Many stepmoms report that when Dad started regulating his payments by having them taken directly out of his check and electronically deposited into Mom’s account every month, life was suddenly easier with the ex.
One father says as soon as he started writing out a check at the beginning of every year that covered the entire year’s child support payments, relations with his ex drastically improved. When there is tension over money between households, the kids can smell it like bloodhounds, and they’ll be the ones who suffer when either parent says, “Well, honey, I would love to be able to buy that, but your other parent doesn’t give me enough money to support you.”
That’s a pretty crappy thing to do to a kid, and it happens all the time. No matter how strained your discussions are about money, don’t pass those feelings on to the kids. Even if you enter the family when your stepchildren are adults, you will still have to deal with the financial issues that come from your husband’s first family.
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