There are a lot of people who find themselves becoming stepsiblings with kids who are a lot younger than them.

It’s a difficult position to be in, as you want to bond with your new step-sibling but don’t have many common interests.

One young woman is fed up after her visits with her mom have been influenced and interrupted by her much younger stepbrother.

She’s 22-years-old and has always been really close to her mom, who gave birth to her when she was only 15.

Her mom started dating new guys when she was in middle school, and since she was at that age, she knew many of the men her mom dated would have children younger than her.

When she was 16, her mom married her stepdad, Steve, who had a son of his own. His name is Joey, and he’s currently 12-years-old.

She didn’t live in the same house as her mom, Steve, and Joey for very long before she went to college, so she and Joey never had much of a chance to get close.

Although she and Joey get along, they don’t have as strong a bond as some siblings. She’s noticed over the years that Joey has become very attached to her mom, which she understands completely. 

After graduating from college this spring, she decided to move into her own place that’s 30 minutes away from her mom.

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“I was really excited to be nearby,” she explained.

“We’ve always been really close, and I missed her a lot when I was at school. I wanted to have a dedicated girls’ day with my mom at least once or maybe twice a month now that I’m home.”

“We got to do that for a couple of months, but the last two times, my mom has shown up with Joey.”

Whenever she has a day with her mom, she likes to do more mature and leisurely activities like getting manicures, seeing some live theater, going to lunch at a new restaurant, etc. But whenever Joey comes along, they end up doing whatever he wants. 

For instance, the last time she saw her mom, they went to the zoo because Joey wanted to go to the reptile house and get cheeseburgers.

While it wasn’t necessarily a bad experience, she didn’t get the chance to do what she wanted with her mom, just the two of them.

When she brought up these feelings with her mom, she discovered there was more to the story than she had thought.

“We got into an argument on the phone that night, and it came out that Steve has demanded that Joey be included on our days together because he felt that my time alone with my mother was her showing me favoritism,” she said.

“I didn’t even know what to say; I’ve never known my mom to be so spineless, especially when it came to me.”

She felt really hurt by what was going on and told her mom that she had no interest in spending any more time with her and Joey together.

Then, she told her mom that if Joey were with her for all their outings, she’d only see her during holidays and family gatherings.

Since their call, her mom has been begging her to change her mind and continue going out with her and Joey.

She’s apologized but still wishes her mom would stand up to Steve and prioritize their time together without her stepbrother.

Should she feel bad for insisting her mom no longer bring her stepbrother on their visits?

You can read the original post on Reddit here.

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