Step-parent - Step-children Jealousy?

[Bones]

This question stems from the thread of Mother-Daughter Jealousy.  I must confess that one of my guilty pleasures is watching the court shows.  This morning, I was watching Judge Mablean on Divorce Court where the case involved a couple of which the soon-to-be-ex-husband was bragging about how he's "king of his castle".  His attitude and behaviors toward his step-daughters were so outrageous that it brought Judge Mablean to her feet!!!!  An example of his outrageous behavior was his "rule" that his step-daughters were NOT permitted to talk about their dead father nor be permitted to have any pictures of their deceased father!  His excuse?  "Children have no right to grieve in HIS house!"  (I thought Judge Mablean was going to jump off that bench and slap him silly!!  I wish she had!!!!!!)  She did better than that!!  The judge told him EXACTLY what she thought of him and made him fork over money to his now-ex-wife!!!!)  There were several more outrageous examples during the half-hour this show was on.

Watching this "fool" reminded me of the way my Nmother behaved toward my half-sister.  I'm wondering what anyone thinks about this?

Bones

[Certain Hope]

Hi Bones,

  What you describe definitely sounds like an extreme case and horrible.  The N to whom I was married was stepfather to my kids... thankfully, only for a few years. 
I can say that he did his best to control or manipulate them, but utterly failed. They saw clean through him from the get-go, but didn't tell me till after he was gone. One of his favorite tactics was to always do the opposite of whatever it was he knew they were expecting or needed at that moment .... typical. On the few occasions when he was called upon to drive them to school, he'd dawdle till the last minute before getting into the car. If one of them would dare to suggest that they were gonna be late, he'd drive as slowly as possible, just to antagonize them and exert his control. Many things along those lines... none too severe, but he definitely earned his nickname as "the shadow" around our home.

Hope

[Bones]

Hi Bones,

  What you describe definitely sounds like an extreme case and horrible.  The N to whom I was married was stepfather to my kids... thankfully, only for a few years. 
I can say that he did his best to control or manipulate them, but utterly failed. They saw clean through him from the get-go, but didn't tell me till after he was gone. One of his favorite tactics was to always do the opposite of whatever it was he knew they were expecting or needed at that moment .... typical. On the few occasions when he was called upon to drive them to school, he'd dawdle till the last minute before getting into the car. If one of them would dare to suggest that they were gonna be late, he'd drive as slowly as possible, just to antagonize them and exert his control. Many things along those lines... none too severe, but he definitely earned his nickname as "the shadow" around our home.

Hope

Thanks, Hope.

Based on the description of your ex, he sounds like "King Baby".

Bones