Family dynamics may be challenging to navigate, especially when there are new family members. As the only parent of an 8-month-old girl, OP has had to learn how to do this on her own. She lives with her father and stepmother while caring for a child on her own, working, and doing an apprenticeship in childcare.
Although he did not actively participate in her upbringing, her father has since met her stepmother and they have produced two further children together, the oldest of whom is only two months older than her daughter. OP moved in with her father to save money on living expenses, but she is also paying her stepmother to watch her children. When her stepmother’s sister arrived, she overheard her father refer to her daughter and his son as his and her stepmother’s “little kids,” which brought the situation to a climax. Intensely disturbed, OP approached her father about it. He apologised and claimed not to have meant anything by it, but OP is still hurt and feels as though her boundaries have been broken. She was then urged by her stepmother to stop overreacting and be content with how close everyone was and how much they had done for her. She also claimed that because they had apologised, she shouldn’t have “manipulated” them because people occasionally create unconscious relationships and thoughts.