‘[I don’t] want to deal with her kid': Dad's girlfriend demands her 15-year-old ‘stepson’ handle night parenting for her clingy 5-year-old, then the teenager forces her to parent by locking his door

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Feb 10, 2025 8:00 PM EST

This teenager set boundaries with Dad's new girlfriend after she and her 5-year-old son moved in, protecting his peace and locking his door after the clingy child refused to let him sleep.

I'm not an only child, but sometimes I wish I was. Dealing with a sibling can be emotionally taxing, especially if you have a big age gap. As one sibling goes through their puberty years, the other is just getting out of diapers, this widening the rift between them. Oftentimes the eldest will get stuck with some of the parenting duties, which isn't too unreasonable to imagine. But when a teenager goes from being an only child to being the sole night manager of their clingy kid-stepbrother, the drastic change in family dynamics is more than destabilizing, it's maddening. 

Keep scrolling to read how this 15-year-old kid handled the adjustment of introducing his dad's new girlfriend to the mix, drawing a hard boundary line that would ultimately remind her who's kid needed parenting.

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  • Cheezburger Image 10463315200
    via Africa Images

    (The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.)

    While it's always a struggle to navigate the growing pains of a combined family, this stepmother seriously overstepped her boundaries with her new teenage stepson, expecting him to immediately lock into his newfound 'big bother' role without ever asking his opinion on the matter.

  • My dad moved his girlfriend and her son (5) in with us in October. I (15) guess my dad's girlfriend had hyped her son up to have a brother and he's been clingy with me since they moved in. When I'm home he's following me around and wanting me to play with him.
    via RoosterNo5242
  • He tries to get inside my room whether I'm there or not. Sometimes I'll get home from a friends house and he's bouncing on my bed and then he'll try to jump on me. He'll ask for me piggyback rides whether we're
    via RoosterNo5242
  • home or if we're out on 'family trips' with my dad and his mom. His mom complains when I say no and then dad will tell me I could carry him around for a little while and why can't I give the kid what he wants.
    via RoosterNo5242
  • I hate it but it's worse at night. The kid sleepwalks some nights and other nights he wakes up and he just can't fall back asleep. Before when he'd wake up he'd come into my room and I'd send him away. It made his mom angry
    via RoosterNo5242
  • Cheezburger Image 10463326464
    via Africa Images

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • because he'd go back to his room for ages and then go to her and by then it would be almost time to get up. She told me I'm supposed to do better for my little brother and I asked her what little brother I'm an only child. She said I knew who she was talking about and whether
    via RoosterNo5242
  • I'm happy about it or not, and clearly I'm not, I'm no longer an only child. I told her just because she thinks that doesn't mean I do. She told me he's my brother and I told her if her and dad breakup I'll never have to see her kid again.
    via RoosterNo5242
  • My dad and her broke up for like a week after I said that but they stayed while she looked for a place and then she took dad back and she didn't move out with her son.
    via RoosterNo5242
  • The night stuff got so annoying that I started locking my door. It even saved me from him sleepwalking into my room. He didn't tell his mom at first but the other night he was crying so hard and she asked why he was upset
    via RoosterNo5242
  • and he said I locked my door and he didn't think I liked him and he wanted me to go back to being his brother. I heard him talk to her but I pretended I was still asleep. When I got up a few hours later dad and his girlfriend were waiting
    via RoosterNo5242
  • and they flipped out on me for locking my door at night. I said I didn't want to be woken up and his girlfriend was yelling at me and saying I broke her son's heart. I told her I didn't care and I didn't want to deal with her kid in the middle of the night. She said I
    via RoosterNo5242
  • broke her and dad up once over this and I won't do it again. Dad told me not to lock my door but I did the next night anyway. She wants dad to take the handle off my door so I can't lock it anymore but it's too much effort for him. She told me I was being a
    via RoosterNo5242
  • brat and said how could I'm being. cruel They're talking about breaking up and she's putting it on me for locking the door and refusing to be a brother to her son. She said keeping him out like this is happening way too much and it's mean to a little kid.
    via RoosterNo5242
  • hamsterfamily NTA. Even if the child was related to you, a teen should not be expected to do all the nighttime parenting. You need to talk to your dad about this one on one, not being too harsh or rejecting of your step- sibling but clear about how you still need to have your boundaries.
    via hamsterfamily
  • Cheezburger Image 10463328512
    via Africa Images

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • Chefnick500 Get a wedge and slip it under the bottom of the door
    via Chefnick500
  • Carbohemorrhage Leave the door unlocked. Every time that kid comes in, take him to your dad's bedroom, walk the boy in without knocking, and yell wakie, wakie! Time to parent. And go back to bed.
    via Carbohemorrhage
  • nerd_momma Keep yelling "Come and get YOUR kid!!!" If I can't sleep no one can sleep.
    via nerd_momma
  • celticmusebooks Sit your dad and his GF down with the rug rat not there and tell them they have two possible outcomes. Start with the fact that her son is NOT your "brother" and never will be. That's simply a basis fact and isn't debatable. NOW the two choices:
    via celticmusebooks
  • ONE: You can be a "friend" to her son. Play with him sometimes, talk with him, but not be his caretaker-- that's mom's job. To get this outcome they need to step up and take care of the kid and back off making you responsible for him. The lock will stay on the door--not negotiable.
    via celticmusebooks
  • TWO: You will HATE her son and not make any effort to hide that fact from the child. You won't play with him, won't engage with him in anyway, will make no effort to be kind or friendly to him, that when he wakes you in the night you'll
    via celticmusebooks
  • IMMEDIATELY walk him to their bed and wake both of them to take care of the child, AND you'll be talking to the guidance counsellor at your school about being forced to babysit overnight and how
    via celticmusebooks
  • that's affecting your grades and how your parents are threatening to take the lock off of your door so you have no privacy or quiet place to do your homework. Tell them to pick one.
    via celticmusebooks

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family drama dads stepmother famiies drama kids brother teenagers siblings stepbrother stepmom moms little brother parenting dad story family sibling sister stories parent mom cousins parents
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