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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Am I being unreasonable?

194 replies

Cowapjn · 03/07/2014 22:13

Split up with the ex 3 or so months ago.
She gave birth to our daughter 3 weeks and 1 day ago.
Nobody on my side friends and family have met my daughter yet.
She at first said she wasn't up to going out but now she's fine.
I've asked can the baby come to mine next Wednesday when she will be 4 weeks old to finally meet everyone on my side.
She said no,
I asked why and she can't answer.
She has no plans. I fact she could probably do amy day next week. I just randomly picked Wednesday.
I think she being really difficult.
She has been out a lot now with the baby.
I think it's it's so sad how nobody on my side has yet to meet my little girl :o( I want to show her off to everyone but I can't.

I'm not asking her to leave me alone with the baby. She can be there too! Nobody is going to be off with her and make it awkward, everyone that comes will talk to her.

Thanks guys

OP posts:
Loletta · 05/07/2014 16:35

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

NaughtySpottyBengalCat · 05/07/2014 16:46

I do feel sorry for you OP, however, neither you or your ex is being reasonable. Time for some comprise on both sides.

Both you and your parents DO have a choice to see your little girl, but for whatever reason neither of you feel up to taking it :( I worked for years in a hostile, threatening environment which I hated - life isn't perfect though and it was my choice to do that so I could eventually get a better job. If you recognize that yes, you DO have a choice, you may feel better about things.

If I was you I would be going there daily, even if just for 5 minutes, 12 hour shift or not. Put on a brave face; smile and be friendly. Change nappies and get properly stuck into your daughter's care. There is only so long her parents can keep up being unwelcoming in the face of your smiles and enthusiasm for your daughter and if you are there daily I am sure they will eventually get bored and find better things to do than chaperone your ex and daughter. I also agree with the poster who said log all requests for access, all calls asking how she is and of course all rejections. Maybe you won't see her daily but try.

I also think you are very young - late teens/early 20's maybe? Life is unfair - very unfair and you are acting like this is the first thing in your life where you haven't got your own way. In the great scheme of life what is happening to you and your daughter now is pretty insignificant on the scale of unfairness, though it won't feel that way. For now, no you can't relax and be yourself with your daughter. That is just the unfair position you are in. Accept this and turn the bad feelings on their head. What you can do is still spend time with your daughter and get your parents to come visit her and do the same.

Good luck :)

Cowapjn · 05/07/2014 16:49

We'll I get a nice atmosphere when I visit her real mums and sisters home?! And my parents would provide a nice atmosphere for her. It's just her dad and step mum who are very hostile, unwelcoming and ignorent. Her step mum even came very close to assaulting me and taking me eye out!
Her dad and step mum will have ill feeling towards me judging by what she tells them which frustrates me because I'm the person that reserves judgement believing there are 2 sides to every story as are most people I know.

OP posts:
Inertia · 05/07/2014 17:11

Well then, you need to make a choice. Either you see your child, which for now will be in the ho of your ex's supposedly hostile and ignorant parents, or you don't. Whining on and on about how hard-done-to you are isn't going to change anything. Is feeling uncomfortable worth putting up with in order to build a relationship with your child ?

Remember that your parents made the decision not to bother visiting their grandchild based on your comments about ex's parents. Her parents might have made judgments about you based on what she's reported to them.

If your ex's stepmother actually assaulted you then go to the police.

And if you think being a parent is just about relaxing and being comfortable then you're deluded.

Inertia · 05/07/2014 17:12

Home not ho !

Cowapjn · 05/07/2014 17:17

NaughtySpottyBengalCat - thankyou! A post from somebody not having a go at me.

I fully understand my reasons for my mum and dad not wanting to visit where the ex is living due to my awful experiences. I can also kinda understand my ex not wanting to come to my home and see my parents even though as previously mentioned, they have seen the ex on 3 occasions and my parents have been very nice to her chatting away and taking an interest.

So how do you compromise?

It's so awful being in a room with an audience of people that dislike you, are hostile, unwelcoming and ignorent whilst trying to relax and bond with your baby. You feel so small and also feel like you lack confidence. You can't relax and do the things you want to do. Pull silly faces, talk to your baby in a silly voice, wander around the house with your baby. I just basically sat there, baby in my arms looking at her.

When I visited the ex's sisters it was totally the opposite and I loved every second I was there!

I would go round every day if I could but all I have been offered is 2 visits per week an hour each.

It's just feels like she calls all the shots and every request I've made no matter how little the request being, she has said no which then comes across as she is being awkward seeing as when she says no she cannot provide me an answer.

If we just sat down and talked and was open and honest with each other and she have me reasons for things, told me what she was thinking and how she was feeling, things would get sorted. I had hoped this would happen when we went registering the baby, go for a coffee after. She however brought her step mum along who nearly blinded me by being physically abusive towards me.

This is the hardest thing I have ever gone through. It's so emotionally draining and upsetting. I spend most days sat there in silence depressed. And yes I do acknowledge she is going through a tough time also and us tired, hormones everywhere etc but I want to help! I wanted to take the baby for an hours walk whilst she has a bit of a sleep or a long relaxing bath! I want to do night feeds! I want to do all of these things and make it easier on her but I can't! I feel like I'm missing out big time and she is doing all the hard work and I'm doing nothing not out of choice.

I just want to be a dad. See my daughter all the time and to for my family and friends to finally meet her.

2 be able to count on your hands the amount of times you have seen your 4 week old is awful. And I am trying believe me. I suggest things all the time. Walks and days out with the baby enjoying the summer but as I have said, every request I make has been denied. I asked can she bring the baby here next week just me her and baby, I'll cook tea and take we'll take the baby to the local park for a walk. Denied!

Unfortunately I've realised I have to play to her tune and do what she wants. If she says no then it's a no. There is no compromise. I can't force anything on her. This just makes me feel like it's her baby and not ours. I do as she says and when she says. She gives me a look in, an hour here and there when she says. It's an awful experience. I've spent 4 weeks being a dad and I should still be off work for one more week. I should of spent every hour of every day around my daughter. Each time I see her she has changed.

It's an actual killer and if I feel the way I do for the rest of my life then I don't look forward to living

OP posts:
YouTheCat · 05/07/2014 17:39

I I I

Me Me Me

My My My

You may be 28 but you sound like you are 12.

This is about what is best for your baby and the primary carer of that baby, not you .

Loletta · 05/07/2014 17:53

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Cowapjn · 05/07/2014 18:06

YouTheCat god forbid i have any feelings! How out of order of me.

OP posts:
YouTheCat · 05/07/2014 18:07

Your feelings are very much secondary to the needs of your baby.

ModernUrbanSnowman · 05/07/2014 18:29

Cowapjn ... like I said before, this internet thing isn't helping you now. You are frustrated, you feel helpless and unsupported. Constantly rehashing the same discussions with each of us is just reinforcing those feelings and bedding them in deeper and deeper.

My guess is that just now, neither of you nor your ex has a clear head. Even the friendliest break ups I've seen others go through have had the effect of making both partners magnify the faults of the other.

You are (probably) both being unreasonable. But the more that you focus on how unfortunate it is that this is the happy and uncomplicated situation you'd wish for, the more of a wedge you'll drive between you and your ex. Both in your mind and hers.

Our circumstances are very different but I can only talk from my experience. I am in a happy relationship, with the usual ups and downs (and the thankfully now dead father in law I was talking about before), so I was there when my first was born and when she and my partner came home, I drove. The hospital was about two miles away ... the journey took about half an hour! I thought everyone else on the roads was a crazy. They were going so fast! Didn't they realise they could kill someone? The first month or so, I lived in terror that somebody was going to come and say there had been a mistake and they had to take the baby away, she was the wrong one, too perfect. It was over a week before we left the house, and then we got the shakes after about five minutes and had to go home with the fears.

Now ... does that sound sane to you? I hope not. And I'm the dad ... I didn't have the hormonal adjustments and all that jazz.

What I'm getting at is that you could be a saint your home as child-safe, padded and secure as any creche ... and your ex might still be saying "no way, not good enough for my girl". ... In the actual real world it isn't that great. You've split. The trust there was will need to be rebuilt slowly and painstakingly. It's going to take time, hard work and inhuman amounts of patience. I do not envy you the hill you have to climb.

But you are showing determination. Your tenacity on this thread putting forward your story and arguing your case speaks of someone with the strength of character to see it through.

Get off the computer. Get out for a walk and clear your head. When you are calm, call and ask if you can pop round. DO NOT ASK to be allowed to take the baby out or away from her mum. Ask how you can help but don't force help on your ex. Deal with the poo, that is always appreciated.

Small steps, softly taken, will bring you to a place of happiness faster than the strides your pride in your daughter is crying out for you to take.

Just my view. I don't know you. It seems your ex's sister does, though. And it seems like she sees your pain and is fairly neutral. Talking with her will probably help more than this forum ever will. But don't try to make her be 'on your side' or you'll just cause problems betterment the sisters. Just talk. Better still, just listen.

Get off the computer (or phone or whatever). Really.

Best of luck

Loletta · 05/07/2014 18:38

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

littlejohnnydory · 05/07/2014 18:44

cowjapin I didn't leave my three with dh until they were 7 or 8 months old and we're married!

YABU to expect to have the baby by yourself but YANBU to want your family to see your child - your ex has no right to refuse that, baby has 2 parents and also a right to know the whole family.

littlejohnnydory · 05/07/2014 18:47

Being separated from the baby wouldn't have made things easier for me with a tiny baby. Maybe you can find other ways to help? But yanbu at all to want to spend time bonding with baby with your ex present.

Cowapjn · 05/07/2014 18:57

mitnageek - Thankyou. All taken on board and understood. I am guilty of not having a clear head. It is hard to get my head clear as i spend all day every day thinking about it missing my daughter. I just hope it gets easier. Apologies to anybody that may have become frustrated by me.

I just want my family and friends to meet my daughter and I acknowledge it isn't going to happen any time soon.

littlejohnnydory Im not expecting at all to b left alone by the baby nor do i feel i am ready as i dont know her full routine. Like how much poweder milk to use in her feed for example.

OP posts:
ModernUrbanSnowman · 05/07/2014 19:02

Loletta, I was thinking just the same about your posts.

Cowpajn that's the first straightforwardly positive thing you've said. Fantastic. With any luck, I'm wasting words here because you're already gone. Good luck.

YouTheCat · 05/07/2014 19:24

I agree with Mitnageek.

Didactylos · 05/07/2014 20:38

good luck Cowap, hope you can get through this,

despite the frustration and occasional snark (sorry about Beaker!) I think most posters here really want you to succeed in developing a relationship with your daughter

Littlef00t · 06/07/2014 14:48

I feel that she is being rather obstructive and could do more to facilitate visits. Eg nothing wrong with you walking baby round the block, taking her back the moment she starts to cry, or agreeing to your parents going to her sisters to meet the baby

But

You are also being rather unrealistic about your expectations. I was still in pain and bleeding 4 weeks in. Couldn't guarantee when baby was sleeping or eating etc and having to be anywhere for a specified time was virtually impossible. Unfortunately even if the environment is uncomfortable for you at her parents, the more you go the more likely they are to soften towards you as they need to be less protective because you are showing you can hold her correctly, comfort her etc.

I think mediation is needed. Is there anyone you both respect who would be willing to sit down with you both and try and find some common ground?

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