My point clarified: There’s a custody battle going on. The father is at sea. Unless the child has been adopted by the sailor’s new wife, the child is not being cared for by a blood relative.
Blood trumps marriage when it comes to caring for kids. Custody gets played like a game. There may be the case that the mother is legitimate lunatic, or she may be not.
The father isn’t around to care for his kid. The mother is fighting for custody.
What’s not being said here is what is the status in terms of child care that the kid is receiving from the new wife?
There is nothing to suggest that Kaylee is in anyway being mistreated by her stepmother.