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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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MommaGee · 09/12/2016 16:44

Agree middle it was never the ex's bear, she needs to bog off and get her own bf and bear

SaltyBitch · 09/12/2016 16:47

I think it's just to get her to go away middle

SENPARENT · 09/12/2016 16:53

Time to buy him some sunglasses and some swim shorts. You think he doesn't have these already, SENPARENT? He has golf clubs and a graduation outfit: of course he has swimming trunks and sunglasses!

I meant of course it was time to buy new ones. After all I'm sure you don't keep taking your old tat on holiday.

I can't believe you don't wash Bear every time he comes back from his holidays with the ex. Yuck!

He needs to have something nasty and sticky spilt on him so he has to have a wash. Not only will Bear smell better but you'll remove any lingering traces of the sad ex too. She really needs to get a life. A new one.

Touchmybum · 09/12/2016 17:09

I can't bear any more!

Butterymuffin · 09/12/2016 17:14

Middle simply so that it will end and we can all get on with our lives.

Bluewombler2k · 09/12/2016 17:20

What I'do like to know is how come Bear looks so good after 20 years, especially with all of that travelling? DS's bear (Teddy) is only 7 and looks like an octogenarian!!

..to be upset that DP shares custody of his teddy bear with his ex?
Bluewombler2k · 09/12/2016 17:20

What I'do like to know is how come Bear looks so good after 20 years, especially with all of that travelling? DS's bear (Teddy) is only 7 and looks like an octogenarian!!

..to be upset that DP shares custody of his teddy bear with his ex?
BearProblems · 09/12/2016 17:43

Blewtrews - that doesn't surprise me at all. The only thing that surprises me is that Bear was responsible enough to get tested. Of course, he does indeed have a santa outfit, but that has gone with him on holiday.

I think Bear looks at least as old as Phyllis, despite being a decade younger. I must have used a filter on that photo of him.

I do think it's time that Bear had a wash. I could give him a bubble bath in the sink, as he may fall apart in the washing machine. (I'm aware that some of you will think that wouldn't be a bad thing.)

OP posts:
T00ManyB00ks · 09/12/2016 17:49

What the fuck did I just read?

Bluewombler2k · 09/12/2016 17:58

I like the name Phyllis

..to be upset that DP shares custody of his teddy bear with his ex?
Bluewombler2k · 09/12/2016 18:00

Oops, sorry. I didn't mean to post another photo, Teddy just wants to be seen I think. Oh Jeez, now I'm doing the stuffed toy personification.

sparklybluelights · 09/12/2016 18:01

You may think it's all funny now but what is actually happening is that the bear is just a way for your dp to keep a connection to his ex.

Lots of posters have said the same.
Seriously OP, has the thought never crossed your mind?
We can see that the Bear is a means of mainting an emotional attatchement.

sparklybluelights · 09/12/2016 18:02

maintaining an emotional attachment with his ex. It's a way of keeping in contact with her.

Poppypoochischristmascrackered · 09/12/2016 18:23

Bluewombler Grin

ShowMePotatoSalad · 09/12/2016 18:25

Jesus H...

You know how tough step family life can be right? The financial and emotional difficulties, the jealousies, the arguments. But you get on with it for the sake of the kids.

Why would your DP and his ex needlessly orchestrate this kind of situation...with a sodding teddy?

My mind is well and truly blown.

Shock
bemusedmoose · 09/12/2016 19:30

sorry but that is freaky weird!! No way would that be going on with a partner of mine and no way would I do it either!! Bear is a bear, not a kid and doesn't need shared ownership.

My ex husband had a bottom drawer full of cards and gifts from exs that he had the cheek to bring with him when we moved in - I flipped, he said I was mental, I said it wasn't normal, he said it was nothing. It felt like one of those weird things serial killers do - keeping tokens from victims. Never kept one thing of mine the whole time we were together. He turned out to be a massive nutter and abuser, stole a whole bunch of my stuff and sold then when I left - he took my diary!! (must be with all those other ex things!)
I would get rid of he bear or the partner! Maybe both!

VoldemortsNipple · 09/12/2016 19:48

Seriously, all these dp bashing comments are getting boring now.

OP has admitted that her dp probably felt a bit guilty at the time about splitting up so offered the bear to stay to make ex feel better. Okay, this is a bit strange but maybe he was just trying to be a nice guy.

She also agreed that the ex might still have feelings for her dp.

After talking to the dp, he has agreed that it has to stop and will tell the ex once his bear is safely back home.

Everything else on this thread has been light hearted fun, as I'm sure it is in OPs house. Ffs I've just tied an elf to a polystyrene aeroplane and hung it from the light shade, despite my youngest child being 14. Get me a straight jacket and lock me up for being delusional

FruitCider · 09/12/2016 19:54

Nothing wrong with teddies! I sleep with one every night (apart from the nights my child wants him!) , I'm in my 30s and I have had the teddy since I was born. I've slept with him almost every night that I've been alive so far.

But the ex needs to go. Sharpish. And that's coming from a crazy teddy woman!

BuntyFigglesworthSpiffington · 09/12/2016 20:02

So are you playing along with this teddy bear malarkey because you know it was/is such a big thing between him and his ex? Or are you genuine enchanted by the imagined life of a soft toy?

I don't think his continuing this with his ex was a 'nice guy' thing. Sounds more like a 'secretive guy' thing to me. And we're all entitled to our opinions on AIBU 👍

Smithy66 · 09/12/2016 20:26

I think you all need professional help!

pangolina · 09/12/2016 20:34

Not really fair to mark the ex as the weird or crazy one...yes DP may have felt bad about their breakup, but that seems to have been over THREE YEARS AGO.
He is keeping this going just as much as she is. I would have no interest in maintaining this arrangement with my ex however bad I felt.
It seems to me he wanted to keep the link and has only agreed to stop because really, how could he insist on maintaining it after this thread?

ephemeralfairy · 09/12/2016 20:51

I have found my people!! I have a foul-mouthed, sleazy bumptious polar bear. He has a son too and they fancy themselves like the Vinnie Jones character and his son in Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. He has his own Twitter account.

..to be upset that DP shares custody of his teddy bear with his ex?
HistoriaTrixie · 09/12/2016 20:54

What...I...is...um....I just can't.

Seriously, OP, are you absolutely positive that 'giving her the bear' isn't some sort of....euphemism?

MommaGee · 09/12/2016 21:02

Oh ephemeral I need to follow him on twitter!

Mamagin · 09/12/2016 21:27

OP, you sound brilliant and your DP should cherish you as much as he cherishes Bear. (Has Phyllis cashed the cheque yet?)
I volunteer for a highly paid post with Mumsnet to delete all the duplicate posts from miserable cahs who can't be arsed )or in this case ursed) to read the full account.

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