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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To expect partner to accept job offer?

306 replies

bonfiretoffee88 · 05/11/2025 19:20

Background : I have 3 children who are not my partners, they live with me half of the month, the other half with their dad. My partner moved in with us 2 years ago. He has no children. He pays me £400 per month, as before he lived with me he lived with his sibling and that was what he paid them, and we agreed it wouldn't be fair for him to pay 50% of household bills as my outgoings are more due to my children. My bills have raised significantly since he has been here, mostly food, as he will not eat a single meal that doesn't have meat, whereas we used to eat mainly veggie.

I work full time. A few months ago, he lost his job. Since then, he has been actively job searching, had plenty of interviews and 3 job offers. He declined the first one as he didn't like the early start time, he declined the second because it was too far away, and the third because he wanted a higher wage (it was above minimum wage, and only paid 3k a year less than me as a healthcare professional). I think he has high expectations / demands for which jobs he is willing to accept as he has minimal qualifications and works in a manual job think along the lines of a labourer on a site.

I don't really know what my AIBU is, but I am fed up of coming home after a 13 hour shift, to find him gaming and the house is a mess - dishes not done, washing left on the line to be rained on, the other day he was eating his tea when I got back but when I asked if the kids had eaten he said he thought he would have fed themselves, so he hadn't actually fed them and the youngest is only 9. He also sits up until 3am talking into his headset, which really disturbs my sleep and I need to be up at 5am for work. He doesn't get out of bed till after lunchtime, when I work nightshift I have to come home, take the dog out, feed the dog and do all the washing / food prep before I go to bed as he just wouldn't. Financially I am struggling because now not only do I not have the £400 from him each month, I also have to pay his bills for him (car, hobby,alcohol, phone).
AIBU to think he should accept any job he is offered and then look for a better one when he is employed?

OP posts:
ReadingSoManyThreads · 08/11/2025 20:35

No, he doesn't get his belongings back until he has replaced every single document in that folder that he "tipped", and pays to have the oven door replaced.

As for being accidental & being helpful - no it wasn't. He knew exactly what he was doing. He was out for revenge.

UninitendedShark · 08/11/2025 20:34

What a fucking knob he is. Only you know if it was deliberate sabotage or not. Was he looking for something? No idea what but it seems very strange. Honestly, you’re well rid of this feckless lump.

ThreePointOneFourOneFiveNine · 08/11/2025 18:57

SheilaFentiman · 06/11/2025 23:05

I think it’s extreme because he hasn’t (as far as OP has said) given any indication that he’s likely to get a sneaky extra key cut before he leaves (assuming OP asks him to give his key back) or to come back and help himself to her cornflakes or whatever.

You think it’s reasonable, I think it’s an unnecessary expense and inconvenience based on what OP has said about him thus far.

She should have changed the locks. Too late now unfortunately. These sort of men are predictable. Someone who will sponge off a working single mother while slobbing about the house and not lifting a finger to help will also walk back into the house when she’s not there after they’ve been made to leave. These people don’t operate under the basic rules of human decency. Someone who wouldn’t need to locks changed after they’ve been asked to leave also wouldn’t have let the OP come home to a messy house and unfed kids while they fuck around on computer games and turn down jobs that are “beneath them”.

MrsLizzieDarcy · 08/11/2025 18:50

OP this wasn't him clearing up, it was a targetted action to make life harder for you and to show you how pissed off he is. Please contact the Police and sort out getting your locks changed. He may have taken copies of them and it's clearly not safe that he can get in.

ThreePointOneFourOneFiveNine · 08/11/2025 18:47

I don’t believe for one second he’s taken that paperwork to the tip. Who takes paperwork to the tip? You just put it in the recycling bin if you’re not shredding it. What else did he take to the tip? How could he possibly think it was acceptable for him to come into your home and do this while you were out? What reason did he give?

feelingfree17 · 08/11/2025 18:40

The tip contents was no accident and neither was the oven. He was not there being helpful.
How dare he come into your home and sort through your personal papers, and take it upon himself to remove important documents from your home and take them to the tip.
Please change your locks .

Cuppasoups · 08/11/2025 18:37

mummytrex · 08/11/2025 17:34

Binning the folder wasn't accidental. What sane person clears another person's belongings out/takes to the tip without running past the owner? None. I wouldn't be surprised if he actually has the folder but I'm a cynic.

As for the house being spotless. Well it would be if he was binning things and or shoving things into carrier bags before shoving into cupboards.

Change your locks.

Agree. No way was that accidental.
He entered your house without your permission.
I would consider reporting him to the police OP.

The annoyance!

KimTheresPeopleThatAreDying · 08/11/2025 17:53

Why on Earth did he still have access to your home? Echo others saying there’s no way he smashed your oven or binned that paperwork accidentally. Dont be a mug, change the locks and never see him again. He really hates you.

PacersSpanglesandaCabanabar · 08/11/2025 17:43

bonfiretoffee88 · 08/11/2025 16:31

Yes he has. He came yesterday when I was at work, my daughter text me to say he was 'deep cleaning the house' but that he had somehow managed to shatter the oven door into tiny pieces. He was still there when I got back from work at 11pm - house was spotless in fairness - he didnt mention the broken oven and I was too knackered to ask. He had basically rearranged everything in my bedroom, to be helpful because he had been told off for not helping. In the process he has managed to bin and taken to the tip a folder with lots of important documents (divorce papers, birth certificates, parents death certificates, degree certificates) and also I can't find any of my belongings / pjs/ clothes as they've been put into carrier bags and shoved into cupboards.
Needless to say, keys removed, told to leave, and he can come back for his belongings at a time that is suitable for me. And I will be asking for money to repair the oven!

Christ, so sorry he’s done that. Pure passive aggression. You can’t complain because the poor, misunderstood dear tidied up. Fucking arsehole. I hope there’s some way to get your paperwork duplicated. How dare he touch your possessions!

Shame on the posters who thought changing the locks was hysterical. This is exactly the sort of shit that men like this pull out of revenge.

FreyjaOfTheNorth · 08/11/2025 17:38

He’s not a partner. He’s your 4th child.

TomatoSandwiches · 08/11/2025 17:38

I would contact the police as well, you only have his word he threw those papers away, he could still have them and do whatever with them op. He also broke your oven, that could be classed as criminal damage.
Don't give him the benefit of the doubt at all, he had time to get a key cut yesterday as well...

mummytrex · 08/11/2025 17:34

Binning the folder wasn't accidental. What sane person clears another person's belongings out/takes to the tip without running past the owner? None. I wouldn't be surprised if he actually has the folder but I'm a cynic.

As for the house being spotless. Well it would be if he was binning things and or shoving things into carrier bags before shoving into cupboards.

Change your locks.

SpinningaCompass · 08/11/2025 17:06

Sharptonguedwoman · 08/11/2025 16:41

OMG the paperwork. Difficult, time consuming and expensive to replace. What a nob.

I'd be filing a police report - those will be time consuming and expensive to replace. They add up quickly. And you're now without an oven essentially.

He's not a nob. That was deliberate while pretending it was accidental.

goody2shooz · 08/11/2025 17:03

bonfiretoffee88 · 08/11/2025 16:31

Yes he has. He came yesterday when I was at work, my daughter text me to say he was 'deep cleaning the house' but that he had somehow managed to shatter the oven door into tiny pieces. He was still there when I got back from work at 11pm - house was spotless in fairness - he didnt mention the broken oven and I was too knackered to ask. He had basically rearranged everything in my bedroom, to be helpful because he had been told off for not helping. In the process he has managed to bin and taken to the tip a folder with lots of important documents (divorce papers, birth certificates, parents death certificates, degree certificates) and also I can't find any of my belongings / pjs/ clothes as they've been put into carrier bags and shoved into cupboards.
Needless to say, keys removed, told to leave, and he can come back for his belongings at a time that is suitable for me. And I will be asking for money to repair the oven!

You think that getting rid of your important paperwork was accidental? Who does that? An angry man out for revenge - I’d bet money that was deliberate, and has he really taken the paperwork to the tip? A lot of effort for such a lazy sod.
Change the locks asap.

BlueScrunchies · 08/11/2025 16:41

What a pathetic waste of space he is. You don’t need a fourth child thanks.

Glad you have got rid, you have done the right thing. Good for you OP 👏👏👏

Sharptonguedwoman · 08/11/2025 16:41

bonfiretoffee88 · 08/11/2025 16:31

Yes he has. He came yesterday when I was at work, my daughter text me to say he was 'deep cleaning the house' but that he had somehow managed to shatter the oven door into tiny pieces. He was still there when I got back from work at 11pm - house was spotless in fairness - he didnt mention the broken oven and I was too knackered to ask. He had basically rearranged everything in my bedroom, to be helpful because he had been told off for not helping. In the process he has managed to bin and taken to the tip a folder with lots of important documents (divorce papers, birth certificates, parents death certificates, degree certificates) and also I can't find any of my belongings / pjs/ clothes as they've been put into carrier bags and shoved into cupboards.
Needless to say, keys removed, told to leave, and he can come back for his belongings at a time that is suitable for me. And I will be asking for money to repair the oven!

OMG the paperwork. Difficult, time consuming and expensive to replace. What a nob.

NigellaWannabe1 · 08/11/2025 16:37

Good for you, OP!!

bonfiretoffee88 · 08/11/2025 16:31

Yes he has. He came yesterday when I was at work, my daughter text me to say he was 'deep cleaning the house' but that he had somehow managed to shatter the oven door into tiny pieces. He was still there when I got back from work at 11pm - house was spotless in fairness - he didnt mention the broken oven and I was too knackered to ask. He had basically rearranged everything in my bedroom, to be helpful because he had been told off for not helping. In the process he has managed to bin and taken to the tip a folder with lots of important documents (divorce papers, birth certificates, parents death certificates, degree certificates) and also I can't find any of my belongings / pjs/ clothes as they've been put into carrier bags and shoved into cupboards.
Needless to say, keys removed, told to leave, and he can come back for his belongings at a time that is suitable for me. And I will be asking for money to repair the oven!

OP posts:
Allmychickenscometoroost · 08/11/2025 11:19

well done @bonfiretoffee88

Here's to new beginnings. Has he been in touch?

ForNoisyCat · 07/11/2025 16:29

Bobiverse · 06/11/2025 18:56

If that were true, she wouldn’t have moved this man in. Or she would have kicked him out after the first month. I am a single parent; you just don’t do this when you have kids and responsibilities to those kids, you just don’t. It screams desperation for a man.

i think you’ve not read her message. He moved in couple years ago. Her kids there sometimes. He was paying his way. Then he started leeching. Now she made him leave. Hardly desperate for a man

Whammyammy · 07/11/2025 16:07

You had yourself a cock lodging adult child there. Well done

bellabasset · 07/11/2025 15:58

Ask him to leave

TemuTrinny · 07/11/2025 15:56

@bonfiretoffee88 👏🏻👏🏻

Swiftie1878 · 07/11/2025 09:50

bonfiretoffee88 · 06/11/2025 19:51

Well he has gone. He made a big thing about how he put up a shelf at the weekend, and couldn't comprehend what I was trying to explain about how I didn't want or need the shelf, and whilst putting it up he made an almighty mess that muggins here had to clean up. He didn't understand when I said that putting up a shelf is DIY, not a contribution to the daily running of the household.
He's very hung up on the idea that I'm annoyed because he turned down jobs - he doesn't understand why he should take a job that doesn't meet all of his requirements (requires no formal qualifications, pays above £29k, Mon-Fri, hours between 9-4 but wants to finish at 2pm most days ...) anyway I digress. He has gone 😀

Well done. 🩵

UninitendedShark · 07/11/2025 09:46

Nice one OP! Enjoy your peace, tidy house and money!

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