Woman’s 16-Year-Old Stepson Steals Her Car, She Then Calls Off Her Engagement To His Dad
While the stepparent and stepchild dynamic can be something wonderful, this story is about the opposite. Disrespect, dishonesty, and disappointment.
Recently, Reddit user DrDoneWithBS turned to the popular ‘Am I the [Jerk]?’ subreddit for parental and relationship advice.
In her post, the woman detailed the time her fiancé’s 16-year-old son stole her car to take his friends to the mall, asking whether or not she was too harsh to threaten him with calling the police.
Get ready folks, the twists and turns in this story make it an equally compelling and infuriating read.
This doctor needed her car at a moment’s notice when she was on call
Image credits: State Farm
But her stepson secretly took it to go to the mall
Image credits: Alex Green
After her story went viral, the woman released a few updates
The biggest one being about her breakup with Dale
Image credits: DrDoneWithBS
Many of us have a hard time building trust and can be more susceptible to anger, frustration, and depression. It sometimes seems impossible to trust ourselves, let alone our children.
And it doesn’t just happen. Trust in a relationship takes time to build and requires both people actively work to maintain it. It’s a two-way street. For a parent and child, trust is a foundation that benefits both of them:
- For kids and teens, knowing their parents trust them can deepen their sense of safety in the world, support their self-esteem and confidence as they try new things, and assure them they have someone to go to when things don’t go according to plan;
- For parents and caregivers, having a trusting relationship with your child means you’re more likely to have an open dialogue and a strong relationship. Trust can lead to upfront conversations where you can be your child’s sounding board or support system, instead of your child catching you off-guard through lies or going around your back.
However, breaches of trust are to be expected, especially as a child starts to push boundaries to test their independence. Depending on the impact of their actions, parents should work with them to decide on appropriate consequences, which could range from a simple chat about expectations to the removal of privileges.
In fact, research suggests that kids do better when their parents show affection and enforce age-appropriate limits on their behavior. There is also evidence linking permissive parenting with the development of poor self-control. So it sounds like the author of the post handled the situation pretty well if you ask me.
People on the internet have unanimously taken her side
She was right, right and right. But what made me nearly spit out my coffee was that this twat Dale called his mother to see if someone actually cared about his feelings. HAHAHAAAAAA
OMG she almost married a manchild, someone who never grew up since 14 when he had the boy! She dodged two life-destroying bullets, he and his son!
The boy is still growing and acquiring wisdom, so there's hope yet for him and his mom is still in the picture to guide him in the right direction. The guy is a big problem. The bullet she did dodge was the fact she's not a legal parent yet to him, therefore is not legal for her to insure on her policy, so in the event of an accident that would be very costly if he had passengers of more than one. As the story brought up that he could not find all the friends, plural, so it would be one thing if it's a scratch and another if other cars were involved, and injuries to half a dozen people.
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Dale was engaged to a doctor who owned her own house and agreed to help pay for a car for his son. And he blew it all up with his entitled behaviour! Now he’s been dumped and he and his spoiled son have to live with Dale’s mother who apparently will not stand for his attitude either. Serves him right.
The OP was not helping save for her fiancé's son's car, only her fiancé and the boy's mother were saving up for him a car. His mother is right though, when you steal a car as he had, he no longer deserved to have one purchased for him. He should have to get a job and work for it, he'll appreciate it more and maybe even begin to understand why you shouldn't take property that doesn't belong to you, when you have to work for something yourself. His behavior is disgusting and so is his dad's. Dad deserves to have to deal with his son not getting something handed to him and the repercussions of his own behaviors causing him to lose the opportunity that he had to own his own car. It sounds as if neither him nor his dad have any respect for anyone, even when living in a home that doesn't belong to them or when having been given the benefits of using a vehicle that didn't belong to either of them, but both of them were lacking any respect or appreciation to the person providing both to them.
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Wait. Dale was 14 when Rex was born? And didn’t have anything to do with his son for the first 6 years? So, while Rex’s Mom had to grow up really fast at 15, Dale was off the hook until he was 20. No wonder. He was a child then, and he’s a child now. Also, the OP may not realize it, but she was being set up for use as a cash cow and nothing more. She would’ve been financing absolutely everything, plus finding money and valuables missing—-or herself abused—-anytime she said no to a request. She’s better off breaking it off and finding someone who is actually worthy of her.
Me coming to the comments to say this but knowing in my heart that it has already been said. I'm over here trying to make the math work out better and nope. Run sis
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Wow good for her. Not only she dodged a bullet but I have to admire how she handled the whole situation.
All those women handled it well. His fiance, his ex and his mother.
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It's funny, but I focused on a minor point of gaslighting in all the red flags. Dad was mad at OP for punishing his son. OP did not punish the son. She called the son, told him to return the car or she would call cops. Son returned the car and locked himself in the room. OP called the mom (but not dad, probably because she knew dad would react poorly) and told her what happened. Dad was mad she dared punish his son, but I see no punishment in the narrative at that point, only a returned car under threat of calling police. Only later was the kid grounded, and probably by mom, not OP.
My thoughts exactly! I noticed that too. They need to stay gone. OP needs to know her worth, and I know it's not always easy for everyone, we all have our own Individual stories, but I'm willing to believe that she has known for a while that she was being taken for granted at least and probably much more that we've not heard. I wish her strength, courage, and patience, she deserves so much better than what she got from these two.
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I was already triggered when she had to pick up the trash from their snacks; parents should be teaching their kids to clean up after themselves when they're toddlers. For ~16 year olds to just leave garbage around and expect others to clean up after them shows a complete lack of respect & responsibility. No wonder the kid feels so entitled.
The amount of groaning while the mom is picking up of, "my kids don't pick up after themselves", "my kids are dirty", "They never pick up", WHILE seeing no effort on the parent reprimanding and telling the kid to pick up is... always. It's just always. It never makes sense to me. My daughter is 3yrs old and she will pick up and tidy her area half the time, the other half, it's work on my part to guide her in how to pick up. That work put in is much more rewarding than "work" of putting it away myself.
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There's a guy getting absolutely ROASTED on the Reddit page for this post. He's claiming the OP is TA because she could have "ruined" Rex's life by reporting him to the police. Many people have reminded him that OP was on-call and could have needed her car. He claims no on-call doctor is EVER called in on a life-and-death emergency, so he doesn't believe the punishment fit the crime. He's also flipping back-and-forth on OP's role in Rex's life...stepmom or mom...however it suited his reaction to what was said. Example: stepmom when she had no business punishing a child not hers...mom when she's failing to parent HER child. It's wild how much of a pretzel he's twisting himself into only to present himself as the world's biggest MORON! cbpiz is his user name
Bet you anything it's either Dale, himself or a buddy as stupid as he is. Lol
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I would have hung up, called the cops, reported it stolen, told them who did it, told where the car was, had the cops call the Dad, starter packing his s**t, called his mom and asked her to come getv said s**t. Don't expect me to be a step parent then tie my hands after this kind of stunt. Especially when I said no inthe first place.
OP met the real Dale for the first time instead of the guy he pretended to be to attract her. This Dale is someone the ex and his mother know very well. He’s shown you who he is, believe him. But keep the ex as a friend, she seems great.
With the exception that she introduced them. I hope that was only in the hopes he'd get a decent step mom
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You were saved from a huge mistake. Don't take him back EVER. The parents who cover for their kids criminal behavior are not good parents. They are entitled and enabling future criminals to develop.
I give it a week before Dale gets tired of the "I told you so's" and tried to crawl back to Op with his tail between his legs. If she's smart she closes the door in his face. Hopefully the kids mom can straighten him out because dear old dad sure ain't.
She's too smart to let that loser back, but I do hope she changes the locks and makes sure all the windows lock properly. I wouldn't put it past father & son to break in.
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How did you make it through medical school where you must have seen all sorts of maturity issues and opportunities to end up with an immature, not too bright partner?
Lies, most likely. He didn't even disclose to her that he wasn't present for the kids first six years, no telling what other "qualities" he hid.
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NTA!! Kid was told no by the Dr who needs the car when she's on call, which is part of her job (shout out to the docs and nurses and medical techs out there, y'all rock)!! So he decided to steal, that's right, STEAL her car and go to the mall anyway! Dr threatened to report the car as stolen if kid didn't bring it back in 20 minutes, then called the kid's mom, who punished the kid by withdrawing her offer to buy him a car; meanwhile, dad didn't think it was a big deal??? Suppose the Dr HAD to go in, but can't because kid had HER car?? This would be a case of life or death, and a patient's life on the line! Also, regarding the car, what if the kid had an accident and gotten himself and his friends hurt or killed?? She may be held liable, and her insurance premiums will go up as a result; she could even be sued for the injuries and death of those involved! Kudos to the mom and the Dr for making their stand, and for grandma to setting the now-ex straight!
Funniest part of all of this is that most kids would love to have a friend with a station wagon. You can fit like 7-9 people in that thing.
True!! My family had a station wagon for a number of years before upgrading to a van! Not only can it fit 7 to 9 people, it can fit a lot of stuff in the back, especially after shopping for a family of 8, plus, the back seats were hideaways, so there's room to sleep in the back (handy when coming from a day at the amusement park or the shore)!! Great times...
Load More Replies... I feel bad for OP getting so overwhelmed by the subreddit. But she did the right thing in her personal life. And good on everybody else in her life EXCEPT her fiance and his son for agreeing that she did the right thing!
If Bio~mom is smart, she'll use this episode to get her kid out of Daddy Dumba$$es reach. She'll have a couple years to knock his father's "stupid" out of him. I hope she holds firm~~that kid doesn't deserve a car until he can buy his own. Then that needs to be 'stolen' so he gets a taste of what he did!
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Dale is a jerk and Red was wrong. That's awesome that Dale's mom and ex agrees with you. I probably hurts you lost him. But he isn't right for you. He's a jerk... You can do better. You also need someone to back you up when it comes to the kids. Then he wasn't in his own child's life until he was 6?! Are you kidding?! What a winner he is! I get it, I have dated lots of jerks. People many times do not show you who they really are until much later. Now he wants you to spend your "Dr money" on a car. Ha! You can do SO much better!!! Sometimes you just have to kiss a few frogs before you meet your prince. I'm glad you didn't settle!
Doesn't matter if you're someone's mom, they life in your house, they need to respect you. Also I love how everyone chewed the guy up.
Dale thinks this is all about him. No concern over his son's behavior, consequences of stealing a car, risk to a patient's life if she can't get to work right away, or her career. Oh no, in his eyes the problem is he looks like a bad parent! His feelings are hurt! Well no duh, he looks like a bad parent because he is! Sheesh
The women supporting the OP are awesome! As for the OP, she should be grateful she shed her man-child.
Speaking from experience here: if the guy is a Mama's boy, RUN! Also, the fact that he expects her to use her money to buy his felon of a son a car is absolutely insane! At this point, if it were my kid, they'd be getting a job to buy their own. I'm willing to bet that he was only with OP because of income, and that is sad. I'm glad she threw out the trash!
a 16 year old with a new license should not be driving around a bunch of friends, that's SO Unsafe!
Prob dodged bullet on entitled dad there w not parenting his kid correctly and leaving it to the women here. Dads mom. Dads ex. And future wife. All to parent and out of control entitled kid. Who luckily didn't have the police called on him sneaking out with someone's keys. On call is important as at any moment the planet or town she's in could go south with a major trauma and need her. Even if not on call on a day off it could happen and she could be the difference in a persons life. Applause to this woman for standing her ground and seeing this man in a new light and restarting her life without him.
The kids mom introduced you to Dale? I guess she didn't mention any red flags or character flaws he had.
Maybe this sort of situation never came up before. As long as they were co-parenting with nobody else in the picture, he may have been an okay father.
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I’m wondering what the other comments were because this seems like a lot of validation, yet the doctor felt like this was too much. Also, how stuck in your ways can you be when everyone’s telling you you’re wrong and you still feel like you’re in the right. When your ex, current gf and mama all agree, then chances are you’re wrong.
This idea, of her having to buy his son a car because of hard feeling is so....insane. Who thinks like that??
An entitled narcissist does. I wonder how long it will be before Dale & Rex wind up in matching jailcells.
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I think I can see where the son gets his lack of respect of Dales fiancée. The most astonishing part of this is how Dale gets upset because a bunch of strangers on the internet have found out he is a selfish boob. It takes a pretty big ego to demand an apology from the person whose car was stolen. And it's made much worse by that person being presumably the love of your life. A couple of things are pretty clear here. 1) Dales real love is himself. And, as demonstrated by his statement that his fiancée needs to buy his entitled son a car, 2) Dale is a complete moron. His mom needs to condition him moving in with her on making Dale force his son to write a letter of apology and Dale letting his ex handle all the parenting, because having Dale teach his kid to be like him would be borderline abuse to the kid.
If Bio~Mom is smart, she'll have custody changed to 100% HER. Then she has two years to get her kid's head arc~welded straight.
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NTA. F*** Rex and his useless dad. Jeez, you were with that guy for four years? Never look back.
WOW. My son *stole* my car & totaled it when he was 14. He, thank God, wasn't injured and walked a few miles to the nearest phone & called the WA State Patrol. When I got to the station the following morning I wanted to press charges for auto theft. The arresting officer actually talked me out of it citing how "responsible" Josh had been in being honest about taking my car without permission and how juvenile detention would only teach him how to do worse things. Flash forward a few years and Josh went to prison for - yep, grand theft auto.
Some kids truly need an emotional brick to the head. Your kid had a much larger issue~~psycopathy &/or narcissism. He knew he would be in "far less" trouble if he turned himself in. This wasn't out of regret; it was pure self~preservation. Too bad he is also stupid and felt he could do it a 2nd time. Is he still in prison?
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Wow, Dale was clearly trying to 'spoil' his son to make up for what he did the first 6 years. Dumba$$
I'm embarrassed for my gender. The father is an immature child who, instead growing up when he had a kid at 14, just stopped maturing altogether. It's no wonder the son is an immature, entitled AH too. I was really glad to see that not only did she stick to her guns on this (she is 100% right) but that his ex-wife and best of all his own mother, backed her and called him out for his own c**p. She dodged such a bullet by being done with that POS before getting married. I can't imagine years of putting up with his and his sons c**p.
This woman managed to escape this pinata full of red flags. This dude isn't safe to be around and it would have likely led to an abusive marriage. Kid also needs to learn some common sense.
Dale's mom gets best mom award from me ... right is right and wrong is wrong ... sometimes we back our children when they do nonsense... him all up in his feelings because he wants to look good in the eyes of his son...failure...you are so right.
Hey Doc, When Dale pulls his head out - tell him another dude Said he was Stupid. I have 2 Sons and would back my Oldlady over my kids. EVERYTIME ! YOU are Wrong. Dale, if you’re reading this… You need to grow a pair, act like a man ( Not a Friend) lock the doors and leave no Witnesses and teach that kid Who’s the Parent. Leave no bruises. Do you want this Chick ? Do you want to bail out this Punk the rest of Your life. Man-Up
He already lost out. She's never letting that freak back into her home. He thought he had a great sugar~tit and he blew it.
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First to dale, since he was not in his son's life until the age of 6 years of age it goes to show that he probably lets the Sun get away with anything and everything well with dad. Second to mom, she apparently puts her foot down and sticks to it since it said she backed the Stepmom up in the whole decision process. Third to the child rex, he needs a great big kick in the behind. He has entitled disrespectful and thinks only of himself. I know teenagers generally do that but this kid really thinks only of himself. He seems to think that it's not a big bother to take someone's car without permission and go to the mall or go do some other things with his friends. He actually did steal the car. I would have called the cops at that point. I would not have given him a chance to even think about coming home in 20 minutes. If this is going to keep on Dale is not going to find a woman that wants to be with him for the rest of her life because of this kid.
At least she found out his true nature before marrying him. How did someone smart enough to become a doctor end up with a loser like him anyway?
Sometimes true colors don't come out until later in the relationship. At least she ended it before tying the knot.
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As soon as I read "I cleaned up the bottles and wrappers from their snacks" I was like yeah this kid is not going to react well to having been told no.
"Woman’s 16-Year-Old Stepson Steals Her Car, She Then Calls Off Her Engagement To His Dad". If woman is not yet married to the Dad, then it's not her stepson. WTF?
Semantics for the emotional manipulation of the people involved.
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...He... told her... that she, with her "doctor money" needs to buy the boy a car... to make up for... what... him STEALING HER CAR? How is this even CLOSE to logical?
Posts like this are making me lose faith in my own species (male) by the day... Do such man-children exists and how in the bloody hell are they allowed to continue procreating, especially when they just hit puberty even??? Dale and Rex, if you exists, you are a bloody disgrace to mankind and honestly, as a fellow male, I'm surprised the women in your lives still acknowledge you at all. Kudos to OP, ex and Dale's mum for handing his and Rex's behinds to them hard. Smh...
Anyone realizing that to be 30yo, they had that child at age 14!? Yeah she dodged a bullet with that guy.
I'm sorry for this woman that she's had all this stress and upheaval, but I think it's saved her a lot more grief down the line. Seeing her fiance's crappy parenting, self-centeredness and immaturity was no-doubt painful, but better to see it before the wedding, than live with it after. As far as the teen goes, hopefully feeling the consequences of his behaviour, and seeing his Dad losing his relationship over his own attitude, will be a reality check for him. He needs someone to point out that Dad isn't a role model and the 'cool parent,' he's a self-centred manchild who dodges responsibilty, was a deadbeat dad, and is now back to being single, and living with his mum at 29.
The terminology here confuses me. If you're not married to his father, then he's NOT your step-son. He's just, for good or bad, your fiancé's child. So you still have a choice of whether you want Mr. Grand Theft Auto to become your step-son.
BZZZZZT!! SO SORRY, THANKYOU FOR PLAYING! You need to revisit your ethics and morals if you believe that the Dr is to blame! Her house, she can leave her keys where she wants. It's up to the kid's parents to teach him not to touch them or her CAR without permission. What kid over age 7 doesn't know this? The punk felt entitled and his craptastic father agreed. Both are OUT!!
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Sorry but that doesn't fly. The mother was 15 and also needed time to grow & mature on her own before being responsible for raising another human being, but she doesn't get a choice. Why should it be different for the father?
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She was right, right and right. But what made me nearly spit out my coffee was that this twat Dale called his mother to see if someone actually cared about his feelings. HAHAHAAAAAA
OMG she almost married a manchild, someone who never grew up since 14 when he had the boy! She dodged two life-destroying bullets, he and his son!
The boy is still growing and acquiring wisdom, so there's hope yet for him and his mom is still in the picture to guide him in the right direction. The guy is a big problem. The bullet she did dodge was the fact she's not a legal parent yet to him, therefore is not legal for her to insure on her policy, so in the event of an accident that would be very costly if he had passengers of more than one. As the story brought up that he could not find all the friends, plural, so it would be one thing if it's a scratch and another if other cars were involved, and injuries to half a dozen people.
Load More Replies... Dale was engaged to a doctor who owned her own house and agreed to help pay for a car for his son. And he blew it all up with his entitled behaviour! Now he’s been dumped and he and his spoiled son have to live with Dale’s mother who apparently will not stand for his attitude either. Serves him right.
The OP was not helping save for her fiancé's son's car, only her fiancé and the boy's mother were saving up for him a car. His mother is right though, when you steal a car as he had, he no longer deserved to have one purchased for him. He should have to get a job and work for it, he'll appreciate it more and maybe even begin to understand why you shouldn't take property that doesn't belong to you, when you have to work for something yourself. His behavior is disgusting and so is his dad's. Dad deserves to have to deal with his son not getting something handed to him and the repercussions of his own behaviors causing him to lose the opportunity that he had to own his own car. It sounds as if neither him nor his dad have any respect for anyone, even when living in a home that doesn't belong to them or when having been given the benefits of using a vehicle that didn't belong to either of them, but both of them were lacking any respect or appreciation to the person providing both to them.
Load More Replies... Wait. Dale was 14 when Rex was born? And didn’t have anything to do with his son for the first 6 years? So, while Rex’s Mom had to grow up really fast at 15, Dale was off the hook until he was 20. No wonder. He was a child then, and he’s a child now. Also, the OP may not realize it, but she was being set up for use as a cash cow and nothing more. She would’ve been financing absolutely everything, plus finding money and valuables missing—-or herself abused—-anytime she said no to a request. She’s better off breaking it off and finding someone who is actually worthy of her.
Me coming to the comments to say this but knowing in my heart that it has already been said. I'm over here trying to make the math work out better and nope. Run sis
Load More Replies... Wow good for her. Not only she dodged a bullet but I have to admire how she handled the whole situation.
All those women handled it well. His fiance, his ex and his mother.
Load More Replies... It's funny, but I focused on a minor point of gaslighting in all the red flags. Dad was mad at OP for punishing his son. OP did not punish the son. She called the son, told him to return the car or she would call cops. Son returned the car and locked himself in the room. OP called the mom (but not dad, probably because she knew dad would react poorly) and told her what happened. Dad was mad she dared punish his son, but I see no punishment in the narrative at that point, only a returned car under threat of calling police. Only later was the kid grounded, and probably by mom, not OP.
My thoughts exactly! I noticed that too. They need to stay gone. OP needs to know her worth, and I know it's not always easy for everyone, we all have our own Individual stories, but I'm willing to believe that she has known for a while that she was being taken for granted at least and probably much more that we've not heard. I wish her strength, courage, and patience, she deserves so much better than what she got from these two.
Load More Replies... I was already triggered when she had to pick up the trash from their snacks; parents should be teaching their kids to clean up after themselves when they're toddlers. For ~16 year olds to just leave garbage around and expect others to clean up after them shows a complete lack of respect & responsibility. No wonder the kid feels so entitled.
The amount of groaning while the mom is picking up of, "my kids don't pick up after themselves", "my kids are dirty", "They never pick up", WHILE seeing no effort on the parent reprimanding and telling the kid to pick up is... always. It's just always. It never makes sense to me. My daughter is 3yrs old and she will pick up and tidy her area half the time, the other half, it's work on my part to guide her in how to pick up. That work put in is much more rewarding than "work" of putting it away myself.
Load More Replies... There's a guy getting absolutely ROASTED on the Reddit page for this post. He's claiming the OP is TA because she could have "ruined" Rex's life by reporting him to the police. Many people have reminded him that OP was on-call and could have needed her car. He claims no on-call doctor is EVER called in on a life-and-death emergency, so he doesn't believe the punishment fit the crime. He's also flipping back-and-forth on OP's role in Rex's life...stepmom or mom...however it suited his reaction to what was said. Example: stepmom when she had no business punishing a child not hers...mom when she's failing to parent HER child. It's wild how much of a pretzel he's twisting himself into only to present himself as the world's biggest MORON! cbpiz is his user name
Bet you anything it's either Dale, himself or a buddy as stupid as he is. Lol
Load More Replies... I would have hung up, called the cops, reported it stolen, told them who did it, told where the car was, had the cops call the Dad, starter packing his s**t, called his mom and asked her to come getv said s**t. Don't expect me to be a step parent then tie my hands after this kind of stunt. Especially when I said no inthe first place.
OP met the real Dale for the first time instead of the guy he pretended to be to attract her. This Dale is someone the ex and his mother know very well. He’s shown you who he is, believe him. But keep the ex as a friend, she seems great.
With the exception that she introduced them. I hope that was only in the hopes he'd get a decent step mom
Load More Replies... You were saved from a huge mistake. Don't take him back EVER. The parents who cover for their kids criminal behavior are not good parents. They are entitled and enabling future criminals to develop.
I give it a week before Dale gets tired of the "I told you so's" and tried to crawl back to Op with his tail between his legs. If she's smart she closes the door in his face. Hopefully the kids mom can straighten him out because dear old dad sure ain't.
She's too smart to let that loser back, but I do hope she changes the locks and makes sure all the windows lock properly. I wouldn't put it past father & son to break in.
Load More Replies... How did you make it through medical school where you must have seen all sorts of maturity issues and opportunities to end up with an immature, not too bright partner?
Lies, most likely. He didn't even disclose to her that he wasn't present for the kids first six years, no telling what other "qualities" he hid.
Load More Replies... NTA!! Kid was told no by the Dr who needs the car when she's on call, which is part of her job (shout out to the docs and nurses and medical techs out there, y'all rock)!! So he decided to steal, that's right, STEAL her car and go to the mall anyway! Dr threatened to report the car as stolen if kid didn't bring it back in 20 minutes, then called the kid's mom, who punished the kid by withdrawing her offer to buy him a car; meanwhile, dad didn't think it was a big deal??? Suppose the Dr HAD to go in, but can't because kid had HER car?? This would be a case of life or death, and a patient's life on the line! Also, regarding the car, what if the kid had an accident and gotten himself and his friends hurt or killed?? She may be held liable, and her insurance premiums will go up as a result; she could even be sued for the injuries and death of those involved! Kudos to the mom and the Dr for making their stand, and for grandma to setting the now-ex straight!
Funniest part of all of this is that most kids would love to have a friend with a station wagon. You can fit like 7-9 people in that thing.
True!! My family had a station wagon for a number of years before upgrading to a van! Not only can it fit 7 to 9 people, it can fit a lot of stuff in the back, especially after shopping for a family of 8, plus, the back seats were hideaways, so there's room to sleep in the back (handy when coming from a day at the amusement park or the shore)!! Great times...
Load More Replies... I feel bad for OP getting so overwhelmed by the subreddit. But she did the right thing in her personal life. And good on everybody else in her life EXCEPT her fiance and his son for agreeing that she did the right thing!
If Bio~mom is smart, she'll use this episode to get her kid out of Daddy Dumba$$es reach. She'll have a couple years to knock his father's "stupid" out of him. I hope she holds firm~~that kid doesn't deserve a car until he can buy his own. Then that needs to be 'stolen' so he gets a taste of what he did!
Load More Replies... Dale is a jerk and Red was wrong. That's awesome that Dale's mom and ex agrees with you. I probably hurts you lost him. But he isn't right for you. He's a jerk... You can do better. You also need someone to back you up when it comes to the kids. Then he wasn't in his own child's life until he was 6?! Are you kidding?! What a winner he is! I get it, I have dated lots of jerks. People many times do not show you who they really are until much later. Now he wants you to spend your "Dr money" on a car. Ha! You can do SO much better!!! Sometimes you just have to kiss a few frogs before you meet your prince. I'm glad you didn't settle!
Doesn't matter if you're someone's mom, they life in your house, they need to respect you. Also I love how everyone chewed the guy up.
Dale thinks this is all about him. No concern over his son's behavior, consequences of stealing a car, risk to a patient's life if she can't get to work right away, or her career. Oh no, in his eyes the problem is he looks like a bad parent! His feelings are hurt! Well no duh, he looks like a bad parent because he is! Sheesh
The women supporting the OP are awesome! As for the OP, she should be grateful she shed her man-child.
Speaking from experience here: if the guy is a Mama's boy, RUN! Also, the fact that he expects her to use her money to buy his felon of a son a car is absolutely insane! At this point, if it were my kid, they'd be getting a job to buy their own. I'm willing to bet that he was only with OP because of income, and that is sad. I'm glad she threw out the trash!
a 16 year old with a new license should not be driving around a bunch of friends, that's SO Unsafe!
Prob dodged bullet on entitled dad there w not parenting his kid correctly and leaving it to the women here. Dads mom. Dads ex. And future wife. All to parent and out of control entitled kid. Who luckily didn't have the police called on him sneaking out with someone's keys. On call is important as at any moment the planet or town she's in could go south with a major trauma and need her. Even if not on call on a day off it could happen and she could be the difference in a persons life. Applause to this woman for standing her ground and seeing this man in a new light and restarting her life without him.
The kids mom introduced you to Dale? I guess she didn't mention any red flags or character flaws he had.
Maybe this sort of situation never came up before. As long as they were co-parenting with nobody else in the picture, he may have been an okay father.
Load More Replies... I’m wondering what the other comments were because this seems like a lot of validation, yet the doctor felt like this was too much. Also, how stuck in your ways can you be when everyone’s telling you you’re wrong and you still feel like you’re in the right. When your ex, current gf and mama all agree, then chances are you’re wrong.
This idea, of her having to buy his son a car because of hard feeling is so....insane. Who thinks like that??
An entitled narcissist does. I wonder how long it will be before Dale & Rex wind up in matching jailcells.
Load More Replies... I think I can see where the son gets his lack of respect of Dales fiancée. The most astonishing part of this is how Dale gets upset because a bunch of strangers on the internet have found out he is a selfish boob. It takes a pretty big ego to demand an apology from the person whose car was stolen. And it's made much worse by that person being presumably the love of your life. A couple of things are pretty clear here. 1) Dales real love is himself. And, as demonstrated by his statement that his fiancée needs to buy his entitled son a car, 2) Dale is a complete moron. His mom needs to condition him moving in with her on making Dale force his son to write a letter of apology and Dale letting his ex handle all the parenting, because having Dale teach his kid to be like him would be borderline abuse to the kid.
If Bio~Mom is smart, she'll have custody changed to 100% HER. Then she has two years to get her kid's head arc~welded straight.
Load More Replies... NTA. F*** Rex and his useless dad. Jeez, you were with that guy for four years? Never look back.
WOW. My son *stole* my car & totaled it when he was 14. He, thank God, wasn't injured and walked a few miles to the nearest phone & called the WA State Patrol. When I got to the station the following morning I wanted to press charges for auto theft. The arresting officer actually talked me out of it citing how "responsible" Josh had been in being honest about taking my car without permission and how juvenile detention would only teach him how to do worse things. Flash forward a few years and Josh went to prison for - yep, grand theft auto.
Some kids truly need an emotional brick to the head. Your kid had a much larger issue~~psycopathy &/or narcissism. He knew he would be in "far less" trouble if he turned himself in. This wasn't out of regret; it was pure self~preservation. Too bad he is also stupid and felt he could do it a 2nd time. Is he still in prison?
Load More Replies... Wow, Dale was clearly trying to 'spoil' his son to make up for what he did the first 6 years. Dumba$$
I'm embarrassed for my gender. The father is an immature child who, instead growing up when he had a kid at 14, just stopped maturing altogether. It's no wonder the son is an immature, entitled AH too. I was really glad to see that not only did she stick to her guns on this (she is 100% right) but that his ex-wife and best of all his own mother, backed her and called him out for his own c**p. She dodged such a bullet by being done with that POS before getting married. I can't imagine years of putting up with his and his sons c**p.
This woman managed to escape this pinata full of red flags. This dude isn't safe to be around and it would have likely led to an abusive marriage. Kid also needs to learn some common sense.
Dale's mom gets best mom award from me ... right is right and wrong is wrong ... sometimes we back our children when they do nonsense... him all up in his feelings because he wants to look good in the eyes of his son...failure...you are so right.
Hey Doc, When Dale pulls his head out - tell him another dude Said he was Stupid. I have 2 Sons and would back my Oldlady over my kids. EVERYTIME ! YOU are Wrong. Dale, if you’re reading this… You need to grow a pair, act like a man ( Not a Friend) lock the doors and leave no Witnesses and teach that kid Who’s the Parent. Leave no bruises. Do you want this Chick ? Do you want to bail out this Punk the rest of Your life. Man-Up
He already lost out. She's never letting that freak back into her home. He thought he had a great sugar~tit and he blew it.
Load More Replies... First to dale, since he was not in his son's life until the age of 6 years of age it goes to show that he probably lets the Sun get away with anything and everything well with dad. Second to mom, she apparently puts her foot down and sticks to it since it said she backed the Stepmom up in the whole decision process. Third to the child rex, he needs a great big kick in the behind. He has entitled disrespectful and thinks only of himself. I know teenagers generally do that but this kid really thinks only of himself. He seems to think that it's not a big bother to take someone's car without permission and go to the mall or go do some other things with his friends. He actually did steal the car. I would have called the cops at that point. I would not have given him a chance to even think about coming home in 20 minutes. If this is going to keep on Dale is not going to find a woman that wants to be with him for the rest of her life because of this kid.
At least she found out his true nature before marrying him. How did someone smart enough to become a doctor end up with a loser like him anyway?
Sometimes true colors don't come out until later in the relationship. At least she ended it before tying the knot.
Load More Replies... As soon as I read "I cleaned up the bottles and wrappers from their snacks" I was like yeah this kid is not going to react well to having been told no.
"Woman’s 16-Year-Old Stepson Steals Her Car, She Then Calls Off Her Engagement To His Dad". If woman is not yet married to the Dad, then it's not her stepson. WTF?
Semantics for the emotional manipulation of the people involved.
Load More Replies... ...He... told her... that she, with her "doctor money" needs to buy the boy a car... to make up for... what... him STEALING HER CAR? How is this even CLOSE to logical?
Posts like this are making me lose faith in my own species (male) by the day... Do such man-children exists and how in the bloody hell are they allowed to continue procreating, especially when they just hit puberty even??? Dale and Rex, if you exists, you are a bloody disgrace to mankind and honestly, as a fellow male, I'm surprised the women in your lives still acknowledge you at all. Kudos to OP, ex and Dale's mum for handing his and Rex's behinds to them hard. Smh...
Anyone realizing that to be 30yo, they had that child at age 14!? Yeah she dodged a bullet with that guy.
I'm sorry for this woman that she's had all this stress and upheaval, but I think it's saved her a lot more grief down the line. Seeing her fiance's crappy parenting, self-centeredness and immaturity was no-doubt painful, but better to see it before the wedding, than live with it after. As far as the teen goes, hopefully feeling the consequences of his behaviour, and seeing his Dad losing his relationship over his own attitude, will be a reality check for him. He needs someone to point out that Dad isn't a role model and the 'cool parent,' he's a self-centred manchild who dodges responsibilty, was a deadbeat dad, and is now back to being single, and living with his mum at 29.
The terminology here confuses me. If you're not married to his father, then he's NOT your step-son. He's just, for good or bad, your fiancé's child. So you still have a choice of whether you want Mr. Grand Theft Auto to become your step-son.
BZZZZZT!! SO SORRY, THANKYOU FOR PLAYING! You need to revisit your ethics and morals if you believe that the Dr is to blame! Her house, she can leave her keys where she wants. It's up to the kid's parents to teach him not to touch them or her CAR without permission. What kid over age 7 doesn't know this? The punk felt entitled and his craptastic father agreed. Both are OUT!!
Load More Replies... Sorry but that doesn't fly. The mother was 15 and also needed time to grow & mature on her own before being responsible for raising another human being, but she doesn't get a choice. Why should it be different for the father?
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