Life in a blended family can be challenging, especially when a controlling ex is involved.

One woman happily welcomes her boyfriend’s son into their lives, but the boy’s mother insists on tracking their every move, making her feel violated.

This intrusion sparks a deeper conflict between the couple, straining their relationship even further.

Read on for the full story.

AITA for not taking my step son on my birthday activities

I (34F) have asked my partner/bf (37M) to not do anything for my birthday on my actual birthday because his son will be with us that weekend.

We have been dating for 5 years, living together for 3 years.

He has a son (10 years old) from a previous marriage with a very high-conflict baby momma.

And she doesn’t use this term lightly.

When I say high-conflict, I mean she has gone to the extent of threatening us.

She is very controlling and just loves to cause chaos.

Her behavior manifests itself in very uncomfortable ways.

About 3 months ago, she decided she would get my stepson an iPhone so she could have access to him at all times and track us.

We tried to tell her the tracking was unnecessary and that it was invading our privacy.

She went off threatening and calling names like usual.

The ex is not exactly subtle about it either.

We let it go, but it has gotten to the point where she calls and texts all day and will ask, “What are you doing at X location?”

It’s just too much for me, and I am not comfortable with someone having my location at all times, especially someone like her.

She tries to get her boyfriend to take action, but he won’t budge.

I have made my feelings known about this, but my partner says he doesn’t want to deal with court yet again.

I get he wants to avoid going back and just let it go, but I’m not ok with it.

This leads her to want to leave her stepson out just to avoid some of the drama.

This month it’s my birthday, and I told him I wanted to wait to go somewhere the weekend after my birthday when we don’t have his son.

I don’t want to spend my birthday knowing we can’t do anything without her tracking everywhere we go.

I just want some type of privacy.

I love my stepson, and we do other things as a family, but I’d like just this one day to have some privacy.

AITA?

The tug-of-war over boundaries is real, but this couple needs to get their priorities in order and fast.

What did Reddit think?

It seems like this couple is ignoring some pretty obvious workarounds to navigate the ex’s behavior.

If the couple does go to court, this commenter seems to think they have a strong case.

This Redditor encourages the couple to begin documenting everything the ex does in case they need it for a court case.

Just because something is unpleasant doesn’t mean it isn’t necessary.

The boyfriend may not want to have to confront his controlling ex, but he may be left no other choice.

Is keeping the peace really worth giving up your privacy?

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