a much bigger problem: I called her at least three times during the day, without receiving an answer. I knew she was dodging my calls on purpose. "
At that point, the man was overwhelmed by the anxiety of having to disappoint the new arrivals, so he decided to proceed anyway: he cleared out his eldest daughter's room without her consent, furnishing it for his new wife's daughter.
Despite the early days going well, with the new, extended family being more than satisfied, things with the eldest daughter got worse and worse. In fact, the girl chose not to spend Christmas with her family and, at the beginning of the new year, she asked to get her room back.
“I had talked to her over the course of a few months, but I admit I never told her anything about her room, because it didn't seem important then. So, it was only recently that I told her what had happened to her room and that there was nothing more of hers in it. "
The young woman did not take this news well at all: "She started shouting and insulting me. I told her that I had tried to contact her during the change and that technically, it was no longer her room. "
The argument spiralled downward, with the girl insulting her father's new wife and the defensive reaction from her father who accused his daughter of wanting to create problems for his relationship.
The man turned to social media user to determine if he had acted badly: "I want to be sympathetic with my daughter's issue, but I also have to take care of my new children - so I can no longer put her first. However, do I have to consider that I might have handled the situation a bit more diplomatically, no? "
What do you think? Did this father make a mistake giving up the room without his daughter's permission, or is she the one who is making a mountain out of a molehill?
