Mom Moves Daughter, 5, to New Home After Remarrying. Now, She Admits It’s ‘Heartbreaking’ to See Her Only Child ‘Miserable’

A mom is heartbroken after realizing her young daughter is deeply unhappy following a big family move.

The mother shared on Reddit that she and her 5-year-old daughter had lived with her own mom since the child was born. Her ex-partner was never involved, and recently, the mom remarried and moved three hours away to live with her new husband and his two children.

At first, everything felt exciting and new — but as time passed, the mom admitted that life has become “extremely miserable.”

“I was hoping it was just me — that if she was happy, I’d deal with not being happy,” she wrote. “But when we’ve started visiting her grandparents, every time we leave now, she (we lol) cry for upwards of an hour because we have to come back.”

The mom explained that her daughter has become “really sad about everything.” Once enthusiastic about school, she now hates it. She wants to sleep beside her mom every night and feels that her step-siblings are “mean to her all the time.” The mom also shared that her husband’s parenting style is very different — and that he’s become comfortable yelling at her daughter.

“So on our way back today from my parents’ house, I asked her if she was happy, and she said no,” the mom recalled. “I asked if she liked living with my husband and his kids, and she said not really.”

When asked what would make her happy, the little girl’s answer was simple: “Stay with Grandma.”

“Maybe we’re still adjusting, but her being so sad all the time and not liking anything anymore is the most heartbreaking thing I can think of,” the mom wrote. “We’ve been here six months, and it just feels like everything is getting worse. And in six more months, we’d have to move 18 hours away if we stayed with my husband and his kids.”

The mom confessed she doesn’t know how to fix things or make her daughter feel like herself again.

Many commenters urged her to leave the situation — especially given how unhappy her daughter seemed.

“I’m a single parent and have been since my daughter was 3 weeks old,” one commenter wrote. “I’ve dated a few times in the last 14 years, but I’ve never met anyone worth disrupting my daughter’s life for.”

The person added that they couldn’t imagine ignoring the kind of unhappiness the mom described: “Your husband is yelling at your child, and his kids are mean to her. Why are you still there?”

Another commenter echoed that advice, saying the mom shouldn’t leave her daughter “in a situation where she doesn’t feel safe.”

“Don’t put your 5-year-old in a home where she’s bullied by the other kids and yelled at by your husband,” they wrote. “It’s your job to protect her. Divorce him and move back to your mom’s until you find your own place. Nothing is worth your child’s mental well-being.”

One person even shared their own story, explaining that when their mom remarried, they too were “absolutely miserable.” Eventually, their mom divorced — but the emotional toll lasted.

“If you can figure out a way to leave sooner rather than later and get your happy life back with your baby girl, she’ll be forever grateful,” they told the mom.

The original poster replied that the message was “something I needed to read.”

“My daughter is a harmless kid (besides normal kid stuff), and I’ve never seen him yell at her because I’d lose my mind if he did — but he yells at his kids, and she doesn’t like it. Neither do I,” the mom wrote. “He tries to ‘do better,’ but it lasts three days, and then we’re back to the same talk.”

She added, “I want a life that’s just us. I’ve started looking at apartments and houses back home, but now I’m thinking about just moving back to my parents’ place because of what she said today.”