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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

DH changing his plans so i have to cancel mine :(

79 replies

ilikelongnaps · 09/11/2012 15:44

DH and I have 8mo dd and he has 2 dc (11 and 10) from previous marriage. I am down at the moment, DH suggested it would do me good to have an evening with friends once in a while to get away from just being mum which I was excited about today and asked him last week if he could have dd as my mum is at a party herself tonight. He said it was fine at the time and even confirmed this morning that he;ll be back to give dd tea and do bedtime.

Just had a text from DH saying he forgot its his turn to take the girls to hockey club tonight and to get my mum to watch dd instead. I know the girls have hockey on a fri night and DH usually takes them (supposed to take in turns with exw but thats another story) which is why i asked last week and assumed he'd arranged for exw to take tonight otherwise we wouldn't have arranged an evening out.

this isn't the first time he has cancelled on me at the last minute and it seems if his ex needs him to have the girls anytime he'll bend over backwards to be there. he's out 2 evenings a week with them and everyother friday and weekend. then it turns into every weekend which i'm not complaining about i'm glad he has contact with them but then hardly sees dd in the week and at the weekend as always ends up taking them out riding or going to friends houses with them which he says is not appropriate for dd so young.

So about tonight I'm gutted, had my dress all picked out and friends excited etc but now i can't go but friends are going anyway and sounds shallow i know but i hadly ever get chance to go out have fun. it winds me up that his exw will suddenly change her plans and DH will drop everything here to suit her but we (me and DD) always end up being dropped and have to arrange alternative childcare which isn't fair as she his dd too and why should i have to change my plans when he could just say to ex he can't tonight and they can swap as she always does.

sorry if this doesn't make sense, im very frustrated.

oh AIBU to think it isn't much to ask that he tell me at time if he can't have her save me feeling let down like this or ask ex to rearrange?

OP posts:
gettingeasier · 09/11/2012 18:00

Yes why did he split with his ex?

Were you the ow and he left her for you ?

If so that may explain why he runs around after his ex through guilt.

Anyway get your glad rags on and tell him to pick up your DD in time for your night out.

SarkyWench · 09/11/2012 18:40

His mistake. He sorts it out (by taking the baby).

No way should you cancel you plans.

fenix · 09/11/2012 19:12

Maybe you can give more info, Ilikelongnaps, because he comes across as a crap father and husband from this limited snapshot. Only you can assess your whole relationship and see which is more in character.

At best, he's disorganised, clueless about parenting multiple children and thoughtless about your needs.

At worst, he's selfish, entitled and cunningly he's teaching you that your plans and needs come last.

In either scenario, you are setting a precedent about the acceptable way for him to treat you. If it were an emergency, of course your night out would be postponed. This is obviously not the case, so the childcare is his issue to sort out. Tonight, it's not your problem and it's definitely not your mum's either.

He needs to send a clear message to his daughters that they have a new sibling and she is part of your family now too. He also needs to stop making excuses about it being late, the weather or whatever, and just get on with it like any other parent would. And you need to let him get on with it too, because if you cancel your plans, you'd be teaching him that you're a martyr and your life doesn't matter.

PrideOfChanur · 09/11/2012 19:21

What everyone else said! He has double booked himself,and that is his problem,because you are going out,aren't you?
Honestly...

JustFabulous · 09/11/2012 19:27

It is good that he "bends over backwards" to have his daughters every time his ex asks him too. They are his kids. He should have them.

Since you say he ends up taking them to hockey "usually" every Friday it was wrong to make the assumption his wife would have them so that you could go out since you know she "usually" always cancels.

WildWorld2004 · 09/11/2012 19:48

I hope you have your glad rags on & are on your way out OP.

PrideOfChanur · 09/11/2012 20:42

But JustFabulous,that is still his problem,not the OP's! He knows he might have to take his older DDs to hockey - he should have been sure he wasn't taking them this week before he said he'd look after his little one.
And it is good that he spends time with his older kids,but he has a current partner and baby he should be spending time with as well.

OutragedAtThePriceOfFreddos · 09/11/2012 21:17

Yabvu.

Presumably he did the same with his daughters before your dd came along, and the only thing that has changed is that you both had another child. If that is the case, then I'm afraid it is you that has to miss out, because you brought this on yourself by choosing to have a child with a man who is already a committed father to children he had by someone else. He is also a co parent with someone else, and it's good that he supports his co parent with parenting things.

LivvyPsMum · 09/11/2012 21:51

So, in your opinion Freddo the OP should really be a single parent to her dd because her DH has dds from his previous marriage to see to?!

anklebitersmum · 09/11/2012 21:59

Presumably he did the same with his daughters before your dd came along, and the only thing that has changed is that you both had another child.

He had a child too. An equally important child for whom he should be equally responsible. The first is not more important than the 2nd, 3rd, 4th or even 5th, regardless of their parentage.

That is not to say they shouldn't be considered of course but imo so should his wife-it's not her baby it's their baby.

OutragedAtThePriceOfFreddos · 09/11/2012 22:42

Obviously the OP shouldn't be a single parent because her partner already has children. Hmm

Nor should the first children from one relationship be more important than subsequent children from a previous relationship.

But the first children should not have to compromise or change the relationship they had with their non resident parent because of a new half sibling, and they shouldn't stop receiving the time commitment they had from their non resident parent either.

You have to consider that the first children are already unable to see their non resident parent every day, and when they do, they are likely to get little one to one time. Whereas the child with both parents living together is likely to see both their parents every day, and will have time with their parent without any other siblings around, at least until (if) they have another full sibling.

It sounds like in this case, the DH didn't arrange things properly with his other co parent, and he chose to let OP down over his other co parent, because his relationship with OP is more stable than the relationship with the other parent.

catsmother · 09/11/2012 22:43

"He is also a co parent with someone else and it's good that he supports his co parent with parenting things"

What a load of sanctimonious rubbish. I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

He is ALSO a co parent with someone else who isn't the ex - i.e. the OP - and it would be good if he supported his other co parent with parenting things.

Except, it seems, he often fails to do so.

This man has three children, not two and he has an equal responsibility towards all of them. Similarly, he has an equal responsibility towards both the mothers of all his children. It certainly shouldn't be the case that the one who shouts loudest or threatens to get "upset" has him asking "how high" when she demands that he jumps.

This man also chose to have another child. He should only have done so if he was prepared to commit himself to them all. And while he can't be in two places at the same time, nor please everybody of all the time, if he was fair about this all, it should pretty much balance out in the end with all the children sharing his time.

I bloody hate this whole narrow minded attitude of, effectively, "they were here first, they're more important, they get prioritised" and so on. Funny how people with that sort of attitude towards children from the "first" family never seem to apply the same sort of questionnable and unpleasant logic towards the children (plural) from that "first" family isn't it ? No-one who sounds off about "second" kids and "second" families and how they should suck up what boils down to a lack of respect, a lack of loyalty & commitment, hurt, and favouritism etc ever suggests a distinction between the "first" kids themselves .... so, the 1st born is entitled to more of dad's time and attention than the 2nd born and so on.

Anyway OP YADNBU ...... you asked him with plenty of notice and doublechecked he was able to do this. It wasn't up to you to specifically make a point of asking about the usual hockey .... after all, such a "committed" father surely wouldn't have forgotten would he, and, as a grown man, I don't think it was unreasonable of you to assume that he'd made other arrangements to cover that activity off. But whatever, when he "remembered" he should have been grown up enough to apologise about it and work out a solution - did he even try negotiating with his ex for example ? And if not that, heavens how difficult would it be to take along a baby in a pushchair ? I'm not sure if he simply can't be arsed, or he did indeed ask the older kids if they minded ? I suppose he could just be saying that as an excuse but if he really did ask them I think that's disgusting. He's supposed to be the parent - he's supposed to make the decisions. Allowing them the choice of whether or not he brings their sister along is divisive and gives them an inappropriate level of power about something they shouldn't have a say in. It's hardly as if she's going to affect what they're doing after all ..... and the very last thing he should be doing is reinforcing his own attitude about who takes priority by getting the kids involved. Does he really want them growing up thinking they're the "most important" kids because they'll undoubtedly play on that as most kids would.

OP .... I really feel for you. He's done a rotten number on you and he owes you one to make up for this. But he also needs to understand that he can't carry on like this as favouring his ex and/or the older kids will destroy your relationship and could potentially harm your DD when she's old enough to realise she's second best.

OutragedAtThePriceOfFreddos · 09/11/2012 23:03

"He is also a co parent with someone else and it's good that he supports his co parent with parenting things"

What a load of sanctimonious rubbish

You think a parent parenting children with the person he created them with is sanctimonious rubbish? Seriously? Hmm

I'm not saying the DH wasn't a git for not making the arrangement for tonight properly. He clearly was. But at this stage we only know that he sent a text to OP saying that he forgot. He hasn't explained the situation, or at least we haven't been told about it yet if he has.

I get the impression that OP finds it difficult that her DH is spending almost half his spare time with his previous children, which is understandable, but something she just has to live with. The DH needs to make arrangements better.

Catsmother, the fact that you think two little girls shouldn't have a say in the way they spend time with their father leads me to believe that you and I have very little hope of agreeing on anything at all. You seem extremely concerned that the second child should never be made to feel like second best, but you don't seem to see that the oldest children have a far higher chance of feeling like that.

StuntGirl · 09/11/2012 23:15

Freddo, of course the relationship will have to change and involve some compromise. A whole extra human being now exists as part of this family. The father simply cannot sustain the same relationship he previously had, with the same time commitments he previously had, now that he has a new child to consider and take care of. The logistics just aren't the same.

OutragedAtThePriceOfFreddos · 09/11/2012 23:28

The logistics aren't the same, but if the DH is spending almost half his spare time (which it sounds like from what OP describes) then it's only a problem if in the other half of his spare time isn't given to his new daughter.

The OPs dd will be there for some of the time while the older siblings are too, so the new baby is always going to get more contact time than them. Which is fine, and these things don't have to be a problem. My extended family seems to manage it fine. But the solution isn't to for him to stop spending time with just them and to start including the baby in everything.

PorridgeBrain · 10/11/2012 06:29

Either Dh has messed up organising properly or he has let ExW cancel at the last minute without standing up to her and saying 'I can't cover your turn tonight, I have prior plans'.

Either way he needs to take responsibility that this is his problem to solve and shouldn't be letting you down so badly.

I'm sure his girls do want them to himself when its their turn to see him and they have a right to that normally but this is a one off exception scenario that they should just have to accept that they can't have daddy to themselves tonight and baby has to come too.

I realise I'm writing this after the event and assume you didn't get to go out last night :( but think its important you tell him how he was wrong to make you cancel your plans in these circumstances to make sure he doesn't do it again

GoldPlatedNineDoors · 10/11/2012 09:46

OP, please come back!

Alibabaandthe40nappies · 10/11/2012 11:04

This is why I swore I would never marry someone who already had children, because you as their new partner will (rightly) come behind existing children.

diddl · 10/11/2012 11:41

It´s not just that though-he´s not wanting to look after his youngest daughter even though it seems (in this instance at least) that it would be perfectly easy for him to do so-and without cutting into "their" time with him as they´ll be busy anyway.

ChasedByBees · 10/11/2012 13:01

Outraged - families adapt when extra children come along, they have to. Even in a non-extended family, the PFB would have to get used to sharing their parents time with subsequent children.

The OP is a depressed mother who needs a night off. He has made a promise to her and he's a grown man - its not the OPs responsibility to check that he doesn't have anything clashing. For you to say that she is the one BVU and that she's brought it on herself is ridiculous - complete nonsense.

He has another family who deserves some of his time too. And frankly if he continues to behave in this way, a couple of years down the line he may end up with two broken families.

CuriousMama · 10/11/2012 13:07

How are you op? You've had some good advice on here. Sorry but your dh is being a twat and very selfish Sad

OutragedAtThePriceOfFreddos · 10/11/2012 14:48

I know families have to adapt, I'm not saying they don't, and I'm not saying that the DH wasn't out of order not to make the arrangement properly. He was, and there is no good reason why he couldn't have planned so that his older children's mother knew she would have to take the older children to their club last night.

I just don't think that the older children or their mother should have to have less of his time or commitment because he chose to have another child. If they and he were happy with the arrangement they had, then there is no reason why that should lessen when another child comes along. The DH just needs to make sure he gives the rest of the time he has to his new wife and child.

His second family get all of the time that the previous children don't have, which still adds up to more.

MistressIggi · 10/11/2012 17:16

Surely older siblings always get a bit less time when there's a baby around, even when they all live together?

StuntGirl · 10/11/2012 17:22

Yy mistress

ilikelongnaps · 10/11/2012 19:31

wow thanks everyone for your opinions on this. i didnt go out after all as DH was going to collect the girls straight from work and although he did eventually agree to take dd along it would have been more stress than it was worth to get dd ready and over to his work in time for him to collect the girls.

They have met their little sister and adore her and in all fairness to them don't demand dh to spend time only with them and its true that they enjoy their alone time with him but dont actually voice it iyswim. they do spend time together and she thinks they're great fun!

lol no i wasnt the OW, i met DH long after he and his exw split. I understand from her point of view shes always had him at her beck and call when it comes to the kids and even when we were first married i understand that his girls relationship with him was important and wouldnt want to change that but equally so is out dd and i dont want her losing out.

OP posts: