Their lying.
Their belief that they are the most important thing in the world
Their fury when they discover otherwise.
Their entitlement.
Their laziness.
Their self pity
Their lack of responsibility.
I know one couple who seem genuinely in love after 40 years. I know quite a few who tolerate each other for the sake of the dcs. But I know too many who are together simply because they cannot afford to separate.
I dumped my last man friend because after dating for 5 years, he told me I had to "get rid of my ds half the time, if I wanted our relationship to progress." Ds was 9 at the time. Man was literally dumbfounded, speechless when I took a nanosecond to refuse and show him the door.
DS' dad was lovely until ds arrived, then he morphed into 1950s man, tried to stop me going back to work, thought he'd acquired an unpaid domestic skivvy, refused to change nappies or help with ds in any way. He didn't get up once in the night when ds was a baby. If I was so tired I didn't wake up when ds cried, ex used to nudge me with his foot and say 'baby's crying' then go back to sleep.
Since we split I had to undergo chemo & radiotherapy. Ex came to visit ds during that time and spent 10 minutes whining about how his leg hurt because he'd had to drive his automatic luxury car down a motorway for 90 minutes.
Literally, what is the point of them? I've never needed a man as a meal ticket, but can't find an equal partner. So I just go on occasional dates when I'm feeling optimistic. 😁