Stepmom feels left out by relationship
DEAR ABBY: I think my stepdaughter “Caroline” has an unhealthy relationship with my husband. Caroline calls him several times a day and gets tattoos just like his. When she got a boob job, she wanted to show him.
She doesn’t talk to me much, although I have tried to be close to her.
Caroline knows I don’t approve of the way she gets money.
She has a job at a local store, but wants things she can’t afford, so she sleeps with men for money. Her dad seems fine with it.
They seem to have a closeness that he doesn’t share with me.
We are fine until she gets involved. She does things to keep her dad doing things for her so he doesn’t have time for me. What should I do? I’ve talked to him about this, but he thinks I’m crazy.
DISGUSTED STEPMOM IN GEORGIA DEAR STEPMOM: You are not crazy. Your husband and his daughter have a relationship it would be an understatement to call “inappropriate.”
Caroline appears to be unusually emotionally dependent upon her father. That she would show him her newly acquired “boobs” may seem strange, but it’s not shocking to me. Many women who get implants show them off to anyone who will look until the novelty wears off.
What I do find appalling is a father who would approve of his daughter prostituting herself. What does Caroline’s mother think of all this? If she’s living, she must be beside herself. If she’s dead, she must be spinning in her grave.
Frankly, I’m not sure what you should “do.” If it were me, I’d remove myself from the equation.
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Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.
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