Dear Prudence,
My husband is much older than me and is very close to his daughters from his first marriage; they are lovely and smart girls (his youngest will be graduating high school at 16). We have a 2-year-old son together. I get along fine with the girls, but according to the divorce decree, my husband is responsible for all college expenses. One wants to go to medical school and the other got accepted to an Ivy League school!
We could buy a new house in cash for what this will cost us. There are in-state schools just as good, and we could sell our two-bedroom condo and get a place with a backyard for our son to run around in. My husband shuts me down every time I bring it up: The condo is paid for, he promised his daughters, our lives are fine, his girls are going to be the first in the family to get their degrees and they deserve the best, etc. I am made to feel like a wicked stepmother for wanting my son to grow up with a treehouse and a dog. In-state tuition would allow us to do both (or the girls could get student loans like the rest of us). Is there any way I can convince him?