I have a 10 year old stepchild , been in their life since they were 3 and the older they get the worse it is , seriously makes my anxiety go into over drive , everything they do is like freaking nails on a chalk board ..... EVERYTHING , the only time my husband and i fight is when they are around . They lie , instigate their younger siblings and you can look at them and say “ don’t do XYZ” and they’ll do exactly what you told them not to do and look at you like “ i didn’t know” ..... i honestly don’t know how much more my brain can handle , it’s gotten so bad that while i never want my husband to feel like he has to choose i have told him if he wants his child to come over me and my child will go elsewhere bc i cannot handle it . And this might sound awful but if they never came over to stay the weekend again it wouldn’t hurt my feelings one bit , they are a great kid , WHEN THEY WANT TO BE , but if they are just going about their day they are a total nightmare and it’s hard for anyone to be around them 😩 (and of course i do not vent my frustration towards the child , i hold it all in which makes my anxiety a billion times worse )