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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Aibu for asking dp to help once in a while?

198 replies

Monkeyonmyback · 27/03/2016 02:02

Basically I have 2 boys, one a preschooler who goes to cm 2 days a week and a young baby who is starting to wean onto solids.

I'm on mat leave but due to return to work later this year. Dp is self employed but contracted so doesn't get to pick his days to work. He works a very physically demanding job and is generally out of the house by 7am often working miles away and doesn't come home til about 7pm. He is exhausted. He only works about 4 days a week tho.

I do the majority of the housework and everything child-related, take charge of the household bills and basically any other 'life-admin' that gets thrown in our general direction.

I never have 'me time', oldest son in the throes of potty training so all is fun in our house Hmm

I am constantly run ragged from the minute I get up with the kids to the moment I get to bed at night. Always mountains of laundry to do and bottles to sterilise and general drudgery that comes with running a house.

Dp got home early last night, just before I'd started making tea. He came home to a howling hungry baby who I had just made a bottle for, a preschooler whose pants I had just changed (for the umpteenth time that day) and me who couldn't even get tea started because of the afore-mentioned things. I asked dp if he would give baby his bottle. He did, so I could make tea. Afterwards it was near enough bedtime for kids, I asked dp if he wouldn't mind getting kids ready for bed whilst I tidied kitchen and put laundry away. He did this begrudgingly as he was tired from work. I understand this.

Now the thing that gets my goat is even on his days off I do majority of housework, sorting kids etc, packing bags when we have to go out the house, sorting everything from birthday presents, buying groceries, taking kids to docs/dental appointments, that sort of thing. Dp will quite happily sit in the same room with the kids but he will be on his iPad or phone doing 'research' - just generally ignoring his spawn. He will 'help' when asked but other than that not really. The phrase that comes out of my mouth most often but not massively is 'can you just do me a favour and do x?'.

He was on his phone this morning doing 'research' in bed whilst I was downstairs giving kids their breakfast, washing up pots afterwards, and taking clothes which had been sat in the washing machine all night and put them in the dryer. I came upstairs and asked dp if he could get them dressed whilst I showered. He was on his phone on the Internet, and kicked up a shit-storm about how he never has any time to himself and how I'm always asking him to do stuff. Lets just say a row followed.

When he comes home late from work which is often, I, generally speaking have bathed kids and put them to bed, sorted out bottles for baby's night feeds which I do and cleared the kitchen. All dp has to do when he gets home from work is heat his tea up, eat it, wash his plate, have a beer and go to bed ready for the next day. I never ask him to do stuff around the home when he comes home late at night.

Today I have pretty much done everything even tho he has had a day off. We've argued about his lack of help around the home and how I nag him. We've attended my friend's child's birthday party, done the food shop and he has gone to his parents house for the night who live about 25 miles away as his family are visiting over Easter so he can go for a drink/get pissed with them. He moaned because I asked if wouldn't mind returning home at a reasonable hour the next day. 'Oh look, I can have a night out for once but with conditions attached. You just don't want me to see my family!' Errmmm.... Nope I've been suggesting you go out for a drink with them all week, you arse! Angry

Before he left the house tonight I was still pretty upset at the events of today and had been crying. After I bathed and put kids to bed (whilst he was on the phone to someone) I took clean clothes (mainly his work clothes) out of the dryer and was putting them away upstairs. He came up, saw me sorting the laundry, didn't bother to offer a hand even tho it was his stuff and asked 'did you empty my work pants pockets before they went in the wash?' I said yes. He asks me did I come across any lottery tickets in the pockets. I said no. He rifled thru the laundry basket despite the fact I was obviously upset, pulled out his work pants, checked the pockets and found some bits of paper which had been washed by accident. I an only assume they were the lotto tickets.

He then left the house in a huff! Not even an apology for being an arse.

I will be up tonite with baby. And up early the morning with oldest son. I have a back log of phone calls I need to make at some point which I can never get round to doing - dp knows this. And yet I seem to get sweet fa 'help' towards our responsibilities. His favourite lines are 'I don't understand why it takes you all day to do what you need to do. You shouldn't have washing to be putting away at night time' or another one is 'how do other mums manage?' Or the killer line which gets pulled out the bag as a last resort 'my mum had 7 kids and ran a business, why can't you cope?'. I can cope just fine ta very much, that's not the issue!!!

Sorry for long post. Aibu to feel absolutely fed up?!? I don't want pity, I just feel like I'm going out of my mind. Can't reason with him, he is irrational. Oh and has never looked after both kids for more than a couple of hours on his own.

OP posts:
Fratelli · 27/03/2016 10:29

Ask him to leave. He speaks in an abusive manner to you and your baby.
If you don't want that yet maybe a trial separation?
Or in terms of chores I give my dp a choice so I say "do you want to bath ds or make dinner" as he responds well to that and just chooses and does it.
You sound like you're doing a great job. When ds was a baby even getting dressed was an achievement!
Your partner sounds like a dick tbh. Your children shouldn't grow up thinking relationships like yours are ok. Flowers for you

Kidnapped · 27/03/2016 10:34

Gosh, he is really bad. It's not that you would be splitting up over an untidy house. He is the one splitting up the family because he has no respect for you; that is the reality of it.

It is good that the house is in your name though. I'd be seeing the period of now until September as a trial run for him. He has 5 months in which to demonstrate real change.

Could this work? He works four days - that means that he can have one day off in which he can do hobbies, go out, lie in bed whatever. The other day is your day off - he is totally in charge of the children, cooking, cleaning, laundry. The other day is half housework and childcare (both of you together doing tasks) and half doing something nice as a family. Going out, visiting family, watching a film together, anything.

Have a think about what is fair and what could work for you both. And then present it to him as a positive thing that is going to save your relationship. And if he won't consider it, or it doesn't happen, then he can go and live with his sainted mother. Your life will be easier as a single mum - one fewer person to cook and clean for.

SlinkyVagabond · 27/03/2016 10:36

Hang on , it's your house? Then you shouldn't be the one thinking about leaving. No one shouts at a baby, apart from an arse. If your parents get snippy tell them that, a grown man can't handle a tiny baby and shouted at it. "Do you want that man in your Gc life?" Their answer would, for me, affect their relationship with your family.
It's no longer about a bit of help, it's his total lack of respect for you. Won't get married because he couldn't get divorced? To me that indicates that he sees his current situation as less than permanent. He's got it made right now, of course he doesn't want it to change. But you can make a change. Flowers

HarlotBronte · 27/03/2016 10:41

If the deposit was joint, if that's been documented then he probably has at least some share in the house. However OP, if you split, his business wouldn't be considered a joint asset as it would be if you were married. Basically, unless you've got some kind of formal share in it already, it's all his and not yours on separation. You don't become entitled to any of it because of being his partner. So stop enabling him to build it up, which is what you're doing when you cover all house and childcare stuff to allow him to work. You're not going to see any benefit from that should you split up. OK the more he earns the more child maintenance you'd be entitled to, but self-employment is notoriously easy to use to piss about.

Monkeyonmyback · 27/03/2016 10:44

I love your suggestion Kidnapped and may put that to him when I can find some respect to look him in the eye and ask him. It could take a while.

I hope you are all enjoying your weekend so far though. I'm a damp squib on here. I'm trying to hold in tears while I sort kids out and wait for do to return. He could be back mid afternoon. Hope he's in some sort of fit state and doesn't use his regular line of 'Am I all right to go to bed for an hour?'.

I don't usually Internet this much but I need to know I'm not being irrational for asking for a bit of help and as I thought I'm completely not.

Like I said, when he comes home I'm going to the cinema. Not been in years! And there's a film on this evening I want to watch. Will look like a loser sat on my own but it's better than feeling unloved by my partner

OP posts:
Arkwright · 27/03/2016 10:47

He sounds like a child. My DH works a very physical job and has always done more than his fair share of jobs around the house. I am a SAHM and he has always done his own washing. I couldn't live with someone who treated me so badly. You either need to spell it out to him or get out.

Kidnapped · 27/03/2016 10:50

Oh Monkey, you sound so ground down by it all. I feel for you.

Keep posting on here - loads of people on mumsnet have experience of this and are helpful. If you can't face talking to him, then write it down in an email to him. You write about your situation really well; tell him what you've told us and how you want real change for both of you. It really is up to him from now on.

Monkeyonmyback · 27/03/2016 10:54

He works for company as in he is contracted by a company but on a self employed basis so he only really owns tools and a van as assets. He had to sign a waiver on the deposit to say it was a gifted deposit and that I don't owe in back. So it was be really easy for me to screw him over legally but I don't have it in me to be that vindictive

OP posts:
Ememem84 · 27/03/2016 10:57

monkey no. You won't look like a loser at the cinema On your own. Loads of people do it. All the cool kids do that's what I tell myself anyway

I always think the cinema isn't very social anyway - sat in the dark on your own with other people watching a movie you have to be quiet through. Perfect for some solitude.

Enjoy it. Get pick n mix and popcorn without having to share!! Xx

Monkeyonmyback · 27/03/2016 11:00

Thank you kidnapped. I've told him all this stuff before. No matter how calmly I approach he says 'is this you wanting an arguement?'. Then anything I say thereafter gets thrown back at me. It seems like to me, he learnt to face conflict in a war zone. He doesn't seek to find some understanding of a situation where I suppose a more compassionate person would (or would at least try to listen). He is like a politician in the sense that you can ask him a direct thing or tell him exactly how you feel and he'll use every trick in the book to make it feel like its your fault, hence nothing ever gets resolved. He's a crap listener, doesn't care for being attentive. Yet when he came home from work one night fed up and generally disheartened, I hugged him, listened to his woes and generally tried to make him feel better. What a mug

OP posts:
Kidnapped · 27/03/2016 11:07

If he cannot even think of the possibility of change, and won't even listen to your position, then the relationship is completely doomed. It is just a matter of when. Time to start planning to live on your own.

The one good thing about him being a useless lump is that he won't be wanting the children to live with him (the majority of the time anyway).

NeedACleverNN · 27/03/2016 11:11

My dh is up at 4.45 to start work at 6. He is dragging and lifting pallets up to 30kgs and he is not a large man. He finishes at 2 and then comes home and helps me with the kids.
He cooks or cleans and if I've had a bad day he sends me up to bed for a sleep

Today he is giving me the day off so I can chill out.

That is a nice man. Not whinging and moaning because he has to pull his finger out and be a grown up.

He needs to sort his priorities out and quickly

If you mean anything to him he would do it without argument

Monkeyonmyback · 27/03/2016 11:18

I can't say I would actually notice that much if wasn't here since he's out of the house a lot and I feel like I'm doing everything single handedly anyway.

OP posts:
Monkeyonmyback · 27/03/2016 11:20

Everything is with argument I'm afraid. He's never in the wrong and defends himself to the hilt on everything, always has.

OP posts:
Monkeyonmyback · 27/03/2016 11:22

NeedacleverNN - he always goes on about how other men don't do the kind of physical labour he does hence they've got more energy to help their partners. I find that insulting to plenty of men tbh

OP posts:
RapunzelStyle · 27/03/2016 11:24
  1. he's threatened to cheat on you imho by saying he needs sex to survive
  2. thank fuck house is in your name
  3. it's posts like these that make me glad I'm single.
TheCrumpettyTree · 27/03/2016 11:26

Think about how things will be in ten or twenty years time. Think long term about what your life and the children's life will be like. They will also be learning from him. Do you really want this forever? He will grind you down until you're a shell. You're in a strong position with the mortgage being yours.

Nanny0gg · 27/03/2016 11:29

No matter how calmly I approach he says 'is this you wanting an arguement?

Answer: 'No. This is me wanting a relationship. What do you want?'

Nanny0gg · 27/03/2016 11:30

Oh, and re his piles of scummy clothes on the floor - get a basket. He won't use it but at least you can dump it all in there and won't have to look at it.

DixieNormas · 27/03/2016 11:37

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Monkeyonmyback · 27/03/2016 11:37

He verbally bullies me so I don't really know how to talk to him.

Logically all the things PP have suggested I say to him, I have over multiple conversations/arguments. Always leads to an argument and never a resolution.

I fully supported him going to his parents last night to see his family who are visiting and urged him to go. My one stipulation was please can you try and be back before midday so I can have a hand with the kids etc. he kicked up a stink 'so basically you're saying I can't drink?' I said of course you can, I just kind of want you home before midday. He said well there's no point in him going if he can't relax as let his hair down and then concluded I didn't want him to see his family. I encouraged him to f'in go, I would never say he couldn't. Well I doubt he'll be back before midday but then again that could just be me being a bit of a princess about the situation. If he's back later I won't even mention it cos it'll cause another row and I want to enjoy my film today without coming home to a bad atmosphere

OP posts:
Costacoffeeplease · 27/03/2016 11:41

He sounds worse with each post - and it doesn't sound as if you're ever going to change him, so are you prepared to live like this for the rest of your life?

RapunzelStyle · 27/03/2016 11:41

Sorry to trot out a MN cliche but do you reckon he's having an affair or thinking about it and trying to pick arguments at home to justify his bad behaviour?

Monkeyonmyback · 27/03/2016 11:42

I'm not sure he would go looking elsewhere to get sex but I feel so indifferent towards him in general it kind of wouldn't bother me I guess. He won't be coming near me for quite some time that's for sure. Maybe he'll eventually equate lack of sex to me feeling taken forgranted

OP posts:
RapunzelStyle · 27/03/2016 11:49

I think you're giving him too much credit op. He will just add "refuses sex" to your list of "crimes".