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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

...to expect out-of-work DH to be pulling his weight while I get over surgery?

88 replies

WotchOotErAPolis · 07/08/2014 18:38

Wow - can't believe how much has 'not' happened since I posted about DHs behaviour on another thread!!

DH was made redundant on April 1st and is still oow now. In the last 3 years he's been oow for nearly 2 years so our finances are precarious.

I am on sick leave with no pay, having just had surgery to remove a badly ruptured breast implant [originally done when I has a mastectomy 10 years ago due to advanced cancer] which it turned out had become infected. I now have a very deformed left side as they couldn't replace it, so I've effectively had a mastectomy all over again.

Ten days later he's dropping hints about sex - including the line 'as long as you put a babydoll over the top half so I don't see'.

I'm still getting very tired when out walking, having been very fit prior to surgery. We spent yesterday outside a cafe with him making comments about the teen with the neat ar$e and too tight shorts, whilst I got my breath back! Nice?!

On top of that he still hasn't found a job [this bit he really is trying to fix] but is supposedly doing some work for which he will get paid once he completes the work and invoices. He has done nothing at all today, apart from sit on the sofa doing sudokus on his phone. In the meantime, there is now a huge pile of unwashed laundry on his side of the bedroom; the kitchen table was left uncleared last night so I woke up to it; the grass is overgrown and there are now trees in my garden borders where there weren't any a couple of months ago; the hedges are overgrown too. The dog is not being walked and the ironing [though I did get it up to date over the weekend] is piling up again - with the odd comment of "I haven't got any t-shirts".

We ran a music school session in our house the day after I came out of hospital and he ended up taking me into town to fetch a microphone for the singer. He and the boys [I have 3 DSs aged 16,15,11 who to be fair do their share of the housework, usually after hours of me nagging which is tiring in itself] had spent the morning re-organising the furniture to prepare the room for the session, with the comment "we might as well sweep under the sofas seeing as it hasn't been done for twenty years".

We don't discuss things any more, to the extent that he got me to text our music teacher to say we needed to talk about lessons as finances are getting more embarrassing by the week, so we need to cut down/ stop. When he came for the next lesson, expecting a 'talking to', DH asked if he could join in on day 1 of a proposed songwriting workshop costing £150!

Am I really being unreasonable here?

OP posts:
ilovelamp82 · 08/08/2014 07:35

Are you ok OP?

deakymom · 08/08/2014 07:42

words are failing me i'm joining in the chorus of throw him out! jesus im not usually emotional but i'm actually feeling upset on your behalf! you need to pull it together long enough to get rid!

and buy a tumble dryer fold when hot no need to iron much at all (on a more practical note) tell the children i love you i'm ill please help even my 5 year old responds to a please

sashh · 08/08/2014 08:26

Serious question.

What do you get out of this relationship?

Igggi · 08/08/2014 08:32

If you leave him, a year from now you could be really happy.

CurlyBlueberry · 08/08/2014 09:06

I think the babydoll comment is one of the most revolting things I have ever heard. Please leave him.

I hope your recovery goes well Thanks

WotchOotErAPolis · 08/08/2014 17:47

Having read your comments made me realise I really do need to DO SOMETHING, so I tackled the subject as 'nicely' as I could. I asked him why he said these horrid things to me and told him how it made me feel. His excuse was that he's squeamish and didn't want to hurt me. He has never found my reconstructed side attractive anyway, which I kind of knew.

He took on board that he needs to keep his thoughts to himself and keep his leching to times when I'm not around.

We did spend some time together this afternoon and he has now seen the results of my surgery. He now appreciates that hey I haven't got cancer any more and has to accept that I do look very different now [God knows, I have had no choice but to accept it after all], but I'm still the same girl he married, albeit battle-worn.

I hope he keeps his horrid comments to himself in future and helps to support me. As for his job situation - well that's a whole new thread I suspect!

THANKS SO MUCH EVERYONE for helping push me to take some action and tell him how I feel. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

OP posts:
ABlandAndDeadlyCourtesy · 08/08/2014 17:53

Has he sorted out the unwashed laundry?

BarbarianMum · 08/08/2014 17:58

Love,you don't have to hope he pulls his weight,you are allowed to insist (although you shouldn't have to).

Another thing you are allowed to do is STOP: stop doing the cooking,the cleaning, the washing and the ironing and let him look after you all. Or you do an hour for every one he does (which shouldn't take long).

LumpySpacedPrincess · 08/08/2014 18:18

Keep posting. I very much doubt a good talking to has changed his character but it's great you feel better having had a chat.

Darkesteyes · 08/08/2014 18:26

" He has never found my reconstructed side attractive anyway, which I kind of knew."

hes a shallow superficial piece of shit.

HansieLove · 08/08/2014 18:41

Well now you have talked about some things, but has he got off his ass and:
Walked the dog, cleaned up kitchen, cooked, did the laundry, cleaned the house?

WotchOotErAPolis · 06/10/2014 22:20

OMG have I been off my thread that long and nothing's changed?!

I am now fully recovered from surgery and having got fed up with his list of ttd (which I now write on a whiteboard in the kitchen along with the kids list) not being done, I have mowed the lawn (twice), cut down the hedges, trimmed the back garden down, taken three loads of garden waste to the dump as the shed was full to bursting, and on top of this am now waiting for him to repair the rear wheel on my bike, which I punctured last week.

I have tried myself but can't do it. I use my bike to get to work but am now driving or walking in daily. I told him I was getting a male friend to come and do it for me but he told me not to get someone outside the family involved and he would do it but not to pressure him as when I do that, he doesn't want to do it. He then set about fixing the hall clock instead.

I actually can't believe I'm writing this as it looks so obvious what I need to do but I just can't bring myself to lose my temper, scream, shout, pack his bags,...

I have withdrawn into myself and just don't talk to him or spend time in the same room much really. He just doesn't seem to notice. My closest friends (one male, one female) have told me that I have got to stand up to him but they've been saying that for years and I can't break the cycle. What is wrong with me? If I do answer back he just seems to have all the answers and makes me feel I ABU

And he is still out of work, so has plenty of time on his hands to do these things!

How do I break out of this?

OP posts:
Darkesteyes · 06/10/2014 22:30

" he told me not to get someone outside the family involved and he would do it but not to pressure him as when I do that, he doesn't want to do it. He then set about fixing the hall clock instead."

He is controlling as well as abusive. The two often go hand in hand. Ive prob already said this but the "babydoll" comment is still the worst thing ive ever read on this site.

OP You deserve sooooo much better Hes a piece of shit. Have you thought about going to talk to your GP. Or giving Womens Aid a ring for advice. Thanks

ImperialBlether · 06/10/2014 22:36

I don't think I've ever shouted so much at an opening post.

He is absolutely horrible! Really, really horrible. Why on earth do you want a relationship with this lazy, rude, entitled bastard?

MrsHathaway · 06/10/2014 22:40

Did you realise because of the "housework survey" thread? Your latest post sounds familiar.

He doesn't respect you. He doesn't care what you think. He cares deeply about what other people think, OTOH. Is there anyone outside the household you could enlist to kick him up the arse?

I'm afraid he sounds like a dead loss, though. If you split from him you'd have slightly less to do and a far nicer environment.

Flowers
sharonthewaspandthewineywall · 06/10/2014 22:41

This is the first time I've seen this thread and OP I'm so sorry.
He is an abusive cunt. Contact women's aid or stonham to discuss how to deal with this. Just because he isn't putting his fist in your face doesn't mean he is not abusing you

JumpAndTwist · 06/10/2014 22:43

I actually can't believe I'm writing this as it looks so obvious what I need to do but I just can't bring myself to lose my temper, scream, shout, pack his bags,...

If I do answer back he just seems to have all the answers and makes me feel I ABU

You know you don't have to have a water tight reason to dump someone, don't you? And they don't get to refuse to be dumped.

You can kick him out without screaming. You can just tell him to move out. By text if you want. You don't have to give any reasons beyond "This relationship doesn't make me happy and I don't believe it ever will".

Counselling for you?

frownyface · 06/10/2014 22:45

Op. I met my husband at 16. I was young tall and thin. Fu?l of fun and bounce and energy. I am now 30. Wheelchair bound. Limited mobility. Like you I have been very unwell and lost my lower leg 10 years ago.

My husband has never once made me feel ashamed. Never insisted I cover up, or even hinted at it. Hes injected me with antibiotics 3x a day for 6 weeks, hes helped me learn to walk, thats just 2 examples in 10 plus years of care.

On a daily basis he cooks cleans does the school run walks the dogs sorts our finances. Hes only human and grumbles on occassion but never makes me feel small. Or selfconscious. Or useless. Or unattractive.

You deserve all this and some.

troubleinstore · 06/10/2014 22:48

OP.. if you read this post written by someone else, what would you advise?

ThinkIveBeenHacked · 06/10/2014 22:54

Why would you want your sons to live in a household where a man treats his wife this way? What sort of example is he setting them?

Seriously OP. Things will not change. Please leave.

HansieLove · 06/10/2014 22:56

At the very least, you should keep driving to work so he cannot have the car. He should be working at home as many hours as you work. He's awful. But your boys at 16, 15, and 11 are old enough to do everything around the house and yard. Let's put it this way: you should come home to a hot meal, a clean house, laundry done. Just put your feet up.

joanofarchitrave · 06/10/2014 23:03

'and he would do it but not to pressure him as when I do that, he doesn't want to do it'

funnily enough, life involves doing lots of things you don't want to do. As you know better than anyone, OP.

WD41 · 06/10/2014 23:07

I felt quite angry for you reading that OP.

I've never said this on here before but I would LTB.

wanttosqueezeyou · 06/10/2014 23:07

Remind me why you're with him? What are you getting out of all this?

LTB. He doesn't have to agree to this, you don't need to convince him.

Nanny0gg · 07/10/2014 00:41

WotchOotErAPolis

Please get this moved to Relationships where you will get lots of practical (and supportive) advice to help you find the strength to do what you know you need to do.

Good luck

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