Problem at home, what can I do?

Question

I have been married for less than a year now and everything started out great. But now my 7 year old step daughter is constantly screaming, yelling, ALWAYS crying, and yesterday it got to the point where she was actually kicking, punching, pushing, and screaming at me because I took the phone away from her because she was in trouble. She is out of control and my husband is doing nothing to stop it. What can I do? I dont feel like hitting a step child is right, so I cannot do that. Im always telling him that her needs to bust her butt or send her to her room, he blames it on bipolar disorder... if she has that, dont you think she would need some counseling and get meds or something? I am at my witts-end!! What should I do?

Answer 1

if that is what she has then i suggest you see a doc because they will be able to help control that. other than that you probably need to disipline her itll be hard but you dont neceseraly have to be physical that never works. talk to your husband too you guys need to come up with a solution as this is both of your responsibilities more his but also yours since you got married. best of luck :>

Answer 2

The 2 of you need to have a SERIOUS talk so that you get on the same page about how to discipline this child.  Him making excuses for her will NOT do her any good in the long run.  The world doesn't accept excuses so his babying her now will only cripple her when she has to go out into the real world!  IF she does have bi-polar disorder, then he & his ex need to discuss a course of treatment but I personally wouldn't believe that she does until I heard it from the psychologist.  She needs help if she has that.  But even if she does, it's not like people with bi-polar disorder have no control over their actions.  They do.  Their moods may be manic but they can learn techniques for acting nicely to people.  There's absolutely no excuse for yelling, kicking, or punching.  He shouldn't let her treat you that way and the fact that he does is a REAL problem.  He's acting like a wouss to be honest.  Tell him to man-up and deal with his daughter because it's not as much your place to do this.  I'm sure she may be acting out in part because it's a new transition having you as a step-mom.  Try making time to spend with her one-on-one to bond over something you have in common.  Tell her you're not trying to replace her mom at all and that you love her daddy very much.  Sometimes kids get so angry when parents re-marry because they feel like their own lives aren't in their hands - the adults make all the decisions without ever asking the kids what they want.  So they end up feeling like no one cares what they think.  Just spend some quality time helping her through this transition & encourage your husband to get her the mental therapy she needs.