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We had a lovely meal at our local earlier. Our waiter was someone we hadn’t seen before and he told us he was on his first shift when he came over to take our drinks order. DP commented to him ‘I bet your arse is twitching like a rabbit’s nose’ to which he sort of awkwardly/politely laughed. I told DP off and he said the waiter would appreciate him breaking the ice and having a laugh with him.

I disagree and thought it was crass. AIBU?

125

I’m looking for suggestions of what to wear to Wimbledon, I’m trying to move away from my previous few summer’s uniform of midi dresses.
I am mid 50’s, need petite range and want to look as nice as I can as it’s a special day for my DH and I.

2

She looks like she’s at death’s door with anorexia and yet she’s just kicked off a world tour.

I thought we were living in more enlightened times now and that celebrities’ ill health wouldn’t be enabled like this. If she went to any hospital she’d get admitted for malnutrition.

478

Im 60, happy and active. I work from home in a stressful job and nearly every day I go to bed for an hour at lunchtime and sleep. I mentioned it to a friend who told me in no uncertain terms that she thinks that is weird . I've never really thought about it before and now I'm wondering if it is? I dont tend to do it at weekends and wonder if its my body's way of dealing with the work stress? I'd welcome any thoughts

20

We have some options:
1 sell down our investments
2 remortgage/use low interest debt
3 reduce pension contributions and pay out of income

i’m trying to decide on which would be most efficient. option 3 increases our income tax bill quite significantly so I think likely to be the worst.

so I wondered if you’re in this situation what would you do?

52

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New role, shift work, told it would be a 'fairly' stable pattern mostly a combination of 2/2/2 pattern per cycle, except when someone is on leave (and then less or no day shifts). Colleague has boasted about not having to pay for childcare ever despite both her and husband both working full time with shift work (different employers).This has been facilitated because she request shifts around her husbands roster unofficially and the person who does the roster gives them to her at the expense of her colleagues. This is going to mainly be me as we are opposing shifts. This means she will request say all late shifts meaning I would get stuck with all early shifts. This wasn't what I signed up to when I took the job but the emotional blackmail has started and I know she wants the arrangement she had with my predessor to continue. I really have no interest in her childcare woes and think she needs to get paid help in. She's been very lucky for so long but with new staff things will change and she must see this. How to deal with this diplomatically but firmly? to be clear this isn't an HR arrangement she has, she has just buttered up the man who does the roster over the years.

135

I'm a 35M. My wife, Sofia, is 35F. We've been married for 8 years and have two kids together. We've actually been together since we were 18, so we've known each other for almost half our lives.

Overall, we've had a really good marriage. No major issues. We communicate well, we're financially stable, and we've built a good life together.

I work in finance. My wife works in fashion retail. Her job involves working closely with male colleagues and sometimes traveling with them. That's never bothered me. I've never been the jealous or controlling type, and she's never given me a reason not to trust her.

For privacy, all the names here are changed except my wife's.

Sofia has three close friends from high school: Leonor, Martha, and Carmen. They're all married, all have kids, and they've had weekly girls' nights for as long as I've known them even before we got married.

Usually, Sofia comes home around midnight.

Sometimes it's 2 a.m. If it gets too late, she'll stay at one of her friends' houses rather than drive. For years, she's voluntarily shared her location with me when she's out and checks in every couple of hours.

It was actually her idea, not mine.

Last weekend, they went to a music festival.

She left with Martha, who picked her up from our house. Carmen and Leonor were meeting them there. Sofia told me she'd probably be home around 1 a.m.

Around 10 p.m., I saw Carmen's Instagram stories. They were dancing, drinking, having fun. Normal festival stuff.

Then around 11 p.m., Carmen and Martha posted videos of themselves sitting on random men's shoulders. In the background, Sofia and Leonor were doing the same thing.

For context, I know this sounds extreme to some people, but Sofia has always loved that kind of festival energy. She's been on my shoulders plenty of times at concerts and festivals. It wasn't automatically a red flag to me.

A little later, Carmen posted a group picture. There were about six men, my wife, Leonor, Martha, Carmen, and two other women I didn't recognize.

Sofia reposted it.I texted her asking who these people were.

She replied that they were just people they'd met at the festival. She said they were nice, and some of them had their wives there too, referring to the two women in the picture.

I went to bed around 11.

Around midnight, Sofia called me. She said they had been invited to an after-party at someone's house and she'd probably be home around 2:30 a.m. She told me not to wait up.

I said okay.

Around 1:30 a.m., I checked her location. She wasn't at the festival anymore. She was about 15 minutes away at what looked like a large villa with a pool in an upscale area.

This is where I started getting uneasy

It honestly wasn't because I thought she was cheating. My first thought was drugs. I've been around enough people to know that after-parties at random wealthy strangers' houses can sometimes mean cocaine and other stuff.

I checked Instagram again.

Carmen and Martha were still posting stories from the music festival.

Sofia and Leonor were the only ones who had gone with this group.

At 2:30 a.m., Sofia called again.

She told me she wasn't coming home that night and would come back in the morning instead.

She said, "Leo is with me. I'm safe. I'm sorry I keep changing the timeline, but I'm having fun."

I could hear music and people in the background.

Then she said, "I'm probably not going to call again tonight, so if you don't hear from me, don't worry."

Before hanging up, I asked her directly:

"Are drugs involved?"

She paused and said yes.

Then she added something like, "Just this one time after a long time."

For context, Sofia isn't an addict. But she has used recreational drugs occasionally over the years. It's never been a secret between us.

I ended the call.

The next morning, around 8 a.m., she came home.

I could tell she'd been drinking heavily. She looked exhausted and like she'd definitely taken whatever drugs had been there.

The first thing she said was, "I'm sorry. I know you were worried. I'm sorry."

Then she hugged me.

But something immediately stood out.

She wasn't wearing the outfit she'd left home in.

When I asked about it, she said Leonor had brought a backup outfit and she'd changed at the host's house.

The outfit she came home wearing was a slip dress with a deep V neckline.

Maybe this is irrational, but that detail bothered me more than I expected. It wasn't like throwing on a hoodie because you spilled a drink. She had to completely undress at a stranger's house in the middle of the night to change into it.

I've spent the last four days trying to figure out how I feel.

Part of me thinks she was honest with me the entire night. She shared her location. She called me twice. She admitted there were drugs involved when I asked. She came home and apologized without being defensive.

But another part of me feels deeply disrespected.

She chose to stay overnight at a villa owned by people she'd met that same evening. She changed clothes there. She did drugs. She repeatedly pushed back the time she'd be home. And while I don't have any evidence that she cheated, I can't shake the feeling that boundaries in our marriage were crossed.

I haven't accused her of cheating because I genuinely don't know if that's what I believe.

But I do know that if the roles were reversed if I had gone to a music festival, ended up at a random woman's villa until 8 in the morning, admitted drugs were involved, changed into a different outfit, and came home apologizing I don't think anyone would tell my wife she was overreacting.

One thing I haven't admitted, even to myself, is that the men in those photos looked attractive and wealthy. I'm not saying that because I think my wife would automatically cheat with a good-looking guy.

I've never had that mindset.

Sofia has gone on girls' nights for years. She's worked around attractive men her entire career.

She's traveled with male colleagues. None of that has ever made me jealous.

But if I'm being completely honest, seeing that these weren't just random drunk college kids at a festival got into my head. They looked like successful, confident men in their late 30s or 40s who clearly had money and social status. I found myself wondering if I'd feel differently if they looked like average middle-aged dads from our neighborhood.

Maybe that says something uncomfortable about my own insecurities. Or maybe it's just that the whole picture meeting strangers, going to a private villa, drugs being involved, staying until morning, changing clothes there crossed lines that had never been crossed before.

I genuinely don't know.

What I do know is that for the first time in our relationship, I'm questioning whether my trust has been damaged, and I hate that feeling.

Am I overthinking this?

Would you consider this a breach of trust even if no cheating occurred? And I'm asking this here because My wife is mother of kid's and lot's of other women's are involved here too

I used AI for better formatting and readable

Me and my partner really like the name "Knowledge" for a boy. I'm curious to see what other people think of this name choice.

Knowledge Jamie Smith (our last name is very similar to Smith)

Jamie is the middle name because his father's name is James.

I think it holds a warm and curious energy. What do you guys think?

12

I don’t know if i’m being unfair. I’m in my early forties and my parents are late sixties. They have a few buy to let properties and whilst not incredibly wealthy they are comfortable. I feel this detail is relevant as it means they have lots of options open to them. Neither work now, they are in decent health generally, have a few grandchildren they see regularly. Both have wide friendship groups and socialise.

But, they just don’t seem happy. Always wanting something else. Is this what happens as you get older? The current drama is whether they need to move house, it’s like they enjoy creating a chaotic situation that simply doesn’t need to exist. Every weekend they’ve asked me to view houses with them (I have two dc so life is quite busy!) and they often comment on how life is nearly over.

On a lesser scale, there’s often dramas about getting home from a shop and the blueberries or whatever being off, calling the shop and having a rant about it, just really insane petty things. It all seems so stressful even from the outside!

I have sympathy in the sense that I can understand how life can feel empty sometimes even when it isn’t, but truthfully I’m also getting sick of the inability to see they have a pretty nice life! AIBU? Is this what happens as people
age?

181

I used to have BIAB regularly but stopped this year for a variety of reasons.

I have been painting them myself. They chip too quickly, literally two, three days. I have used top coats, I’ve given plenty of drying time between coats, a few different brands of polish and I cannot get any longer out of them.

So now I am thinking maybe it’s not realistic to think I can have painted nails continuously and I need to do something else.

What do you do with your nails?

67

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Aibu to feel out of step with my family?

At 53 I’m the only one left working full time.

My parents retired early (at 58 / 60) and live an idyllic life in their country house.
My sister walked away from a stressful job last year. The fact that she doesn’t have children and has married a richer, older man means that she will not be going back to work, and is effectively retiring aged 51.
My DH had a burnout last year. I don’t think he will ever be the same, but he’s better. He has gone part time (50%) with an invalidity pension to made up most - not all - of the difference.

And muggins here carries on working 42 hours a week (full time compressed into term time) and trying to support / parent / fund two teens through school and uni.

i don’t grudge them (maybe I do) but what I’m finding really difficult is that we seem to have so little in common now. All they talk about are expensive improvements on their big homes / gardens (we rent a city centre flat), the latest wildlife that they’ve spotted (if I hear one more red squirrel story I might 🤯), the long country walks that they do, the sauna they are planning to build, etc etc. I plaster on a smile and try to care. When they do ask about my life, it’s really hard not to be snippy about it - the truth is that it’s a grind. When they ask about work, there’s no real interest - it’s more like ‘poor Woffle, such a hard life.. oh look another squirrel! 🐿️

My dad keeps asking when we’re going to retire ‘because every year you work after 60 is 5 years off your life you know Woffle’. Like I have a choice! Two kids still to put through uni, a recently reduced income and me being the main breadwinner? I’m going to be working for a long time to come.

101

If you were very pale skinned, strawberry blonde & not good in heat generally but you had a dinner with a professional contact in Milan in July, what would you wear?

50yrs old 5ft 9" & size 12

I want to look as good as i can! There will possibly be some sightseeing and lunch / dinner / drinks

43
LeeRyan4eva
AIBU?

I’ve had quite heavy bright red bleeding every time I’ve had a bowel movement for about 6 weeks now - I’ve been referred to the colorectal clinic so I’m trying not to worry as I think (hope) the cause is internal hemorrioids as I’ve had them banded in the past.

My worry is I think I’m getting low on iron. Recently I’ve been exhausted and noticed my hair shedding. I’ve had headache for almost a week now, it isn’t blinding but it’s always there. Since last night I feel really dizzy, exhausted and short of breath.

is it worth going to a&e on a Friday night? Or should I just start taking iron tablets (I haven’t been as I worried it might cause constipation and make the bleeding worse) and would they be able to do anything even if the cause of my symptoms is my iron being very low due to the bleeding?

27

Following on from the thread about over rated things, CP came up again and again.

I feel I am in the minority on MN, but in real life it runs anywhere between 95-100% capacity.

Of course people are entitled to their opinion and if you dislike it you dislike it, but honestly what do people find so awful about it?

349

Please settle a light hearted disagreement…Hubster says the new photo/poster I’ve put up in the downstairs loo will be considered ‘tacky’ by any visitors.

It’s the Mona Lisa but she’s holding her nose - you can see it on Google.

YABU - I agree with your Hubster
YANBU - it’s harmless

221

I’m aware that that’s an inflammatory thread title bur u guess that is what it boils down to. So to give a bit more detail.

DH and I have two children ; DD is 5 and in reception and our ds is nearly three. I work two and a half days a week, and it’s in a school so off for school holidays.

Before we had children I thought we’d roughly be equal parents. This has not been thr case at all. DH definitely sees anything he does do with the children as a sort of optional extra rather than what has to be done, and everything is left to me. I can count the times he’s had them both together on one hand: that isn’t an exaggeration. Even if he does do something I have to prep everything, so for example he takes DD to school on Friday and collects her as I’m at work, but I have to dress her, give her breakfast, clean teeth, pack bag etc.

As a result the children just gravitate more and more to me. Even if he does do something he just creates more work for me, so if I go out for a couple of hours the house is trashed when I get back, he doesn’t cook for them

Obviously I’ve tried to address it with him, he just goes on the defensive and hones in on a particular occasion (yeah well they started fighting so …) or just whines generally which I hate and is difficult to answer. So now five and a half years down the line I do have to accept this is how things are.

I don’t get a break at all. I get up when the children do, tend to then through the day and night in one case and am responsible for their diet, activities and getting them to said activities and everything. Seven days a week, it’s relentless and I’m already dreading the long school holidays.

So here is where the title is relevant. Truthfully I’ve lost a lot of respect for DH and I’ve come to realise that while he’s basically a kind man he’s also selfish and lazy.

Ending the marriage is one possibility but I’m not sure when I think about it that it would help anything. Yes, I wouldn’t have resentment but the children would be upset and their lives overturned (new schools and nurseries, new home, etc.)

Or if I stay as I am. I have one more year to get through and then when both children are in school I will have a couple of days a week for me. Otherwise, I’d have to be full time and I’m not sure I can take working full time in term time and then switching to full time childcare in holidays.

I know it’s awful and I don’t consider myself a mercenary person but I have to also think about what’s realistic in terms of my mental health and family stability

528

I've just bought a bedding set from dunelm which is white with green leaves on it. Any suggestions for other things I could buy to brighten up our bedroom?

https://www.dunelm.com/product/harper-stem-floral-144-thread-count-100-cotton-duvet-cover-pillowcase-set-1000252823?defaultSkuId=30929286

We have a tiny bedroom with grey/green tongue in groove halfway up the wall, white everywhere else. We pulled up the carpet hoping to find beautiful floorboards but they are wrecked beyond saving so I'm looking for a large rug, maybe green? We have a wardrobe mirror door leaning against the wall as our mirror and zero storage. A black metal IKEA bed and two IKEA beside tables. All ancient.

I feel we have a student bedroom!! Help!

Harper Stem Floral 144 Thread Count 100% Cotton Duvet Cover & Pillowcase Set | Dunelm
* Made from 100% cotton * Machine washable * 144 Thread count * Modern style * Includes standard pillowcase Turn your bedroom into a tranquil escape with the Harper Stem Floral Duvet Cover & Pillowcase Set. The soft stem design feels fresh and calmi...
https://www.dunelm.com/product/harper-stem-floral-144-thread-count-100-cotton-duvet-cover-pillowcase-set-1000252823?defaultSkuId=30929286
5

My birthday is coming up and I'm being treated to some new earrings. I know what would really fill a gap are some hold chunky twists or something but I think these ones I don't need at all are so pretty.

Smooth Flat Oval Gemstone Earrings – Mounir Jewellery https://share.google/dUvw1ouvBaojWvQrb

I'd love to see your favourites to help me decide.

18

I’m gradually building up my fitness and I’m walking more than I’ve been able to in years, thanks to Mounjaro helping me lose a lot of weight and reducing the inflammation in my joints!

I usually wear Skechers trainers, as I have a bone spur on my heel and walk with a limp due to having no feeling in my left foot, and I know Skechers fit and are comfy out of the box.

However, I need more ankle support than my trainers are giving me. I’ve started walking on more uneven surfaces and I’m terrified that I’m going to end up on my arse!

I’ve seen Skechers walking boots - anyone know if they’re as comfy as the trainers? I need waterproof and I can’t risk my left foot blistering, as I don’t tend to notice until I take my shoe off and realise it’s bleeding! Or any recommendations for very comfy, waterproof boots?

Thanks :)

4
Feralbookworm
AIBU?

I will try and keep this as sort as possible..

So basically i am bridesmaid for one of my close friends next year. I felt very privileged to be asked a few months ago about being part of her big day.

Feb time we were told where and when the away hen was to be but MOH would be organising. Hen do is to be October quite an expensive destination 4 nights. Immediately I was dreading it, for reference, I am a single parent to 2 girls. Myself and ex split over a year ago, not received any maintenance (ongoing case) and he’s very unreliable when it comes to seeing the girls. I don’t have a big support network except my mum ( who’s just went through significant treatment for health condition and therefore cannot drive).

Turned out hen was costing around £1000 plus, not including brunches planned or spending money/food/ nights out. I just knew there was no way I could afford it at such short notice. I only work part time and I can’t afford to take my kids away this year due to ongoing maintenance not being paid and potential legal fees solicitors etc. Now a lot of girls weren’t able to go but me being the only BM I felt awful. However, there was no budging on destination or dates which would have made it more affordable for everyone.

i explained to my friend that I couldn’t go, apologised profusely, explained that I genuinely just do not have the money and it wouldn’t be fair on the kids. plus it would be really difficult for me to have my girls minded as mum can’t drive etc etc

she wasn’t happy at all, said she expected me to be there for her, was really disappointed in me, it was her big day and she wanted me there for it etc etc: I said I am not missing your big day but due to mum not being well, kids I just can’t manage it, I will be there for the home hen party etc I got quite a dry message back about well she has no choice but to be ok with it. Not once was I asked if I was ok, was mum ok and I am actually now so hurt. For context I’ve just had the worst year of my life with my ex (abusive) and my mum being very unwell and I’ve never been asked if I’m even ok.

I haven’t heard anything from her since ( this is about a month ago) and now I don’t know what to do. It feels really awkward but I’m not willing to be walked over the top of. AIBU to feel so hurt?

121