Dad Refuses To Let His Stepdaughter Move Back In After Noticing That She's A 'Terrible Influence' On His Two Children
This father feels his stepdaughter needs to be on her own instead of living at home and causing havoc.
My Agency / Shutterstock "My stepdaughter and her boyfriend broke up recently and she wants somewhere else to stay for a few months until her lease ends since she doesn’t want to keep living with her ex," a father began in a confessional, posted to the subreddit "r/AmItheA--hole" (AITA).
The subreddit is an online forum where users try to figure out if they were wrong or not during an argument that has been bothering them.
He refuses to let his stepdaughter move back home after noticing she's a 'terrible influence' on his two children.
In his Reddit post, he explained that his 24-year-old stepdaughter needs somewhere to stay until she can get back on her feet, and inquired about being able to move back home with him and his wife, her mother. However, he outright refused and informed Reddit readers of the reason why.
The father of two revealed that he feels as if his stepdaughter is a "terrible influence" on his daughters, aged 6 and 3, who are also his stepdaughter's half-siblings. "She always tries to have friends over and they’re always loud and shouting in her bedroom when it’s past the kids’ bedtimes," he wrote.
Photo: G-Stock Studio / Shutterstock
"She comes home late, drunk, and triggered our home alarms because she’s too wasted to turn them off," he continued, adding that he constantly has to remind her to do her chores around the house even though she's an adult and shouldn't need to be reminded.
Though, his last straw with his stepdaughter came after he asked her to watch her sibling because they had to take the other child to the hospital for a medical emergency. "We took her to the ER directly from school and asked her to watch the younger one since the babysitter had to leave."
When they returned, her stepfather was angered to discover that she had gotten drunk while watching her younger sibling. When she was confronted, the 24-year-old didn't understand why he was so upset with her since she had put the child to sleep like normal.
Photo: MAYA LAB / Shutterstock
"My wife keeps asking me to reconsider letting her stay with us but I’ve put my foot down," he admitted. "I’m trying to do what’s best for the kids but my stepdaughter is also just generally a messy and unpleasant person to be around and I don’t think my mental health could take having to live with her for a couple [of] months again."
Most Reddit users agreed that he made the right decision in not allowing his stepdaughter to move home.
"Do NOT let her back in your home. If she gets a foot in the door, she will never leave... especially since your wife wants her there. A 24-year-old who drinks that much should not be around young kids!" one Reddit user pointed out.
Another user agreed, writing, "You have two VERY easily influenced children to think about. It's not only how she behaves and how the kids tend to soak up that behavior, it's also a HUGE safety issue. She sees nothing wrong with getting drunk while caring for a little one."
A third user offered up a solution to the father, adding, "Since she's behaved badly in the past, especially endangering your daughter, I don't blame you. You could try to compromise and say she can stay for one month, hard stop, that's it."
"Then she'd have to find somewhere else, or she could stay for a few months but is immediately out the first time something like above happens again."
It can be a hard parenting decision to decide not to let your child move back home, but in this case, the father has two young kids to think about and care for and clearly doesn't want to risk something happening if he allows his stepdaughter to move back in with him and their family.
Nia Tipton is a Brooklyn-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.