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Husband didn’t get promotion and blames me

313 replies

2024Mu · 29/05/2024 08:05

Found out yesterday he didn’t get promoted. I feel really upset for him as it’s been a 2.5 year process so not something that’s happened overnight. He has spent the entire time I have known him (15 years) into his work. He has sacrificed a lot. In all the years I have known him he has NEVER once taken a day off. He even joked had the kids not been born on weekends he would not have been able to attend their births (I know he’s half serious but I’ll never find out as I went into labour with both on a weekend). No matter what is going on he puts work first. I feel disappointed for him as I know how important his work is and I know he deserved the promotion.

He hasn’t said it outright but I know he blames me. He’s very quiet with me and has been giving me silent treatment. The thing is I’ve been really struggling mentally with the kids and other stuff and I didn’t know his big Final meeting was last week when I was really stressed out. I kept telling him my non-important problems. We had a fight as I feel he ignores me. My health hasn’t been very good either so I’ve been down about that. He did once say if he hadn’t married me his life would have been exactly where he needed it to be (career wise).

sorry Voting not clear:
**
YOU ARE BEING UNREASONABLE - yes it’s your fault, why stress him out during an important time
**
YOU ARE NOT BEING UNREASONABLE- no it’s not your fault he didn’t get promoted.

OP posts:
Snipples · 29/05/2024 15:46

What a horrible way for him to get on OP. Firstly you are not responsible for whether he gets promoted or not, that's entirely on him. Secondly, if it is partnership in a law firm, he is demonstrating the exact opposite behaviours that need to be in place before becoming partner. Partners lead teams and need to ensure a balance is there in terms of leave and work life, as the teams they manage will demand this. In my firm (international firm) a workaholic wouldn't be promoted as it isn't in line with our firm values. My husband has just been promoted to partner at his firm and he shares parenting completely 50/50 with me (ie taking leave to cover school holidays, all drop offs, pick ups, sports day etc). He still smashes his hours but the kids come first. Your husband needs to grow up. Blaming you is just not acceptable and I'd pull him on it. Sorry you're dealing with this.

mathanxiety · 29/05/2024 15:46

YYY to @Ponderingwindow and @Duckingella.

He's clearly failed the self awareness test too.

HauntedPencil · 29/05/2024 15:44

He sounds like a dick. Of course it isn't your fault

mathanxiety · 29/05/2024 15:44

2024Mu · 29/05/2024 08:13

It’s a really horrible atmosphere at home. The kids are tiny (primary school age). They don’t understand what’s happening. He’s ignoring them and youngest was trying to play with him. Eldest gave up. I slept in the kids room yesterday as he kept muttering and had a bit to drink.

He isn't married to you. He isn't a contributing element in family life.

His primary relationship is with his own ego.

I'd be tempted to tell him some hard truths about his addiction to external validation and tell him he reorders his priorities or he can get used to the idea of parenting the children on his own every other weekend and having them half the time during school holidays.

You're a single parent here. He seems to think support and emotional availability should only go one way. And now he's punishing you - and his own small children - because his ego is bruised.

Is this what you signed up for?

Duckingella · 29/05/2024 15:33

He wants to know why he hasn't been promoted?;maybe looking at himself and his attitude to his home life would shed some light on why

So far I see

*Selfishness
*No empathy
*Poor time management
*Not being a team player
*unable to prioritise what's important
*Lack of accountability

We all know people like your husband in the workplace or have known someone like them;they are nearly always men,they work non stop,kiss ass,drop other people in hot water,don't really seem to have many friends and are usually unpopular with their work colleagues who secretly think they are douchebags.

Ponderingwindow · 29/05/2024 15:29

He chose to have a family. He is the one who is failing to balance his life.

as much importance as people place on the interview process, when you reach a certain level, management has a good picture of the employees beyond the interview. They aren’t really going to base their decision on one moment.

the company likely saw a high-strung man who takes out his grievances on the people around him. He may be good at his job, but a good company will not pick someone like that over a better tempered employee who does a good job. They understand the impact personality will have on morale.

Pookerrod · 29/05/2024 15:25

If it is partnership that he is going for it will have very little to do with you and all to do with his business case. He will (or already has) received a lot of feedback in where he missed the mark and none of it will be related to having a stressed out wife.

You said yourself that he works all the hours god sends so it’s hardly as though you or family life have managed to get in the way.

My advice as someone who has worked in the Big 4 and is married to a partner in a law firm would be to change firm and apply for roles to go straight in as partner. That is what ex-colleagues have done who didn’t get through the partnership process of their existing firms and it’s been quite a successful strategy.

OpusGiemuJavlo · 29/05/2024 15:21

(a) He's an unpleasant person

(b) someone who never takes a day off isn't necessarily a good employee. People need down-time and an employee who takes leave and returns refreshed and energised might be better

(c) he's a crap dad

(d) his employers will not have based any of their decision on anything you have done. They will know your husband and his work and capabilities from long experience, nothing that you did affected it

(e) working hard at a more junior role does not necessarily qualify you for a senior role. Working more hours doesn't make you better. The right person for the senior role wasn't your husband and presumably they interviewed and appointed someone who ticked more boxes.

He would be better off taking his full quota of annual leave but spending some of that time in activities that develop more managerial/senior skills - eg by volunteering or coaching with sports & leisure activities - but that's not your problem, you aren't his career coach and your priority should be getting things sorted for the divorce you need.

ACynicalDad · 29/05/2024 15:20

On no level is it your fault. And it's very weird that something so important to him - this interview - he hadn't shared with you.

ThereAreNoSloesOnThere · 29/05/2024 15:16

horseyhorsey17 · 29/05/2024 11:59

Fucking hell, mate, what your husband feels about how his career would have been much better if he hadn't married is true of practically every woman ever. Mine would have been better if I'd not married or had kids, as like most women, I ended up taking a career break to do just that. Is that my husband or kids' fault? No. Is my life richer for them being in it? Yes (even though I am now separated.)

Your husband is being a twat sulking and blaming you. Don't put up with it.

That is certainly true! I was quite a high flyer back in the day. I sometimes think 'what if'.

Anyway OP- your husband does not sound like he can ever be a proper partner or father. If he is blaming you for holding him back (untrue by the way) then he will only simmer and resent you and the children.

Honestly? I'd get out now. Get the best possible advice you can and have a bright future with someone who does not undermine you and let your children have a life not walking on eggshells around a spiteful emotionally ugly pathetic excuse for a father.

AGodawfulsmallaffair · 29/05/2024 15:16

Arlanymor · 29/05/2024 14:49

He has though, he has sacrificed a normal, balanced family life with trying to run faster than anyone else on the hamster wheel. Is he sore because this promotion would have led to more money/seniority/both? He has made a poor choice if he is missing out on his kid’s development etc.

But he obviously didn’t want a normal family life. It’s a bit different to give that up for a year or two, or for studying maybe, but 15 years? He has done exactly what he wanted without a thought ( or so it seems ) for his depressed wife.

stichguru · 29/05/2024 15:15

If you, he and the kids are not out on the streets then his life is where it needs to be job wise. I'm sorry but he needs to look at life as a whole. What support do you need? What do the kids need? I know very few people that can have job, wife, kids, housing, holidays spending and everything else ALL up to 100% brilliant 24/7! Maybe the super-rich who let servants manage 98% of it, but no-one real! He needs to iron out his priorities and see what fits together, or else he needs to get divorced because you and the kids deserve better.

unsync · 29/05/2024 15:15

TBH, I'm not surprised you are depressed. You must feel really trapped and unappreciated. I do think you both need better communication skills and he needs to pull his weight. How long do you think you can keep going on like this? Please think about what you want from your life. I know it's hard when you feel so low, but you deserve better.

Ifyoucouldreadmymindlove · 29/05/2024 15:12

DistinguishedSocialCommentator · 29/05/2024 09:51

He is feeling serously rejected, pelase dont make it any worse - just give him space and remain polite - hope it all blows over soon

He will be considering his next moves ie move job but that is often hard for most people

Be polite to an abusive man that deals with his own failures by blaming his wife and ignoring his children? Have you lost your tiny mind?

MzHz · 29/05/2024 15:10

2024Mu · 29/05/2024 08:14

If I’m being truly honest I have been depressed for a number of years. I feel overwhelmed as I do everything on my own. I did take it out on him a fair bit.

No wonder you are fucking depressed, you have been neglected and dumped on for years. How dare he blame you.

neverbeenskiing · 29/05/2024 15:07

He did once say if he hadn’t married me his life would have been exactly where he needed it to be (career wise)

I'm sorry, OP. What a horrible thing for him to say. It's also bullshit, I hope you realise that? Plenty of married men with children manage to excel in their chosen fields. It might be convenient for your DH to believe that you and the kids are the only reason his career hasn't turned out as he'd hoped but since, as you say, he does fuck all childcare this seems very unlikely.

Being passed over for promotion is disappointing, of course. But a man who copes with disappointment by giving his wife the silent treatment, drinking too much and ignoring his children is a selfish twat.

akasalishsea · 29/05/2024 15:03

2024Mu · 29/05/2024 08:05

Found out yesterday he didn’t get promoted. I feel really upset for him as it’s been a 2.5 year process so not something that’s happened overnight. He has spent the entire time I have known him (15 years) into his work. He has sacrificed a lot. In all the years I have known him he has NEVER once taken a day off. He even joked had the kids not been born on weekends he would not have been able to attend their births (I know he’s half serious but I’ll never find out as I went into labour with both on a weekend). No matter what is going on he puts work first. I feel disappointed for him as I know how important his work is and I know he deserved the promotion.

He hasn’t said it outright but I know he blames me. He’s very quiet with me and has been giving me silent treatment. The thing is I’ve been really struggling mentally with the kids and other stuff and I didn’t know his big Final meeting was last week when I was really stressed out. I kept telling him my non-important problems. We had a fight as I feel he ignores me. My health hasn’t been very good either so I’ve been down about that. He did once say if he hadn’t married me his life would have been exactly where he needed it to be (career wise).

sorry Voting not clear:
**
YOU ARE BEING UNREASONABLE - yes it’s your fault, why stress him out during an important time
**
YOU ARE NOT BEING UNREASONABLE- no it’s not your fault he didn’t get promoted.

Being married to a person who uses what they want out of life as an excuse to ignore others, pass out blame and emotionally and/or physically abuse their family is tough and you are right there. I am so sorry. You are in a tough spot. Sounds like a man child having a tantrum he gets away with it possibly because you and the children are financially dependent on him? You don't say. Domestic violence is occurring right in front of you and affecting you and the children for very unhealthy outcomes that will negatively affect your children's emotional well being, possibly fo the rest of their lives. I assume you did not have children in order to abuse them, albeit, unintentionally?

Presumably you learned about husbands ambition when you dated yet you married possibly with hope that he was not who he showed you he was? Lesson one here is that people are who they show you they are but we don't see them for their truth because we look only through the lens of our need and attraction.

Or perhaps you admired his ambition for what it could bring you and did not look at the dark side of it. None of that matters now. What matters is that he is having a tantrum and the family is and will pay the price. You are subjecting yourself and your children to a life of pins and needles by letting this unacceptable behavior on both your own and his pass. Your children do not deserve the anxiety you feel. neither do you.

The anxiety you all will experience will negatively affect your children's emotional and cognitive well being as well as your own. This affects physical health too. You are going to pass down familial mental health non-wellness to them if they have to live with his tantrums, mood swings, dominance and your meekness and inability to protect them from his behavior. You will become more anxious and depressed as the years go on. Being a stay at home mother, if that is what you are, does not compensate for the emotional abuse your children will suffer throughout their childhoods and their entire lives as a result of emotional violence in the home. The fact that he stated his life would be where he wanted it to be had he not had family means he regrets all of you. Guilt over saying that might make him backtrack. If he truly did not mean that he needs to back that apology up with individual mental health counseling that explores why he said it in the first place. His backtracking won't be true remorse unless he gets the help he needs to sort himself out. he may backtrack on what he said in order to get what he needs in this game of life he is playing at to win what he wants out of it- Chilling. Your talking with him over your worries, your day, the things you deal with is the ordinary part of a loving relationship where two people who love and support each other exchange what is going on in their lives without the other needing to fix anything. it's how you stay in tune and in touch.

I suspect you are financially dependent? Financially dependent partners often bear a lot of loss and stress which morphs into anxiety which in turn is acted out on any children in the home and even friends and relatives. Possibly no human who is financially dependent or willing to be should entertain having children simply because the emotional cost to the children is too great a burden to bear.

Negotiations: First, if you are not working, I am going to suggest you get a job, love it no matter how difficult it is, love it greatly for getting you some financial independence. Work on upping any employment skills. Save every penny you can so that you can use that to take classes to upgrade your employment opportunities. You let him know that any dependence on his success, promotions, etc. is over. That you respect his need for achieving goals but that you do not respect yourself and you have huge concerns his way of dealing with disappointment is affecting the children and your own self esteem. Therefor you are going to work to offset some of the pressure he had to financially provide. He will try to talk you put of this if you are financially dependent- it's control. It is never best for children to live in an abusive household with a stay at home depressed, anxious mom. Better to live in a busy household with a thriving mom who can genuinely be there for her children, which you can do if you put away the social media at night, massively declutter the home and keep it that way and start teaching any children who can to participate in chores. Your children didn't ask to be born to abusive parents. They are here and both of you are obligated to give them an emotionally healthy childhood (Oprah Winfreys 'What Happened To You" is a great start for any parent wanting to understand the role emotional abuse has on a child's mind).

Negotiations: Let him know that you want to be supportive of his huge feelings of missing out on life but that you will not be supportive of his blaming you and the children for that because he is abusing all of you. You could let him know that you would agree to come up with a coparenting plan that emotionally and financially supports the children if he really feels being in the same household is what is costing him his happiness. That way he can be more free to pursue what he wants out of life. Do you really want to live with a person who blames you for his life not turning out right? Think about that? It's so utterly emotionally abusive that staying means being the horrible thing that got in the way, the thing that deserves nothing but wrath. You can let him know that being made to feel you are the thing that deserves his wrath is unacceptable and then say that you will not even consider staying under the same roof as an intimate partner because he has made you feel small and deserving of being blamed and harmed by him. You can offer to stay under the same roof as a roomie/friend sharing children but that you will be making the changes necessary to protect yourself and the children and hope he will as well. Let him know you respect his adulthood and have time each day to listen to his frustrations but that you have zero tolerance for being the blamed party in his need to place his failures outside of his own behavior, accomplishments, etc.

If you are unable to speak to him in a way that brings you the human dignity you deserve and if you are unable to do the things (take a job) that will free you from dependence and abuse( like taking employment, courses for job skills, going back to school, etc), then you live with a tyrant and are living in domestic violence as are your children. That is a whole other discussion because physical safety might be involved. If that is the situation, please seek help from agencies that help people in such circumstances. If you don't want to work (we don't know as you don't describe your employment/financial situation), then you too are willing to subject your children to the emotional abuse that is occurring as a result of his behavior combined with yours.

You both need help- get it for your children's sake.

Nicole1111 · 29/05/2024 15:02

It’s clear that his priorities are all about his needs and wants and you and your children’s needs aren’t important to him. Now it’s your time to reflect on what your needs and wants are, and if you think they’re being met in the current situation. If they’re not then I think you know what you need to do, especially if he’s using abusive tactics like the silent treatment, not just with you but also with the kids! That might sound scary but ultimately you’re doing it all by yourself anyway, you’d just have one less baby (him) to care for if you separated.

Ifyoucouldreadmymindlove · 29/05/2024 14:52

Only an absolute cunt if the most selfish order would hold you responsible, in light of what you’ve been going through, for what is essentially his own failure.

Does he display other traits of narcissism, whereby he refuses to accept that anything is his own fault?

Echobelly · 29/05/2024 14:51

Fatherhood (not that it sounds as though he's done much fathering) makes men more likely to get a promotion, not less. It's only motherhood that makes promotion less likely 🙄

https://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/content/news/fathers-twice-as-likely-to-be-promoted-as-mothers/#:~:text=Men%20are%20more%20than%20twice,according%20to%20research%20from%20Hays.

So if he is blaming you/the kids, there's really no grounds.

And also, I hate to say this, but taking no holiday and neglecting your home life isn't actually the way to get a promotion.

If anything this should be a lesson to him that he will get more value in life from his family than an employre.

Fathers twice as likely to be promoted as mothers - HR Magazine

Women were more likely to take a part-time role or stay in the same position they had before giving birth

https://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/content/news/fathers-twice-as-likely-to-be-promoted-as-mothers#:~:text=Men%20are%20more%20than%20twice,according%20to%20research%20from%20Hays.

Polishedshoesalways · 29/05/2024 14:50

The entire basis of his self worth is rooted in this, that’s why he has taken it so badly.

Arlanymor · 29/05/2024 14:49

AGodawfulsmallaffair · 29/05/2024 08:17

He hasn’t sacrificed a damn thing, he’s done exactly as he wants and you are the one missing out on a decent partner. So he doesn’t get his own way for once and it’s YOUR fault?

He has though, he has sacrificed a normal, balanced family life with trying to run faster than anyone else on the hamster wheel. Is he sore because this promotion would have led to more money/seniority/both? He has made a poor choice if he is missing out on his kid’s development etc.

ShadesofPoachedSmoke · 29/05/2024 14:49

I didn’t know his big Final meeting was last week when I was really stressed out.

Why didn't you know - why didn't he say anything!! Why didn't he gently explain this and ask you for some slack for a few days then he'd be in a better place to help you?

Oh no, because just letting resentment build up and not communicating is so helpful!

You are not responsible for him and his results, especially when it wasn't done intentionally!!

RomanRoysSearchHistory · 29/05/2024 14:48

Can't quite believe what I've just read.

No, it's absolutely not your fault.

He sounds insufferable.

BeardyButton · 29/05/2024 14:48

EcoChica1980 · 29/05/2024 14:43

YANBU.

A 2 and half year process isn't going to hinge on an employee having a rough night at home.

BTW - was this in academia? I struggle to imagine a job that would entail such a process.

Ya sounds like academia to me too. I’ve always felt for non-academic partners. So easy for them to be hood winked into believing a lot of the dross and nonsense given the opaque and almost feudal system.

It’s honestly not as demanding as many would have you believe. It does not necessitate zero annual leave. Lots of academics - it’s their hobby as well as their job. It’s a labour of love. But it shouldn’t justify awful behaviour to partners and relinquishing obligations at home. Honestly - a lot of the time… they are hiding in their study’s.

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