(Edit: I called CPS.)
My boyfriend's sixteen-year-old daughter does most of the chores, and has been doing so since she was thirteen. She was pulled out of school, to be the homemaker of the household, after her mother died three years ago.
He says she was bullied a lot in school, couldn’t understand a lot of the material, and has been happier since he pulled her out.
She’s more quiet with me than her siblings. She also doesn’t seem to have friends, like her siblings do. Her dad says she’s just really introverted.
I moved in yesterday, and I wanted to cook dinner. She looked shocked, and then told me I shouldn’t be doing that on my first day.
Yesterday, when I got home from work, she was already cooking. I offered to help, and she said no. Afterwards, I started doing the dishes and she started to cry. Her father asked her if she felt useless, with someone else doing one of her chores, and she nodded. He then explained that, since she doesn’t go to school or work, it’s her job to do the chores, and asked if I should please just let her. I did, but I said that her self-worth shouldn’t come from doing chores, and he just said that it has to come from somewhere.
I’m trying not to be too judgmental about this situation, but it’s bothering me more and more.
Please do not tell me to call CPS. If I did that, she might end up in a group home, and get put back in the same public school system where she is now super behind. (Edit: She's also close friends with her eleven-year-old brother, and I don't want them to get seperated.)