Part.1 My ex-wife demands I bring her stepkidson all our family vacations because theyget upset seeing photos. She has no ideawhy I actually take those trips.#redditstories #foryou #reddit_tiktok #redditstorytime #askreddit

My ex-wife demands I bring her stepkids on all our family vacations because they get upset seeing photos. She has no idea why I actually take those trips. We split five years ago after 11 years together. I have my two kids ages 11 and 9 every other weekend. She remarried a guy named Bryce about two years ago. He brought two kids from his previous marriage, so there's four children at her place now competing for space. It started four months ago. She texted asking if her stepkids could come on our beach trip. I said no. She called me petty and said I was creating a rift between the children. I told her that wasn't my responsibility. A month later she asked again before our ski trip, said her stepkids were devastated after seeing videos of my kids on the slopes. Told her to take them skiing herself. She said Bryce doesn't do cold weather. I hung up. Last month she showed up at my door with both stepkids already in the car. Said she was dropping them off because we were all going to Disneyland together whether I agreed or not. I told her to leave. She screamed that I was destroying the kids' relationship with their step siblings. Then she drove off. Here's what she doesn't realize. I don't take my kids on trips for fun. I take them for recovery. They come back from her house, exhausted anxious and completely shut down. Three months ago my daughter finally told me why. When Bryce moved in, he converted the guest room into his home office. My kids lost their bedroom. Now they sleep in the unfinished basement on camping cots. Concrete floor, no heating vent, a single bulb hanging from an exposed wire. My son told me he wakes up shivering almost every night. Said Bryce told them sleeping down there builds character and that his own kids deserve real bedrooms since they live their full time. My kids became guests in their mother's house. My daughter showed me her arms covered in red welts. Said there are spiders everywhere down there. She's terrified of them. But Bryce told her to stop being dramatic. My son said he found a mouse inside his sleeping bag last week and had to shake it out himself. While Bryce's kids each have their own room upstairs. New furniture, TVs mounted on the walls, gaming consoles. My kids hear them laughing and playing through the floor while they lie on couch.