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AIBU?

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..to be upset that DP shares custody of his teddy bear with his ex?

965 replies

BearProblems · 07/12/2016 17:12

DP and I have been together 2 and a half years. We live together and have a DC. A few months before we got together, DP had split with his ex, who he'd been with for over a decade. Their split was amicable but they've hardly had any contact since. She seems to be a perfectly nice person. They have no DCs.

When DP moved in, over a year ago, his ex came to my house to collect Bear who was going "on holiday" with her. DP hadn't warned me this was happening, and I was just expecting her to drop some of DP's stuff off. DP did the handing over but it was all unbearably awkward. DP hadn't told her that he was moving in with me (we have known each other vaguely for years) so she couldn't have been expecting the new girlfriend to be a witness to this nonsense. He didn't tell her because he was hardly in touch with her and was (like a total coward) hoping someone else would tell her so he wouldn't have to. Anyway, I thought that was the end of it and she would be too embarrassed to ask for Bear again.

Today DP and I went out for a nice lunch together and, over the pudding, he mentioned, very awkwardly, that he was going out this evening... taking Bear, who is off on his Christmas holidays. He will drop Bear off with ex before meeting friends to play darts. He'll be gone a couple of hours in all.

I am 100% certain there is nothing going on with DP and his ex (or anyone else for that matter) but this has made me feel incredibly weird and uncomfortable and actually a bit insecure.

He made this arrangement with his ex and didn't tell me until a few hours before the arranged drop off. I know full well the reason he didn't tell me was because he was embarrassed about it (and rightly so!) but still, it seems disloyal to arrange things with an ex and not tell me.

And then there's the fact that it's so fucking weird! I can see, when she asked if she could have Bear for Christmas, he felt he couldn't object without seeming mean and petty or making me out to be some suspicious psycho (he knows I wasn't totally happy about the last time). He's a bit of a coward who hates conflict but also a kind man who doesn't want to hurt anyone unnecessarily.

I don't know what bothers me about it so much. I had been planning to get Bear a Christmas stocking - lucky I'm not sufficiently organised to have done anything about it yet. (I think this sort of stupid infantilism about DP's bear is fine within the confines of a romantic relationship but outside of one, it's just a bit creepy).

Sorry this is so long. It's so bloody ludicrous it was hardly worth writing let alone reading!

OP posts:
Thread gallery
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ItShouldHaveBeenJingleJess · 07/12/2016 23:50

dowager. and tinkly. Grin. Grin

I'd like to see Bear on a special edition of This Is Your Life. Although I suspect the Jeremy Kyle Show may be a more appropriate platform...

MommaGee · 07/12/2016 23:54

Amazed at how worked up people are about something so harmless, honestly people far worse in the world!

How long have you actually been with him and how many custody visits has she had??

I know the dog with a rose I brought my ND at 18 went to his little cousin 😭😭

MommaGee · 07/12/2016 23:54

Brought my ex,no idea what ND is

Footinmouthasusual · 07/12/2016 23:59

I would keep the bear and throw out the dh. Bear sounds hotter

NoCapes · 08/12/2016 00:08

Can not stop laughing at -
I also think you need to talk about Kevin
Grin

NoCapes · 08/12/2016 00:09

Oh in fact!
Who bought Kevin? And Kevin's Mother??

CherryChasingDotMuncher · 08/12/2016 00:13

Well an hour ago i wondered what I was gonna do with my night off. 23 pages later and I think this is one of the best MN threads ever Grin

Curious to know why Bear is not a very good dad Wink I actually think without the weird ex and the OTT trips out for a teddy, the Bear family story of his bear getting it on with yours and having Kevin is very sweet.

AndNoneForGretchenWieners · 08/12/2016 00:15

Jess I thought that it would be a great JK episode: "Ex, please stop demanding visitation rights for my husband's teddy" - and lie detector special: "has Bear been cheating on Mrs Bear and Kevin with Barbie?"

HOHOHOvariesBeforeBrovaries · 08/12/2016 00:41

Sometimes MN just outdoes itself.

Jemimapuddingduck · 08/12/2016 01:07

Oh my god I'm crying! I almost woke the baby up laughing!

SENPARENT · 08/12/2016 01:09

This thread is hilarious.

Ex GF is either barking or does this as a way of keeping in contact with your DP because she still has feelings for him.

DP needs to cut the link with her by binning this ridiculous "shared custody" arrangement, so Bear stays with him permanently where he belongs.

Then Kevin might come home.

ColdTeaAgain · 08/12/2016 01:12

What the fuck is going on?! Why are you pandering to this nonsense?

You are making a Christmas stocking for a TEDDY. You might as well get the kettle a present, it will give just as many fucks. Just. Stop.

Peanutandphoenix · 08/12/2016 01:31

What the actual fuck shared custody of a fucking teddy bear I've heard it all now is this a joke. I think the pair of them need a one way trip to the nut hut they are both mental.

PhilomenaCatLover · 08/12/2016 01:34

Marking place just to see the Bear photo shoot!

queenbeeee · 08/12/2016 01:36

Kill the bear!! Give it to the dog to chew lmao sort buts that's to weird

ArmySal · 08/12/2016 01:40

I am embarrassed by this thread

Me too.

Rory786 · 08/12/2016 01:55

Reading this whilst doing the night feed- hilarious. Have laughed out loud so many times.

kali110 · 08/12/2016 02:02

MommaGee yes, exactly what i was going to say.
If a poster had come on here and said her dp had destroyed something of hers she'd had for years and loved, people would be going ltb.
They wouldn't be saying she should have dumped it anyway because an ex had bought it her Confused
Yet people are encouraging the op to give it away or actually destroy it knowing how much it means to him dp Shock
I've already said how weird and ridiculous the situation is.
It has got to stop, he was nice to the ex in the begining he's done his bit but encouraging her to get rid of a loved possession is just wrong.
It's Double fucking standards on here sometimes.

TitaniasCloset · 08/12/2016 02:07

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m00Ma · 08/12/2016 02:20

Actually, there was a line of mental health analyses that looked at childhood attachments to stuffed animals...I was earnestly asked why I had cut my bears arms off and re sewn them to make him feel better, and they positively frothed when they saw I'd cut his ears off, again " to make him feel better".
I have an ex with whom I am great friends still, and he has a private world of bear and monkey characters. It facilitated communication for him. He suffered greatly as a young boy, and I believe he made great advances through his stuffed animal 'friends '. Any relationship lasts by building friendship and private worlds. I believe the OP dp needs to gently tell his ex that bear is not holidaying with her anymore; he is His bear, and bear is thus part of private world built with op.
I really understand this situation, and I enjoyed your insight into your world with bear. Thank you. I hope Kevin returns from his adventures soon, and that bear stays for Christmas.

TheDowagerCuntess · 08/12/2016 02:21

God lord, the nix the teddy bear comments are light-hearted.

This is a thread about custody of a 20-year old bear, FFS - anyone taking this as seriously as the OP, DP and ex needs their head read.

PicardsCombOver · 08/12/2016 02:47

What kind of dark and fucked up place is the world if a person can't have an innocent but genuine love for a teddy bear without being ridiculed?
Just for solidarity, I'm Picard (recent namechange as there were 2 Admirals already) and I have a stuffed toy with clothes and a voice!

..to be upset that DP shares custody of his teddy bear with his ex?
Damselindestress · 08/12/2016 02:52

His ex needs to move on. She is just using the bear as an excuse to still see him and he doesn't realise that because he seems a bit immature. Nothing wrong with keeping a toy from his younger days as a keepsake but doing voices, talking about its personality, sending it on holidays and sharing custody? It's not a child. He has a child. He needs to grow up. Let him know it's weird.

Damselindestress · 08/12/2016 02:59

Sorry x-post. Glad you've established some boundaries.

Thisjustinno · 08/12/2016 03:00

I think you should all have Psychotherapy.

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