Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

My Brothers one night stand & baby..

129 replies

MumOfOne14 · 28/09/2015 18:55

So my DS was born being the youngest of 3 cousins, I had a rough labour & an even rougher time BFing. Had my family to support me & it was great... Then my Bros one night stand shows up with baby in arms. It's hard to make this short but here goes... I was selfishly looking forward to my time being fussed as a first time mum, my DS being fussed for being the baby & first boy of the family & then the other one came along. My brother still lives at home & wants nothing to do with mother & baby. I know it's not little baby's fault & I feel for her I really do, but now the mum has been adopted into the family. She lives down the road & I live an hour away & since her arrival I've had maybe two visits off my parents in about 4months. It's all been one sided where I've had to drive down there. They take her & the baby for days out everywhere & have them over the house at least 4 times a week. I know I may be being a total bitch, but I'm feeling so left out & I know if I say too much to my parents they will be mad, "cos the poor mum hasn't got much & is on her own". I'm feeling so isolated from my family & every time I do go to visit she is always always there! I can't remember the last time I had a quiet moment with my mum. AIBU and a jealous bitch?? Please correct me if I am!!

OP posts:
FanOfSpam · 29/09/2015 19:37

Well, I guess we can thank good old feminism, which taught us we can have babies and still be the breadwinner and go back to work a fortnight after giving birth because, you know...who wants to rely on a stupid knuckle-dragging man to pay the bills?

RiverTam · 29/09/2015 22:00

You assume that there is always a man. There isn't. You also assume that anyone is in a position to allow their job and the money it brings in to slide.

Let me tell you about my grandmother. As was normal as the tune, she stopped working when she married (they were bith teachers). They proceeded to have 5 children and she was, of course, a SAHM. When her oldest was 12, completely out of the blue, her DH dropped down dead at the age of 47. She had no choice but to return to work which, as she had married late, she was able to do as an experienced teacher. My mother and her four sisters grew up knowing that you simply cannot depend on someone else to support you. So they all went to uni or equivalent and those who married and had children carried on working. My mum went back to work 6 weeks after my sister was born as they wouldn't keep her job open, and to her that wasn't simething she felt she could risk.

So you can stick all of that in your fucking judgemental, ignorant and narrow-minded little pipe and smoke it.

maddening · 29/09/2015 23:47

how on earth did someone turn it in to a wohm/sahm debate! bizarre!

FanOfSpam · 29/09/2015 23:52

A child needs its mother. End of.

MiscellaneousAssortment · 30/09/2015 00:57

Bonkers diversion! I was the sole breadwinner and went back to work full time very early on - but honestly, I can't say that experience suddenly made me less upset by familial problems!

I guess that poster was trying to say, it's not a big deal and if you were busier you'd take your mind off it. Except, it IS a big deal.

So I disagree with that on both counts :)

Maybe for very kind reasons, but the end result is that they have dropped out of their daughters life in favour of someone who is a relative stranger. There shouldn't be a feeling of replacement, but there is as that's how they're behaving at the moment.

Can you have a very careful and gentle conversation about it with your mum? With rehearsed phrases so you control the conversation and refuse to let it end up in an argument or them saying you're jealous and mean! Explain that you think they're wonderful for welcoming skneone into their family wtc etc etc, and you know they don't mean to but you miss them, especially your mum. Don't get drawn into discussing your nieces mum or their relationship or it turns into a competing and jealousy conversation which you won't win! Just keep it very nice and say you used to love doing X and you don't seem to get the chance these days, and youd love to do x, and for your ds to get to know her grandma, and how much you love her and want your Dd to have that strong relationship with her too.

Don't get your parents defensive as then they'll argue back or justify what's happening, your aim shouldn't be to push this girl out (as it will just alienate you anyway!), your aim is to get your mum back in your life... Can you remind her of any conversations you used to have when you both planned doing things together when the baby came? Not in a 'you didn't do it' way but a 'remember how much we wanted to do x, let's do it!' Way.

Oh and if that all fails, try the gentle making feelings known thing... Ie ask yourself over to do x, she refuses and you say sadly, 'oh ok, it's just I miss you', and then repeat invite, each time not getting stroppy but showing sadness, and perhaps even explaining that you feel sad because you haven't done anythjng with her for x months, and you miss her' etc.

It's about making your sadness visible, but not getting your parents into defend, justify or blame territory. Basically, if they feel defensive, or have to justify their past actions, people tend to strengthen their current behaviour and the more that happens, the more they get locked into continuing so they dont look wrong/ admit wrong. That's the way family rifts happen.

Isetan · 30/09/2015 06:39

The poster who suggested that you've transferred your sibling rivalry onto your DN is right. It doesn't sound like your family dynamic was all that harmonious to begin with and that this is just same dynamic, different personnel. Unless there is a gun pointed at your mothers head, then your mother is choosing to prioritise your DN. This could be because she fears that if she doesn't it could jeopardise contact, it could be that she lives closer etc.

What can you do? Tell your mother that you'd like to see more of her, do not mention DN (unless you want to make it sound like a completion) but if that doesn't change her behaviour, then you're going to have to accept that this is your mother's choice.

MumOfOne14 · 30/09/2015 07:15

Thanks Miscellaneous, a lot of good advice there. I think I do find it hard now that this is it, they're in our lives forever. I'd be fine with that if my parents hadn't just dumped everything else. But yes I'll take all your pointers & talk to or invite her up. See what happens..
Thanks Isetan, I understand what you're saying.

OP posts:
Spartans · 30/09/2015 07:42

fanofspam your comments are just as bad as grazias , please stop derailing the thread. If you want a debate start another thread.

OP I hope it goes well when you speak to your mum. Remember it may transpire that they have reason to feel that if they don't go over the top with DNs niece she may disappear with their gc

jorahmormont · 30/09/2015 08:12

FanOfSpam and children who don't have mothers? If their mothers die shortly after birth, or the mother is just a surrogate for two men?

Bambambini · 30/09/2015 09:13

Spam is obviously on the wind up - "end of" - really?

RiverTam · 30/09/2015 09:46

Yes, 'end of'= I'm too dimwited to actually be able to argue my totally imbecilic point so I'm going to say this in the forlorn and very unlikely hope that everyone will stop disagreeing with me and concede that I'm right. Dream on!

Sorry for the derail, OP Blush.

MumOfOne14 · 30/09/2015 09:58

Lol! Don't worry, got all the help I needed! Smile

OP posts:
NeedsAsockamnesty · 30/09/2015 11:44

Spartans she's already derailed.

What spam said was vile what Grazia said was not. Grazia made a perfectly valid suggestion one that would be realistic for many mothers and in many areas is the norm granted it's not ideal and many mothers wouldn't want to but it comes nowhere close to being vile.

FanOfSpam · 30/09/2015 16:51

Tell you what, go and start a thread: 'Im returning to work two weeks after giving birth because I don't want my standard of living to drop' and you'll see what vile really is.

QforCucumber · 30/09/2015 17:15

How about 'I'm having to return to work 2 weeks after giving birth to keep a roof over my baby's head and food on his table' I'm sorry fan that not all of us married so far above us that our husbands are able to cover the increasing costs of food, mortgages and a whole 2 other people. I myself am due a baby in 5 months and will be returning to work after 6 months maternity - does that mean I will love my child any less than you do?!

Spartans · 30/09/2015 18:14

needs that's your opinion . I however think what grazia said was out of order too. That's my opinion.

spam if you want to debate it, do it on your own thread. It has nothing to do with the OP or her thread.

Also just because MN thinks something is 'bad' I don't take it to heart. I love this place but often don't agree with things written here. I parent the way I feel is best, not to what MN thinks.

How are you today OP?

FanOfSpam · 30/09/2015 19:34

The OP has left. What's wrong with 6 months maternity leave?

MaudGonneMad · 30/09/2015 20:25

There's nothing wrong with 6 months maternity leave, Spam, if the mother wants to take and if it's available to her. It's not rocket science.

NeedsAsockamnesty · 30/09/2015 20:51

Bugger all is wrong with 6 months ML or 8 months or 1 year or being a SAHP but there is also nothing wrong with "I have to generate an income of x each week in order to keep roof over my head pay carers/keep company running so I can only take the legally perscribed minimum ML"

It is also a valid step that works for many people when they are falling out or thinking about falling out with extended family or have other stresses because going back to work creates a whole other set of problems that need solutions and in can help to transfer your energy

Senpai · 30/09/2015 20:59

No I will not shut up. I'm responding to Grazia's preposterous assertion that the OP is somewhat bored of being a SAHM and that we should all do as she did, which is to effectively abandon your baby two weeks after birth. It is completely different for dads; they haven't birthed or nursed and it goes against nature for a mum to make that kind of choice at two weeks.

Hmm Abandoning your baby... You're going to work and coming home to see it every day.

We do it all the time in the US. At most we get 3 weeks paid leave if we work in a good company. Maximum legal time an employer needs to allow is 12 weeks, and it's all unpaid. Most mothers are back as soon as the stitches heal. Our babies are none the worse for it.

Prettyinblue · 30/09/2015 22:53

Ignore Grazia she just enjoys winding people up. Senpai, people in the UK find it shocking the level of parental leave given to people in the U.S. Particularly as it is one of the richest countries in the world.

FanOfSpam · 01/10/2015 00:23

Outrageous. I have no other word for a society that feels it is okay for a truncated maternity leave to be imposed on a new mother. Two weeks! I don't know how they physically do it.

allnewredfairy · 01/10/2015 08:11

I wouldn't be taking a step back OP. In fact I'd be doing quite the opposite and affirming my place in the family. If you're left out of a trip ask to be included on the next. Organise a trip yourself. Issue lots of invitations for your parents to come to you. When they find they are making excuses too often not to come they will realise how unfair they are being. Drop by more frequently and make your presence felt. Reclaim your parents!

Alisvolatpropiis · 01/10/2015 08:23

Senpai the U.S. has almost certainly got one of the least generous maternity packages of any developed Western nation, nobody aspires to be more like the U.S. in this regard.

Most European countries are far more generous than the UK is.

And irrc correctly, Grazia also owns her very own island, allegedly, so I'd take her comments with a pinch of salt.

MumOfOne14 · 01/10/2015 09:20

Hello! Still here, I'm ok thanks Spartans. Haven't spoken to my mum yet... Still feeling little pissed. My stepdad asked my sister this week if she would go shopping with my mum & my DN mum sat. No mention of me or even seeing my DS! I'm just more & more wound up!

OP posts:
Swipe left for the next trending thread