Hi. My 7 year old daughter Vanessa went to her quiet corner in the living room after she ate breakfast. She said that one of the pets had peed over there. He just said “Vanessa!” Like he didn’t believe her. Mark was sitting in the living room. I was still eating my breakfast so I asked him what she said. He said “something about a pet peeing in the quiet corner.” like he was annoyed. So I said that you just have to go look. So I had Vanessa show me. I said that yes it was wet and I can tell if it’s pee. So I got a paper towel and cleaned it up and sure enough it’s pee. I said that it’s a lot of pee so it could be our dog. But Mark said that it couldn’t be the dog because he’d been let out this morning. I said that it could’ve happened last night and gone unnoticed. I said that it could be a cat then, but Mark said that it couldn’t be a car because we would’ve smelled the ammonia. So I just stated the facts. It’s not the dog because he’s been out, and it’s not a car because he can’t smell it. And I thought “so which is it then?”, but I didn’t say anything. And Mark just stomped off to his room in a huff. Then my husband Bob came downstairs and I told him what happened. He said that I got defensive and that Mark is autistic and he’s doing the same thing Vanessa does when she gets upset. Marks mom gave him learned helplessness and his stepdad verbally and mentally abused Mark. Bob said that Mark is only physically an adult and that emotionally he’s only about a teenager, like 12 year old Hailey. I just have a hard time with this because his body and behavior don’t match. I don’t understand it because I’m not autistic. It’s hard for me to feel like the only adult in the house when Bob s at work. Mark is just like having another kid around all the time, except I’m not allowed to treat him like a kid. I’m supposed to treat him like an adult. But when I do that, I’m not supposed to upset him. So it’s like I not supposed to say anything to him to defend my kids or myself. It’s like my feelings don’t matter. I feel like the guys are ganging up on me and that Bob takes his brother’s side over mine.

Posted by merriman_alisha at 2023-08-10 12:43:50 UTC