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Partner's ex wife upset over boundaries being introduced

512 replies

Stickytofpud · 07/06/2023 00:25

New here so please bear with me. I came to search confirmation that I am not completely mad for what I have done/seek unbiased opinion. Apologies for long post, I felt that context and reasonable detail was needed so that people can inform their view.

I have two young kids with my partner, and his two older kids from previous marriage stay with us for half a week. The marriage broke down due to partner's ex wife's infidelity; she went on to marry the man she cheated on my partner with, no further kids born in that relationship.
When I moved in with my partner, I sort of 'jumped onto the running train' of established routine of my partner's ex featuring heavily in his life through constant messaging, but also physical presence, dropping off the kids and inviting herself in and ordering my partner to make her a cup of tea, dropping in to get stuff while we were not in the house, that kind of stuff. The infidelity and divorce upset my partner, but he's a man who's able to forgive so over time their relationship has become reasonably amicable and allowing for the above, but definitely not romantic (from his side anyway). As a newcomer, I was putting up with all that, though knew that this level of intrusion and presence from his ex was definitely not normal. To maintain the peace I tolerated the situation. Me and her would get on ok, and I get on well with the kids; she said numerous times how lucky her kids are to have me in their lives.

Me and my partner then had our first child who she would see when dropping off or collecting the kids, she would take the child in her arms etc etc. Some time after we had our child, things started to change for me, particularly after some information reached me related to her current husband (relationship not going too well) and our child (her having a bit of an obsession with the child, like the child was hers).

I have then suggested to my partner that it was time to put some boundaries in place as there should be, and put a bit more distance between her and us. This was supported by my partner, though he wasn't overly keen to introduce all these changes as he did not want to 'rock the boat'. The boundaries mostly revolved around her presence in our place (no longer invited in, kids being dropped off/collected by their dad from her place). Nothing, I believe, that should be a problem for a former partner to respect and accept as their ex partner has moved on and started a family with someone else. The boundaries also include as little contact of my children with her as possible; she's of no relation to them, other than being a mother of their siblings.

It's been about a year now since the boundaries have been introduced and it didn't go down well with her, and it is actually getting worse. I have been name called by her, all of a sudden it's not kids are lucky to have me in their life but poor kids to have to endure me while staying with their dad.. the latest being that if I don't want her to be involved in my kids' lives then she doesn't want me to be involved in her kids' lives either.... completely ignoring the fact that she's comparing apples with pears; her kids are part of our household and my life for half a week each week, whereas my kids have nothing to do with her.

It's wearing, it's frustrating, it's upsetting and I don't know where it will end. It's also putting a strain onto my relationship with my partner as he is caught in the middle of it. It's all been fine for as long as it was on her terms. When the terms changed, I have been made the bad one, for asking nothing more than to be given space and peace for our family life.

For those who managed to read until the end, I would appreciate your views, AIBU?

OP posts:
Blossomtoes · 07/06/2023 14:24

Yousee · 07/06/2023 13:59

Calling the OP "sneaky and underhanded" for not allowing a cheating wretch free access to her home 😂 what a laugh this thread has become!

The “cheating wretch (?) whose ex husband - you know, the one she cheated - is happy to have in his home?

CremeEgg1983 · 07/06/2023 14:23

Poor OP, these comments are awful.

I read it as she wasn't comfortable with it all along but didn't want to say anything because she didn't want to cause issues. But then it got to the point where it was really bothering her so she felt she had to say something.

It is possible to co-parent without inviting the ex in for a cup of tea and a chat. To be honest, I don't understand why anyone would even want to sit and talk to someone who cheated on them and ruined the family unit. People on here are saying OP ruined the co-parenting relationship but actually the ex wife put strains on that relationship before the OP even came on the scene.

It's OPs house too and she has every right to say what makes her uncomfortable. I wouldn't allow my husbands ex in our house either, I never have due to her personality and vindictiveness.

I doubt OP will come back on the thread now with the amount of hostility and abuse aimed at her.

Yousee · 07/06/2023 13:59

Calling the OP "sneaky and underhanded" for not allowing a cheating wretch free access to her home 😂 what a laugh this thread has become!

Nordicrain · 07/06/2023 13:58

Tiddlypomtiddlypom · 07/06/2023 13:13

Telling a woman to ‘calm down’ is misogynistic. It harks back to calling women hysterical.

And what exactly in my post would suggest I’m not ‘calm’?

It’s probably more that you feel a bit silly and are lashing out.

Telling me off for telling me I being sexist, then accusing me of lashing out because I feel silly? Pot, kettle, black.

And I don't feel silly at all, strange thing to suggest.

Shallistayorshalligo · 07/06/2023 13:56

I guess, your poll will be around 50/50 in the end, OP😅
one half of the voters are going to be controlling exs, who would want to poke their noses in their ex martial homes and have a cup of tea with their ex husbands, another half will be the new wifes, who find this kind of intrusion very upsetting.

And of course, there will be a small percentage of people like myself, who are neither ex or new ones, but can totally understand and support your absolutely normal and logical point of view😁

Sunshine0x · 07/06/2023 13:50

Boomshock · 07/06/2023 13:37

Territorial grabbing 😂

OP is going to ruin her relationship with her stepkids with that kind of OTT attitude.

Why would anyone need to territorial grab their own baby? I'm guessing the ex visited once per week if they halved pick ups so not long . Babies know their mothers scent and voice so they wouldn't think the ex was their mother.
It's so insecure I was happy if people held my DD , it gave my arms a break she still very much knew I was her mother.

Sunshine0x · 07/06/2023 13:45

malificent7 · 07/06/2023 13:05

My dp's ex had a strop when she wasn't invited to our wedding ceremony ( she's coming to the reception.)
She thought we were one happy family. Admittedly it is very tough to enforce boundaries when entering anew relationship with a co-parent. No-one wants to be the bad guy and everyone wants what is best for the kids. Having a key for your house is a step too far and it's normal to change boundaries when one has more power.

Nah its sneaky and underhanded. I wouldn't be with such a weak man who gave the ex a key to the home. Then to put up with it to get the ring on the finger and impregnated. In fact its desperate is a man such a prize someone would tolerate that for years? Just say what you think to begin with then dump if it's too enmeshed.

Spacecadet123 · 07/06/2023 13:43

beachcitygirl · 07/06/2023 13:21

@Spacecadet123 simple statement of fact but it sure as hell bothers a lot of women.

Especially when like in this instanceC there is an ex wife, and she's the mother of his kids and not married.

And yes marriage matters for women. We all say it on here, all the time. So understandably it makes some v insecure.

Its mad to me that you would hurt someone like that, you sound like you have been really hurt by it. But to put another woman down like that, its not right!

Like you keep mentioning " but it sure as hell bothers a lot of women." ... so why keep saying it? Its so wrong. Whats your insecure? could we rip you apart for that? I wouldn't dream of it...

Honeychickpea · 07/06/2023 13:39

She'll never be the first.
First person he proposed to
First person he started a home and married life with
First person he went through the excitement of pregnancy and new baby with
First real partner in life.

All these firsts don't keep a marriage together, as we've seen all too often.

Spacecadet123 · 07/06/2023 13:37

sourcorn · 07/06/2023 13:19

It's also a bit stupid as no one who gets together with a divorced person is stupid enough to not realise any of that!

exactly, its already thoughts they battle with.

Boomshock · 07/06/2023 13:37

Tiddlypomtiddlypom · 07/06/2023 13:28

“Don’t fucking look at me, you mad twat, you kept letting yourself into my house when I wasn’t there,” would probably be a harsher boundary.

Asserting the parameters of appropriate behaviour towards accessing the OP’s private home and the territorial grabbing of the OP’s child is ‘gentle’ in the sense that they very much needed to happen.

Territorial grabbing 😂

OP is going to ruin her relationship with her stepkids with that kind of OTT attitude.

2bazookas · 07/06/2023 13:37

Are you and DP living in a property she still part -owns? Is that why she feels entitled to let herself in when you're not?

If not, then I would insist that the locks are changed so she no longer has access to your home.

SerafinasGoose · 07/06/2023 13:36

beachcitygirl · 07/06/2023 11:53

Ah just realised. She's not the wife. Just the girlfriend. Thus the insecurity. Understandable.

Meow! This one wins 'Saucer of Milk Award' of the thread. 🎖

OP is mother to her partner's subsequent child. She has a right to her boundaries in her home.

Marriage isn't a guarantee of anything.

Tiddlypomtiddlypom · 07/06/2023 13:28

Boomshock · 07/06/2023 13:24

Gentle boundaries? 😂
What would you consider 'harsh' boundaries if these are gentle?

“Don’t fucking look at me, you mad twat, you kept letting yourself into my house when I wasn’t there,” would probably be a harsher boundary.

Asserting the parameters of appropriate behaviour towards accessing the OP’s private home and the territorial grabbing of the OP’s child is ‘gentle’ in the sense that they very much needed to happen.

Boomshock · 07/06/2023 13:24

Tiddlypomtiddlypom · 07/06/2023 06:59

Women on here are constantly being laid into for having weak boundaries. A woman (who has stepchildren for half the week) puts in gentle and fully understandable boundaries (ex-wife is not to barge into their house, demand tea and become weirdly territorial about their new children 😳) and she’s torn to pieces by posters, who are likely triggered by their own broken down relationships.

Sort it out, Mumsnet.

Gentle boundaries? 😂
What would you consider 'harsh' boundaries if these are gentle?

beachcitygirl · 07/06/2023 13:21

@Spacecadet123 simple statement of fact but it sure as hell bothers a lot of women.

Especially when like in this instanceC there is an ex wife, and she's the mother of his kids and not married.

And yes marriage matters for women. We all say it on here, all the time. So understandably it makes some v insecure.

sourcorn · 07/06/2023 13:19

Spacecadet123 · 07/06/2023 13:09

oh wow, you sound a lovely, lovely person... how vile!

"She'll never be the first.
First person he proposed to
First person he started a home and married life with
First person he went through the excitement of pregnancy and new baby with
First real partner in life"

It's also a bit stupid as no one who gets together with a divorced person is stupid enough to not realise any of that!

PussInBin20 · 07/06/2023 13:19

I don’t think you are unreasonable at all. It’s just that your DH had no boundaries in the first place (that he should have put in place from the beginning).

That’s what has made it tricky for you, as he (and you) have simply just gone along with her wishes, so of course she won’t like the change.

I think it’s perfectly normal to drop the kids at the door or from the car. Why would you or your DH want any kind of relationship with her?! I certainly wouldn’t.

Tiddlypomtiddlypom · 07/06/2023 13:17

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Tiddlypomtiddlypom · 07/06/2023 13:13

Nordicrain · 07/06/2023 12:19

Jeez, calm down.

Hoenstly I am not sure think there's been abuse (which is an overused term in my view). What I think has happened is that the ex is pretty pissed off that the OP has decided to come in and change what has worked for the family and in terms of coparenting for years, blaming the ex and accusing her of wanting her husband and baby (which frankly sounds paranoid) So the ex is angry and reacting in the way people do when they are angry and defensuve - a la fine, if I can't come near "your" family, well then you can stay away from mine.

OP has caused all this by going to extremes. If she had left her insecurities at the door and dealt with the whole thing maturely proper boundaries could have been set without a full on ban on the ex, rocking the coparenting relationship the ex and OP's DP had otherwise found worked for them.

Telling a woman to ‘calm down’ is misogynistic. It harks back to calling women hysterical.

And what exactly in my post would suggest I’m not ‘calm’?

It’s probably more that you feel a bit silly and are lashing out.

Spacecadet123 · 07/06/2023 13:09

beachcitygirl · 07/06/2023 11:14

Frankly I don't believe there's been abuse.

She left him. OP probably resents their close bond. So she tried to power play to destroy it.
She's only harming the kids.

It seems to me (and similarly in a lot of these types of posts) that the wife is insecure.

She'll never be the first.
First person he proposed to
First person he started a home and married life with
First person he went through the excitement of pregnancy and new baby with
First real partner in life.

It seems to really really bother them. A lot (not all) want to pretend the ex wife and kids don't exist.
Remember the mad woman on here who didn't want her dsc at her wedding (although their baby was going ) to the point she booked an overseas wedding (with fancy tiki torches) so she could avoid having his kids their & just be their "little family"

So they play weird little power games.

Secure women don't care about the ex.
Water off a ducks back.

As so many have said, the only real issue was key to the house & everyone has agreed that should have been stopped sharpish.

oh wow, you sound a lovely, lovely person... how vile!

"She'll never be the first.
First person he proposed to
First person he started a home and married life with
First person he went through the excitement of pregnancy and new baby with
First real partner in life"

malificent7 · 07/06/2023 13:05

My dp's ex had a strop when she wasn't invited to our wedding ceremony ( she's coming to the reception.)
She thought we were one happy family. Admittedly it is very tough to enforce boundaries when entering anew relationship with a co-parent. No-one wants to be the bad guy and everyone wants what is best for the kids. Having a key for your house is a step too far and it's normal to change boundaries when one has more power.

Ihatepickingausername3 · 07/06/2023 13:00

I think there is a middle ground. It’s the fact that it’s such a sudden change which has created the animosity. Better to have been gradual and perhaps not quite as rigid.

Heronwatcher · 07/06/2023 12:57

Yes YABU. It’s fine to have boundaries over your own DC, but not letting her collect her DCs and pop in for a cup of tea is going much too far. It sounds like she and your DP were doing well Co-parenting before this so I think you need to try as hard as you can to get back there- it will be much easier for you all. Put yourself in her shoes- if you and your DH separated and your DC was going to see him for access would you really want to be banned from the house? Wouldn’t you think that was a bit rude?

Also I don’t see what’s really that wrong with her hugging your DC if your DC doesn’t mind. She is the mother of your DC’s brothers and sisters. You might not like it but she is part of your DC’s family (to me in the same way as an aunt by marriage is etc).

Olive19741205 · 07/06/2023 12:53

Intriguedbythis · 07/06/2023 11:59

@Olive19741205 wow chill out, I’m not a liar 😆.

I am not in a step family situation but i would also never have children with a man who had kids if I was not able to be friendly and Mature and respect his other kids/ their mother like a reasonable adult…

Ah I see, you're not a step-parent...but yet you think you know what you're talking about. You have zero experience in a situation like this so perhaps you should "chill out" with the 'advice'. Also, where does OP say she doesn't respect the DSC?