After any sort of separation, be it a completely amicable separation, a messy divorce, or a tragic form of loss, getting back out into the world of dating and finding new love can be tough.
However, one man is being praised online after admitting he divorced his wife over his stepdaughters “bullying” his daughter.
The anonymous dad recently shared his story on Reddit.
In his post, he explained that his wife was a divorced mom of two girls, who are now 11 and 13. As it happened, his own daughter (now 12) was right around the same age when they met, which seemed like the perfect fit.
Aside from falling in love, the dad was also happy that his daughter seemed to like his new girlfriend and was excited by the possibility of having siblings one day. Best of all, his wife’s children seemed to like her, too, and while they didn’t call her their “sister” or anything, they were always nice.
However, not everything was all Happily Ever After, as his new wife’s two daughters, along with his wife’s ex, have continually harassed and bullied his own 12-year-old daughter. The stress brought on by the situation led the man to make a difficult decision and file for divorce. After being guilted by his second wife for leaving, the man took to Reddit to see if he was in the right for his decision.
“The girls dad hates my daughter and they (the girls) will spew that hate in our home, and will use it to bully my daughter. A grown ass man called my 10 year old a fat repulsive pig, a w*ore and the reason abortion was invented (to list only a few). The girls have called her dumb, they have mocked her for being shy and introverted,” he explained in a post on the Am I The A**hole subreddit.
“I made it clear that could not continue if we were to stay married and my wife was determined she would get them to stop. I got my daughter therapy and I did as much as I could to keep them separate. But even at night they started to taunt her. So I made the decision to move out with my daughter and I told my wife our marriage could not continue. She begged me to stay. She said she loves us and her girls need me. I said my daughter comes first.”
The man continued to explain that since filing for divorce, his wife and her family have been guilting him for the decision to protect his daughter. “My wife’s family have been telling me how much my stepdaughters need me, how badly they need to see a healthy and good father figure in their lives, and that I will destroy them if I leave. How they’re important and I need to prioritize them. I told them they are not more important than my daughter. Outrage ensued and I was asked how I could say that.”
The wife’s family continued to lambast him for what they viewed as dismissing two young girls. Fortunately, lots of folks on Reddit agreed with the dad’s decision to walk away in order to protect his daughter from further mental and emotional trauma.