When two people who used to be together are now in a new relationship and share a child, it can be even harder for them to get along. A Reddit user talked about his family situation and how he and his girlfriend wouldn’t take care of his son for the weekend while his mom went on a date. The user wondered if he was doing the right thing.

What did the real situation look like?

A 40-year-old woman and I have been together for three years. I am 55 years old. Even though it’s been 4.5 years since we split up, my ex-wife still hasn’t moved on.

She broke up with me for a coworker, and our relationship was bad. While her new relationship didn’t work out, she became friendlier with me. Sean is my 15-year-old son, and we are very close. I am working on being a better co-parent with his mother.

The problem is that my ex-wife doesn’t like my current relationship and is having a hard time keeping up her own. She doesn’t like my girlfriend, which makes things difficult between her, my boyfriend, and my son. No matter how hard I try to talk to Sean, he acts like his mother does. It makes sense that my girlfriend doesn’t want to push them into a relationship if they don’t want one.

This past weekend, my ex-wife asked Sean to stay at my house while she went out with a new person. I was out of town for work at the time. I said no because my girlfriend doesn’t feel safe watching over someone who has hurt her. Sean seems old enough to stay at their house by himself. My ex-spouse says I put my girlfriend ahead of our son, but I see it as a way to teach Sean what happens when he blindly follows what his mother does.

My girlfriend also said she didn’t like being alone with a teenager who has been mean to her. The woman agrees with my choice and doesn’t want to be in a bad situation. We don’t usually spend the weekends together with Sean, so this request came as a surprise.