My boyfriend (32 M) is staying with me (39 F) and my 9-year old daughter, I feel like he's judging my parenting and it's creating a wedge in our relationship
I met my boyfriend (32 M) nine months ago. For the most part he has always treated me with respect and kindness and I have loved our relationship. He moved out of his apartment a month ago because his landlord decided to sell the building. I told him he could stay with me and my 9-year old daughter until he finds a new place and moves in. He got the keys to his new apartment last Friday and has slowly started moving his things into his new place. Over the last month, he has been respectful and considerate of our space, but I feel he has been observing my parenting more closely since he's here every day and maybe is judging my parenting a bit. I am going through a hard time as I resigned from my job this past spring and have been having a hard time finding a new job. I have burned through my savings and am stressed as it is taking me longer than expected to find a new job.
My daughter just turned 9 years old and was recently diagnosed with anxiety. Her dad has never really been in the picture and he lives across the country so it's always been just me and her. She's only ever met one other person I dated since her dad a few years ago, and that situation did not end well because he ended up living with us and was NOT respectful of our space. I think she remembers that and has been struggling to adjust to my new boyfriend staying with us. She told me she likes him, but she doesn't want me to get married. She has been acting out, not sleeping well, and being very nosy wanting to know what I am doing all the time with him. For example, the other night we were in my room watching a movie and it was difficult for her to fall asleep hearing us still awake and she wanted to know what we were doing and kept knocking on my door or asking me to come in her room several times throughout the night. I could tell my boyfriend got really frustrated and last night when we were getting into bed he said something like 'well I don't even really want to watch a movie in here with you because of what kept happening last night' and we each just kind of did our own thing.
He doesn't try to tell me how to parent my daughter but I feel like he is starting to look at me differently and maybe not liking how I am too patient with her and excusing her behaviors. He spends less and less time with us each weekend, and basically just comes back here each day around 9:30pm. I feel like he is hoping by that time my daughter has gone to sleep. It's hurtful because I feel like he's avoiding us. I tried talking with him last night about it and I said I know my daughter's behaviors have been frustrating to him but she is just adjusting to this situation and is used to it always being me and her, and I told him I'm overwhelmed and I know I've just been giving in to her. He said he didn't really have anything to say about it and understands I'm overwhelmed because of my job situation, so he didn't really say anything about the situation.
I don't want to be a pushover mom and I don't like how she treats me in front of him but I am struggling with my usual routines and structures as well since it's summer so she's not in school and I am still job hunting every day. I know I need to set stricter boundaries and rules for my daughter, but she is also still adjusting to this temporary situation and she wants my attention. She isn't used to me spending time with someone else in the house that's not her and I think she feels left out at times. I don't think she understands I need to have my own relationship with him separate from her. I feel like it's driving a wedge in the relationship with my boyfriend and I don't know how to be a good mom and girlfriend while also navigating this transition in my career. I know he has been stressed because he wasn't planning on moving out of his place so quickly and finding a new place, and I offered for him to stay here so I got myself into this. I'm trying to also be patient and understanding of what he is going through but I feel kind of lost and like I'm doing a bad job with everything. My house is a mess and I am just feeling overwhelmed and stuck about what to do next or how to approach this with him. I feel like I am not being a great mom or girlfriend right now and just feel kind of confused about how to navigate this.
**TL; DR; : How do I navigate single parenting my daughter while maintaining a healthy relationship with my boyfriend? He is staying with us and doesn't like how I am parenting her.
Posted Aug 4, 2025, 4:37 PM UTC · locked