How do I deal with my stepfather?

[Bloobloop]

Quite honestly, this guy acts like he's five. He's incredibly sensitive and gets hurt whenever I say something he doesn't expect. I know toddlers that would be less sensitive than he is. For example, during my trip to Thailand, we rode an elephant bareback (don't worry, the treatment of the elephants was very humane). Everyone got to learn what "go" and "stop" meant for riding one. When my stepfather was saying the words, he sounded like he was wheezing them. Because he doesn't normally sound like this, I asked him (as a joke) why he sounded like he was constipated. He got upset and asked me why I was so negative all the time. I explained that he normally doesn't sound this way and I was just curious why he sounded so odd. He shook his head and didn't talk to me for the rest of the day.
Anyone know how to deal with him? I feel like I'm dealing with a little kid.

 

[TheGreatBrain]

Be respectful, considerate, and polite. That should do the trick.

 

[Aquari]

sit him down and have a talk about his behavior, tell him how you feel, and what he could do to change said behavior.

 

[LambdaDelta]

buy him a child's dinner table set

 

[Irelia]

lmao I can't really give helpful advice
but your story made my night, thank you

 

[uwuzumakii]

This is an absolute legitimate question that would help me and most likely other people, as well. Does he have any sort of mental "issues"? (I'm trying to use the nicest word I can think of so no one flips their s***)

 

[Locket]

Maybe just don't talk to him unless he asks you to. Or just try to stay in your room

 

[Jared:3]

Tbh I have no words for this, I've never had this happen so idk

 

[Corrie]

Oh my god, are him and my mom related?

Honestly, I still haven't figured out how to deal with people like this. Whenever I sit them down for a talk, they automatically get defensive and deny everything you say so there really isn't a point to that. My advice is literally to ignore them and stay away from them as much as possible.

 

[Koden]

ignore him until you move out, or unless directly confronted in conversation

 

[piichinu]

His feelings are probably just hurt
Do you usually joke around with him?

 

[chapstick]

My dad is the same, I just go with the flow. Maybe tell your mom about this?

 

[Dim]

My Grandma is the same exact way.

Honestly, if he has no sense of humor, don't even bother joking around with him.

 

[Bloobloop]

His feelings are probably just hurt
Do you usually joke around with him?

Actually, I used to joke around with him all the time, so it's bizarre that he's been acting like this for maybe the past year?

 

[Fleshy]

You don't mention it anywhere but I'm going to assume he lives with you (?), if so, is there any other family members that live with you guys? it's probably a good idea to speak with them about how he's been acting/ how you've been feeling lately, taking it on yourself probably isn't the best idea. You also mentioned that's it's only been like this for the last year or so, to be honest that makes it sound like there's something up with him, does he act "off" in other ways, and is it around other people too, not just you? Honestly just try being respectful is probably the best idea, but it's hard because you shuldn't really have to change they way you act if you haven't been doing anything wrong. My first resort would be speaking to other people who're around him too.

(okay this is off topic and i really shouldn't even bother but those elephant riding things are never humane, these elephants are usually illegal taken from the wild and harshly trained as babies. there's loads more i could say but there's no point, the bottom line is, just because you never seen anything bad, doesn't mean it doesn't happen)

 

[00jachna]

Ask your mom to dump him?

 

[TheGreatBrain]

There's always two sides to every story, and we don't know your step dads story. I'm guessing he didn't like being told he sounded constipated. I'm trying to put myself in his shoes and imagine my daughter saying that to me. I might be a little annoyed. I can't really say. I guess it depends on how she says it. My teen kids are usually very respectful to me, but sometimes teens get a snotty attitude and do hurt my feelings. Maybe they don't mean to and they think I'm being overly sensitive. Just treat him how you want to be treated. Also, maybe he's going through a tough time right now. Just be extra nice. Kindness never hurt anyone.

 

[Bloobloop]

There's always two sides to every story, and we don't know your step dads story. I'm guessing he didn't like being told he sounded constipated. I'm trying to put myself in his shoes and imagine my daughter saying that to me. I might be a little annoyed. I can't really say. I guess it depends on how she says it. My teen kids are usually very respectful to me, but sometimes teens get a snotty attitude and do hurt my feelings. Maybe they don't mean to and they think I'm being overly sensitive. Just treat him how you want to be treated. Also, maybe he's going through a tough time right now. Just be extra nice. Kindness never hurt anyone.

That could be true that he's going through something, but I don't feel that he should deserve my respect or kindness when he doesn't do it back. Another example would be of his addiction to smoking. We have two dogs that I have asked him repeatedly not to bring outside when he smokes. I don't ask him rudely either. And whenever I do it, he responds angrily, asking why he can't bring them outside. And I tell him it's not good for dogs, and he just brushes it off and ignores me. I'm really slowly becoming fed up with his behavior now.

- - - Post Merge - - -

Ask your mom to dump him?

See, I've thought about that, but he also is constantly getting upset with me for "tattling" on him, which has led to two near separations between them already. The thing is, it would just be incredibly hard to do things without him, since my mother works pretty late and I need someone to take me to softball practices, bring me home from school, etc.

 

[Mr. Cat]

My dad does this too! I never figured out how to deal with it. Idk, it's difficult because I'm really blunt and I never mean any harm by it. He's seriously just a negative butt who wants attention all the time. I told him his breath was stinky yesterday because he always seems to breathe my face, which I find really disgusting, and he threw a massive fit about it.

 

[Bloobloop]

(okay this is off topic and i really shouldn't even bother but those elephant riding things are never humane, these elephants are usually illegal taken from the wild and harshly trained as babies. there's loads more i could say but there's no point, the bottom line is, just because you never seen anything bad, doesn't mean it doesn't happen)

No, I definitely felt super paranoid that I was going to be in humane when we drove to the actual park, but it's like a sanctuary too I guess? It's called Phang Nga Elephant Park if you'd like to search it up!