Stepson is driving me crazy

Dear Pastor,

I am 28 and I have two children. After breaking up with my first child's father, I met a nice young man while going to nursing school.

We dated for months and he helped me finish school. He told me that he had a babymother but things were not working out for them, so they broke up.

After about a year, he was staying with me at my house, then this woman started to call me and set up her friend to stalk me and disrespect me on social media. This went on for some time.

All this time, the man was sleeping at my house every night. After about one more year, I got pregnant for him. At that time I almost finished school, which took two years.

HE CHEATED ON ME

When I was seven months pregnant, I heard that this woman was pregnant, too. I called my boyfriend and asked him if he knew anything about it and he said he was not the one who got her pregnant. Afterwards, I found out he was the father. I cried for days and prayed to have a safe delivery. This woman was in a competition with me every day.

After my delivery, I forgave this man. I was living well until this year, when I moved to live at his house. Everything was going great until his babymother decided that she could not manage their big son, so she decided to send him to live with us. He has been living with us for the past five months now and it has been the worst five months of my life.

The little boy is 12 and he does not help with anything around the house. He breaks into people's houses and steals their belongings.

He stole his father's money and he stole his grandma's phone. He goes to the river every day without permission, and the list goes on.

He is not a bright boy. I even asked him why he did not take his books to study; he did not even look at me. This little boy even left the pipe on and flooded the house and damaged all my important documents. Every day, as soon as his dad leaves for work and he wakes up, he goes on the road until night. Although his mother lives close by, she does not care for him, either. Whatever bad he does, the dad never tries to discipline him, so he feels like he is always right. Wherever he eats he leaves the plates right there, and he leaves dirty clothes all over the house. I have to always be reminding him to pick them up, but he does not do it. I used to wash for him, but I have stopped. He has no manners to me.

He curses bad words in front of me when he is with his friends. The father and mother are to be blamed. The father took him to break him in his way and he is not doing anything to help him. He said the mother grew him in the street so that is why he is like that. She did not teach him to do anything.

If he is looking for clothes and throws out all his clothes and leaves them at the same place, I have to argue with him about it.

The little boy even cursed his mother many times and stoned her. I am thinking about going back home because I am tired of his behaviour.

S.B.

Dear S.B.,

This 12-year-old boy is out of control. He should not be living with you. Although you would not want him to live on the streets, he is already living there.

Your child's father should ask his mother to take him back, or he should go to the Child Protection and Family Services Agency and ask them to place him in a government facility.

Pastor