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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Family trip out for half term (manic laughter)

41 replies

Changing2011 · 24/10/2011 18:06

Hi, shall I tell you about my day, and then you can tell me if IABU....

DH has taken this week off to care for our dd aged 6 in half term, as he hasn't taken much time off yet this year. I can only manage two days as I am saving some holiday for when dd finishes school at Christmas. So, I'm having a long weekend ( plus Monday and tuesday) with family, then DH and dd will have the rest of the week together.

DH decides after a weekend lazing at home and doing homey stuff like clearing the loft and a family bike ride which ended in a big row (another story), that Monday we will take dd to the think tank in Birmingham for a trip out. We will not bother with the car despite being only 40 minutes away, because dd hasn't been on a train before. He doesn't book tickets for trains ahead, but we do book think tank tickets online.

We get to the station, and pay 23 pounds return for two adults and one child, we are told we must return in off peak hours, ie before 4.30 pm. We set off around ten from our station. On boarding, there are very few seats on the train, so we spread out and I manage to get a seat across the aisle from dd. She is ok, but a little nervous, this is her first train journey. At the next stop, a lady arrives at dd's seat and asks her to move please as she has pre booked the seat. So dd sits on my knee and we carry on. We get to Birmingham and have a fair walk to the millennium point. We do think tank and come out around three o clock. I am feeling pretty tired, we have not had a sit down for ages and I need a drink. DH says if we hurry we can get the three thirty train home. So we are rushing back to the station.we get there to find we have missed the train. There will be another in 40 mins. But DH thinks he can squeeze us onto another train which is destined somewhere else but stops at our station on the way. We get there just in time. This train is packed full so we have to stand. I am 5 months pregnant with high blood pressure and feeling pretty knackered so I sit on the floor with dd. Not once has DH asked if I'm ok or mentioned the fact I may be tired. I am actually feeling Ill at this point. So DH says let's go to wetherspoons for tea when we get back to our town. I say please can we not, I'm so tired. He huffs and puffs and rolls his eyes and shakes his head. He won't make eye contact me for the rest of the train journey which is hell due to having to sit on the floor and more and more people getting on.

So when we get back to the station, I try to make conversation and he just snaps, "what's for tea then seeing as we are having our day out cut short?" the thought of going home and starting tea to his specification after such a weary journey fills me with dread, and the thought of refusing to make anything and putting up with his huffing and banging around the kitchen is just as bad. So we end up pub for a very sub standard tea which was hardly edible just to keep the peace. Dd enjoyed her day though :) is my DH an inconsiderate arse? I was energetic and enthusiastic for most of the outward journey and actual outing, it was all the walking, lack of sitting down and general rushing about that got to me in the end.

OP posts:
Changing2011 · 24/10/2011 18:51

Or I could wait until my DH has grown up a bit. Dd is going to have a boring childhood then.

I think family outings can bring out the worst in some people, maybe we are doing dd a disservice by trying to take her out on trips and things?

I have offered to sit things out and let them do things together but DH is not keen on this, he wants us to do as much as possible with dd before the baby arrives.

OP posts:
BOOareHaunting · 24/10/2011 18:56

I don't think he's being an arse but I think general communication is lacking.

You should have taken drinks/snacks for yourself as well - I agree being 5 months PG is tiring and high BP adds to this - but agree you didn't do much to help yourself. You said as not to upset anyone. Is this why you didn't stand your ground with DH?

Next time either just say I'm not going I can't cope with the day or when out say I need a drink I'm going to get one. If he then got on the train and let you he could be called an arse.

It sounds like your DH really makes an effort to be a dad to DD and do things with her/family. If he didn't you'd probably be calling him an arse too!

BOOareHaunting · 24/10/2011 18:57

sorry X posts. Well why does DH wanting you there trump you not wanting to? Your reasons and feelings are as valid as his.

worraliberty · 24/10/2011 18:57

he wants us to do as much as possible with dd before the baby arrives

And therein lies the pressure perhaps?

If you're not fit enough/too tired then it's always likely to end with grumpiness on both sides.

Changing2011 · 24/10/2011 19:01

Yes I agree he is a hands on dad and I am so grateful for that, I never had one myself. Dd is a lucky girl. And I did pack drinks and snacks but he didn't really give us time to sit and have them.

My DH had a very boring childhood, his parents only took him on one holiday and he never went to the cinema until he was 18 so I think on these things with dd he wants to act like a sponge and soak up all the experience possible! He didn't even want us to have breakfast this morning, I had to stand my ground on that and have my porridge before we left the house.

OP posts:
LineRunnerIsBuriedAlive · 24/10/2011 19:02

and he needs to learn to make tea ...

Pancakeflipper · 24/10/2011 19:08

I think you are so knackered that whatever he did you'd not be happy about.

Have a bath and an early night.

I am another one who reckons your DH thought he was being brill and helpful in suggestion a meal out. I trained my DP to make omlettes and beans on toast. He's crap at cooking but he can now manage those 2 items very nicely now.

chubbleigh · 24/10/2011 19:12

Inexperience was your undoing here. I traveled into Birmingham New Street everyday whilst pregnant, rail travel these days is NOT romantic. I told my boss I wasn't going to do it rush hour, I was warn out before I got there. Not often does anyone give you a seat and the women are less generous than that men is this respect. I was shocked about that.

One day when I was about 6 months gone, the train was so hot and crowded I fainted but didn't actually fall over because it was so packed, I just sort of slumped. There was some guilty looking faces then, I had a choice of seats. Sometimes I used to ask someone to give up their seat if I thought I might actually need to sit down.

I think possibly your husband could have been more gallant and asked someone to allow his pregnant wife to sit down, not on the floor.

Could you strap half a dozen bags of sugar to his middle, give him something to make him nauseous when hungry, and ask him to do the same journey when he is already knackered and see if he wants his tea in a smelly pub. You should have gone home and got him to go out or take-away of your choice.

GeneHuntsMistress · 24/10/2011 19:21

I think most of this comes from you being unable to assert yourself assertively.

You need to say/ask for what you want. I think that's why I and others assumed this was due to martyrdom, but from what you have said since I think it is more that you are unable/unwilling to actually communicate effectively what you want.

If you wanted a sit down and a drink, you should say that, if you want a seat, you should ask, if you want to go home and get a takeaway, you need to tell DH that. Nobody is a mind reader and it just leaves you feeling upset and frustrated.

Once you have asked for what you want and he doesn't comply, THEN you can rip him a new one of course Wink but give the bloke a chance first to do as you ask.

Changing2011 · 24/10/2011 19:21

Like your suggestion chub Leigh. He has already said we won't bother with the train again unless it's for a very specific reason and we will prebook seats. I really didn't want to make a fuss about a seat on the train. There were lots of families on half term days out and lots of children, I dont think anyone would of liked being asked to move! I am shy though.

OP posts:
GeneHuntsMistress · 24/10/2011 19:21

Effectively dur

Changing2011 · 24/10/2011 19:24

Yes GHM I need to be more assertive, I'm a great one for whingeing after the event when I could have nipped it in the bud at the time.

Being pregnant has made it worse, I have found myself with hot tears, trembling anger and bitter regretful feelings after the most silly encounters, and I consider myself usually to be a very level headed and reasonable person!

OP posts:
nomoreheels · 24/10/2011 19:41

Yanbu in some respects as some of his behaviour sounds arsey, but I agree you need to be more vocal about things - and downright insistent on things that affect your health.

I would have refused to take the train. Why isn't he more empathetic about your P and high blood pressure? Presumably he knew the trains might be crowded. I do wonder why he didn't just say "let's drive".

YABU to be a martyr about not asking for a seat. At 5 months with a coat on, it might not be that obvious. There are seats for those in need. Just say you need a seat, why suffer? If anything being P & now having DD (5 months) has taught me not to beat around the bush & to be quite plain about what I need. That said, again I am a bit surprised that your DH didn't try to get one for you.

He may have been hungry which made him extra arsey about tea, but again, I would just say I'm not cooking. Yanbu to be annoyed about his sulky "I only want to eat there" stance. Sulking is a really unappealing trait.

Overall I think a calm but plain speaking conversation about how he acted & why it was a shit day it was for you is needed. It's lovely that he wants to have days out, but they're meant to be enjoyable for you all. Not sure what to suggest if he doesn't respond well though.

Andrewofgg · 24/10/2011 20:16

I have heard a pg woman on a train shout ONE OF YOU BASTARDS STAND UP I'M SIX MONTHS PREGNANT AND YOU CAN ALL SEE I AM and sure enough a lad of about fourteen got up. I suspect he was too nervous to stand up in case she was just fat obese and he was not sure. She thanked him as was of course right in any event.

Incidentally and before anybody asks I was already standing.

worraliberty · 24/10/2011 22:55

I wouldn't have got up for a fucking rude cow like that even if she was about to give birth on the bloody train Hmm

Andrewofgg · 25/10/2011 07:26

Then worra we must disagree. No healthy and unburdened (with DC or bags) man or woman should sit while a pregnant woman stands.

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