“My daughter Madison (16) suffered from abandonment at a young age. Her bio dad left suddenly when she was 5. We weren’t married and it was easy for him to just…walk out and disappear. He was mentally unstable so I’m grateful at least I was able to keep Maddie safe.
When Maddie met my partner Chris she latched onto him and they established a bond in no time. Chris is a great man, he cares about Maddie and considers her as his own. They have activities they spend time doing but unfortunately due to an unpredictable work schedule, Chris may not always be available. He explained this to Maddie but clearly she doesn’t fully get it and gets mad when he has to cancel plans and go to work despite trying his best but it doesn’t happen often.
This past week Chris promised Maddie that he’d take her and friends to visit an old factory and take videos for their project but then apologized later saying he had to cover an urgent shift the day of the trip and she got upset and didn’t accept it claiming his shift was more important than her. She kept complaining till I told her to drop it.
Next day I was in the kitchen when I heard Chris shouting saying he just fell down the stairs. I rushed to check on him and saw that he hurt his ankle after falling down the stairs. He was in so much pain I asked how it happened. He said he woke up and couldn’t find his contact lenses (He doesn’t go to bed wearing them and has reasons not to) and kept looking for them but didn’t find them so he wanted to try looking for them downstairs. I said there’s no way they were left anywhere else besides the nightstand where he left them and he agreed. I took him to the hospital after the pain intensified and got him disposable contacts from the pharmacy which cost $80 as a temporary solution.
We got home and I went into Maddie’s room to ask for some help but she was in the shower. I took a quick look around and a small white box caught my eye. I discovered that it had Chris’s contacts in it. I was shocked and furious. I had her get out of the shower to explain why she hid the contacts and she denied but I shouted her into submission and she admitted she hid them to get back at Chris for breaking his promise and for choosing work over spending time with her. I said what she did was messed up as Chris and his work got affected by her harsh punishment for him. I grounded her, taking her savings in return for the money I spent on new contacts, and took her camera and laptop away. She started crying saying I was making her feel stranded by taking her project equipment away. I told her to apologize and get right with Chris soon but she begged me not to tell him she did this otherwise I’ll ruin their relationship. I said she shouldn’t expect their relationship to be the same after what she did.
I told him and he understandably got upset and wanted space from her but she didn’t take it well. She’s been going mad ever since, crying, refusing to eat, accusing me of ruining the bond she has with him over something she did in a moment of frustration.”
