Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

or is DH? I'm super pissed off about this but suspect I may be over-reacting. (Long, apologies)

114 replies

handofcod · 23/05/2011 08:36

DH comes from abroad and English not his first language. We have a three month old DD and I'm on mat leave. There's a bar near where we live which fills up with expats from his home country. We have had issues in the past with the way he visits this bar: he spent a lot of time in there in the weeks immediately after I gave birth (went there almost every day, albeit only for an hour or so) and I asked him not to go so much. He got really angry saying I was trying to control him. In his defence it is the only time he has to go and chew the fat in his mother tongue most of the week as he doesn't have many friends from his home country. He works really hard Monday to Friday and studies Saturday mornings, so I tolerate it although I don't like the bar much and I wish he'd go a little less. Its almost exclusively men who drink there, btw, this isn't a jealousy of other women issue. I've never tried to stop him going at all, just wish he didn't have to go every weekend. Among other things it means I can rarely do stuff I want if he's there and i feel resentful for the way this bloody bar dominates my weekends even though I never go.

Anyway, on Saturday he goes shopping mid-afternoon to buy dinner and goes to the bar afterwards. He calls me at about five to say he is in the bar and "won't be late." At half eight I call to ask if he's coming home and he says yes and comes home. Gets home quite drunk and in a bad mood, obviously irritated about having had to come home, cooks then spends the rest of the evening complaining about how he doesn't get out enough. I feel moderately insulted by this: I have a small baby and while I don't mind him going out a bit it irritates me that he can go out willy nilly for hours without telling hem while I have to plan everything way in advance. He says at the end of the night that he's sorry and we can do "whatever you want" tomorrow (Sunday).

Sunday, predictably, he's too hungover to do anything except sleep on the sofa and watch movies. I remind him that he said we could do anything and he moans and says its his only full day off etc and can't we just chill. I'm super resentful about this: this is the third weekend in a row he's been unwilling to do anything with me but has prioritized going to the bar. I feel that he doesn't consider my weekends to be important at all, frequently ignores my needs because he wants to go to this bar and would rather spend his time with a bunch of old men than his wife and new baby. Whenever I raise this with him, he says I'm being controlling and I need to understand his need to hang out with people from his home country a bit.

I'm still a bit hormonal, not getting out much etc. Do you think I'm being unreasonable? I'm tempted to go and stay with my mum for a few days to teach him a lesson but I'd like to know if people think I'm over-reacting and whether I am infact being controlling.

OP posts:
GwendolineMaryLacey · 23/05/2011 09:11

I think there has to be more to life for hte main wage earner( whether male OR female) to go to work and come home. we all need a hobby or interest or time to ourselves

This amazes me. Why only the main earner? What about the person (male or female) that is tied to a baby 24/7. Where are their outlets? Everyone is entitled to some time out. DH happily acknowledges that he finds it far easier to be at work than at home with DD and she's 3. Why is he more entitled to hobby time than me?

FreudianSlipper · 23/05/2011 09:11

if he is from a culture where this is the norm unless he wants to change he is unlikely too. an ex of mine was from a culture that men sat in bars after work and at the weekend, they bought home their money and women were homemakers even if they did have their own careers (still the case here for many). i think to some extent you have to accept the differences and work around them not expect him to suddenly change and see what he is doing wrong because you have a child as this is what he is used to, to him he is not doing anything wrong. also if he is missing home and this is likely being with people that share not only the same language but culture will be really important to him

suggest to him having a few days at home because you want him there you miss him and need him around (all which is true, not because he should be there not at the bar).

you are not being controlling at all, seems like you are having a rude awakening to cultural differences that were not that apparent before and a culture that allows men to be selfish

cory · 23/05/2011 09:11

I am fascinated by learning from Bonsoir how much leeway I should be having just because I am from another country. I didn't realise it was some kind of disability. I do not have anyone locally who speaks my language- that's why I needed to spend so much time with my children to ensure that they did. If the OPs dh stays in the bar, it is almost guaranteed that he will never have a family that is half his culture- that takes work and time.

Yes, you get lonely- but so do the mothers of newborn children. The OP is lonely stuck alone at home with a small baby. Her husband could do something about this loneliness and he prefers not to.

HugoFirst · 23/05/2011 09:11

ah well there im speaking from my own luxurious position of being on a day off Wink

i haev a day off to piss about on here Grin

fedupofnamechanging · 23/05/2011 09:12

It's natural to want to chat to people who not only speak your language, but have a common frame of reference/shared culture, but you can't do that at the expense of your partner and child.

I hate this idea that the mother is solely responsible for the baby and the dad will just do whatever he wants in the assumption that the mother will take care of everything else. Oh, and if she objects to being stuck at home with the kids while her husband carries on life as if he's single and childless, then she's being 'controlling'.

OP, tell him that he can go for a couple of hours once a week, not on a Saturday and reclaim your life. If you want to go out, then leave the baby with him and don't take any more of this shit about being controlling.It's not unreasonable to expect him to pull his weight wrt childcare and to expect him to prioritise his relationships over his drinking with mates.

handofcod · 23/05/2011 09:13

HugoFirst actually I'm the main wage earner. Just not at the moment because I'm on leave. I earn twice what he does.

OP posts:
Mamathulu · 23/05/2011 09:13

My ex did this, sans the 'language' excuse. YANBU - sounds like he either has isshoos about the baby, you, or something else entirely.
With my ex it turned out that he was not happy with me, had been having an affair with someone from work for ages, even though we were, I was planning a wedding, which we ended up cancelling 3 months before the date. I kicked him out four months later for being a twat. Now I'm NOT saying thisis happening, but he is behaving like a child who doesn't want to grow up. He's an adult, not a teenage pisshead, and has responsibilities. So boo hoo if he 'only has one full day off' - how many days off do you get from parenting? None. Tell him to buck up his ideas or you will be going to your mum's for a while to think - give him a chance to realise what an unreasonable knob he's being, at least.

HugoFirst · 23/05/2011 09:13

The thing is it is almost impossible to suggest solutions to a one sided proposal. we have our own modus operandi which both of us are pleased with. With tinies its harder and definitely terser at times!

you need to find someway of talking about how you are both feeling

HugoFirst · 23/05/2011 09:14

id have made HIM have the maternity leave then

HugoFirst · 23/05/2011 09:14

OR the alternative is that the marriage is pretty much over - and he doesnt want to be with you

do you think that might be the case?

GwendolineMaryLacey · 23/05/2011 09:17

The thing is, it sounds like he'll accuse you of controlling if you try to work out a fair arrangement. I don't think anyone blames him for wanting to spend time with his friends but as long as family gets priority. Can he go on Sundays instead? So you get Saturdays with him and work on Monday gets the hangover, not you.

Chandon · 23/05/2011 09:19

I am the "foreigner" in our marriage in the UK.

I do not have a need (or a right) to hang out every day with people from my own country. I like meeting up with some people from my culture every now and then. I stay in touch with friends at home (skype, mail).

His being foreign is not an excuse. he USES this excuse to go out drinking. His nationality is irrelevant.

I think YANBU, but I don't know what you can do about it. i have had many chats with my DH about his hobby, and the time he spends on it, and how it hurts me that I feel he doesn't want to be with us but would rather be somewhere else. It's hard to find a solution to this one....

HugoFirst · 23/05/2011 09:19

agree that home cant be something he does when he has nothign better to do.

handofcod · 23/05/2011 09:20

Can I just clarify something: not to mitigate what he's doing but its not every day. Its only once a week. I keep seeing people posting every day and its not. It was just during his paternity leave. Just for the record.

OP posts:
Stockley · 23/05/2011 09:21

YANBU but - at the risk of generalising again - I wonder if there's a bit of a Men are from Mars issue here. In my (not massive) experience, a lot of men seem to need to go off and do their own thing on a fairly regular basis. DH and I have spent years periodically arguing over this. In his case it's been various sporting events that have meant he's HAD to go and spend from 12-7 on a Saturday afternoon watching football (with pub either end) - and for a long time if I complained at all I was trying to curtail his human rights etc. This was massive for us when the DC were babies. I do think some of them (men) have this 'it's my right' thing hardwired into them. DH is about as family-minded as you can get by the way - he just didn't get why I felt abandoned most weekends. Over the years it has improved a lot but still raises it's head now and then. Also I was wondering if it's a specific cultural thing for your DH to drink with men - is that what the men in his home country would spend their weekends doing? Or is it purely because he's away from home that he's seeking out people from there?

Good luck anyway - I know exactly how you feel and it does mess with your mind when you're being told you're trying to control their lives when all you want is family time.

LRDTheFeministDragon · 23/05/2011 09:22

I don't think you are being controlling, but I also don't think it's unreasonable for him to want to spend time talking to his mates - the language issue seems like a red herring to me.

Can you break the cycle by arranging to meet a friend for coffee/ going to visit your mum or sister with the baby one night? Maybe if you're physically out of the house he will realize you don't just sit around at home all day waiting to cook his meal - that you need to get out too.

I'd try to talk to him about it with less emphasis on the language issue, personally - it just gives him an easy excuse of 'it's my culture', which is invariably bollocks imo.

Laquitar · 23/05/2011 09:23

I disagree. If you live in the uk he is the one who must master the local language and try to socialize with a wider group of people (and before you call me racist, i 'm not british neither is dh). Fine to meet up with the expats sometimes (i do aswell) but not for the whole weekend when there is a newborn at home.

Has he british friends aswell? Have you talk about how are you going to bring up your child? (culture/language/religion)

cannydoit · 23/05/2011 09:25

ok cod, so he goes out once a week at the weekend. to a pub with his friends, right?

HugoFirst · 23/05/2011 09:26

this aint cod is it?

cannydoit · 23/05/2011 09:27

hand of cod=cod

HugoFirst · 23/05/2011 09:28

IS IT SHE? i thought she smelled pretty good

InTheNightKitchen · 23/05/2011 09:29

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

befuzzled · 23/05/2011 09:30

Haven't read all the posts but agree with whatsomeone else said, just start going out on your own at the weekend with the baby and start goingm

Laquitar · 23/05/2011 09:32

To me it is not about how many times he goes out but the emphasis he (and perhaps you aswell) places on the fact that he is not from this country.

HugoFirst · 23/05/2011 09:32

i think the OP is awesome. and he is a git.

Swipe left for the next trending thread