Dear Abby: My significant other’s 8-year-old daughter is terrorizing me

Detailed summary

Dear Abby advises a parent who is having major issues with her significant other’s poorly behaved daughter.

DEAR ABBY: I have been with my significant other for five years and have helped raise his daughter, “Maeve,” since she was a toddler. She is now 8, and her behavior — and his enabling — are pushing me to my breaking point. Maeve demands her father do everything for her, including bathing and dressing her, and he complies. She runs around the house in her underwear, which he excuses by saying she is “little enough.”

Maeve’s need to be the center of attention extends to everyone; she constantly interrupts adult conversations, and if her father and I are hugging or sitting together, she physically throws herself between us. Furthermore, she throws two-hour tantrums to sleep in our primary bedroom, forcing me to sleep in another room.

He constantly caves to her demands, scolding her but immediately giving her exactly what she wants.

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