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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU To not accept his apology

48 replies

MrsMumScotland · 10/09/2017 10:05

Sorry for long post or poor thread etiquette. I'm new on here and not sure how it works.

I've been with dh for 24 years and married for 16. We usually get on very well but we had marital difficulties in the past when I lost dear family members to cancer a couple of years ago. The grief at that time was absolutely overwhelming and led to me having a nervous breakdown and quitting my job due to stress but dh gave me very little to no emotional support at that time saying he doesn't do emotions. He seemed to switch off from me and although he financially supported me, it felt as though he'd just turned away from me when I needed him most. During that time we came very close to splitting up because he simply shrugged his shoulders and left me to it, emotionally. I also caught him and a 'friend' of mine holding hands at that time and, although he said it was nothing and I was being ridiculous to be upset about it, it cut me deeply because he refuses to hold my hand ever when we are out or do anything romantic for or with me. We have no hobbies together; he runs and so do I but he absolutely point blank refuses to come out on a run with me, preferring to run indoors on a treadmill. Most weekends I'm alone while he goes to watch football and if he's not working or at football and we have free time together it usually involves having a drink. I've asked him time and again if we can do something other than drinking and he will make an effort to take me to the cinema a couple of times but after a while it'll revert back to just going to the pub. He really enjoys a drink and if he could, if it was not for work commitments and requirements to stay within a legal limit, he would drink everyday day and night. But, when he gets drunk he can often be very obnoxious towards me.

On a practical level, he is amazing, a dream husband, as he does more than his share around the house and he will often ensure that my dinner is ready and on the table when I'm coming home. Financially, he has a very secure job, I now work part time but rely on him to pay the mortgage and bills. He controls all the finances although we have a joint account that I can access. Socially, everyone loves him as he's such a charmer and he gets on well with everyone he meets.

At the moment there's a crisis in dh's family as FIL has just been diagnosed the other day with an illness which will most likely give him just a few years left of life and he will be dealing with quite unpleasant symptoms. So we all need to help out. On hearing this, dh immediately went to be with his dad and rightly so. Of course, this involved taking his dad to the pub - he said it was only to be for 1hr - I had errands to run and I offered to drive them there and come back and get them, which I did. But, when I went to pick them up it turned into a couple of hrs of me watching them drinking whisky and dh getting louder and louder and more aggressive.

When we were eventually in the car and on the way home dh started the usual behaviour of being obnoxious towards me, angry face, passive aggressive with arms folded, when we came home, he continued to ignore me. Silent wall. Tbh I was tired and fed up at that point so I put all the drink in the house down the sink as I knew he would just start in on drinking all of that. He's done this before.

So, that's where we are at. Not speaking, he's sleeping in the spare room. He did try to apologise and asked if we could just forget it all. But, we've been here before and I feel that he needs to genuinely apologise (I don't know how) and change his ways to ensure this sort of behaviour towards me won't happen again. He thinks IBU. I'm hurt and I don't have the strength to take the emotional detachment anymore. I think I want to leave him.

AIBU to not accept his apology? Or am I being a complete selfish b*^#h, given that he's upset about his dad?

OP posts:
gamerpigeon · 10/09/2017 10:13

I think you should accept the apology but YANBU about the drinking. That's no way to cope with anything in the long term.

Ultimately two wrongs don't make a right. If you love him and want to stay with him despite all the problems you have had you shouldn't withdraw your emotional support from him just because he did it to you.

Good luck OP x

ChasedByBees · 10/09/2017 10:15

I think wanting to leave him seems a reasonable response to all of that.

2beesornot2beesthatisthehoney · 10/09/2017 10:19

An apology when you are still half cut does not seem to me like a genuine apology.
It is sad that his father is ill but it seems to me that he is using alcohol as an emotional stick ( for someone who apparently doesn't do emotion) and that that might be a learnt behaviour if they both resorted to getting drunk.
I think a genuine apology would involve getting help with what seems to be an addiction although not a fully alcoholic.
Lots of Flowers OP

BarbarianMum · 10/09/2017 10:21

Good. Because he is treating you poorly (for a long time) and you sound miserable with him. If you left I think you would be happier.

You do not need to stay because his dad is ill, sad though that might be.

AdalindSchade · 10/09/2017 10:21

Surely you are asking him to become a completely different person? He could quit drinking but he'd still be an emotionally cold, selfish, boring man who doesn't consider your wishes or interests important!

SisterhoodisPowerful · 10/09/2017 10:23

Please leave him. You deserve so much better than this.

Shadow666 · 10/09/2017 10:25

It's the fact that you called it his usual behaviour that worries me.

He pays the bills and helps around the house but beyond that doesn't offer you emotional support or friendship, and actually sounds quite nasty. He's a drunk. His father being sick is irrelevant. You deserve a man who is caring and loving.

Cambionome · 10/09/2017 10:25

I am just astonished that you can refer to him in your post as a "dream husband"!!! I know you are only talking about certain aspects of your lives here, but this man is a selfish, unkind and financially controlling.

It is awful that he now has the sad business of his father's illness, but the fact that he gave you absolutely no support in a similar situation would be the line in the sand for me.

How much more of your life are you going to spend with someone who is so unkind to you? As for the drinking, refusing to hold your hand, holding another woman's hand... words fail me.

I really wouldn't accept his apology. I don't think he gives a shit about you. Sad

SendintheArdwolves · 10/09/2017 10:26

An apology is meaningless without the three essential components:

A sincere acknowledgement of why what they did wrong
A sincere acknowledgement of the hurt they caused
A sincere promise not to repeat the mistake in the future.

Has he done that? If he's just "apologised" so that he doesn't have to suffer any consequences, then it's not really meaningful, is it?

You have to decide OP - are you happy to live like this?

ScarletForYa · 10/09/2017 10:26

He's not going to change, this is who he is OP.

He's not a dream husband, he's an abusive alcoholic prick. You're walking on eggshells.

laureywilliams · 10/09/2017 10:40

A dream husband?

He sounds like a nightmare.

Is this illness going to be the reason for awful behaviour for the next few years? I'd leave him.

RaspberryOverload · 10/09/2017 10:41

OP, you do need to leave. I had someone similar to this, and I left. It's only been a few weeks, but I already feel lighter and closer to the "old me" than I have for a long time.

Don't feel as if you have to stay, just because his dad is ill. Because then, there'll be another reason why you can't leave, and so on.

EternalOptimistToo · 10/09/2017 10:42

He didn't apologise though. He just wants you to forget about it and move in.
An apology would mean really understanding how much he hurt you, how his behaviour isn't acceptable. And feeling actually sorry for what he did.

I'm not getting that from your post.

SabineUndine · 10/09/2017 10:44

Have you got DC? I'm wondering why you have stayed with him so long.

AnnieAnoniMouse · 10/09/2017 10:44

I think wanting to leave him is a very reasonable reaction to his behaviour.

He won't get any better, but he will get worse.

I think you should leave now as the older you get, the harder it will be to leave.

I'm really sorry he was so horrible when you needed him most 🌷

Grimbles · 10/09/2017 10:44

Carrying on doing the same shit makes any apologies worthless imo. If he was truly sorry he wouldn't keep doing it.

pennysnow · 10/09/2017 10:44

Agree with previous posters... He is not a DREAM husband. He is a fucking asshole.

He is selfish and self centred, he thinks the world revolves around him, he flirts with other women and thinks it's OK, he is unloving and gives you no emotional support, and he thinks his only duty is to provide financially. Sadly, some men do think like this, and many women put up with it 'because he is a good husband otherwise,' or because 'he is a great dad!' (Why are they always a great dad?!) Hmm

What they mean is he speaks to the kids more than once a week!

You need to look at what you are getting out of this marriage. Doesn't sound like much to me. I would look into separating for a while.

BewareOfDragons · 10/09/2017 10:48

He didn't apologize. He just wants to pretend it didn't happen and move on so it can happen again and again and again.

You're married to an alcoholic, by the sounds of it. An aggressive alcoholic who uses alcohol as an excuse to treat your poorly. Someone who can't do 'emotions' or be there for you, but can hold your friend's hand when she needs it?

Yeah, right.

Free yourself. xx

MrTrebus · 10/09/2017 10:54

Sorry but what are you getting from this relationship? Please don't stay with someone because he does housework and pays the bills, you are worth more than this bloke.

Grimbles · 10/09/2017 10:58

Yeah, it's great he participates in keeping him own home clean, and puts the dinner on (because, yaknow, he's there and you're not).

Doesn't really elevate him to sainthood though - that's normal behaviour, not a plus point to balance out against the shittyness.

Gemini69 · 10/09/2017 10:58

he sounds Horrendous to live with OP Flowers

and why was he hand holding with your 'alleged' friend ???? Shock

viques · 10/09/2017 11:00

He is an alcoholic. Accept that you will never change him, both the drinking and the behaviour. Accept that unless he decides to stop drinking he will ever change, either the drinking or the behaviour. Accept that even if he changed the drinking the behaviour could stay the same. Accept that at the moment you, his dad, your home, his job, any financial security you might have , his health and his behaviour towards you are all secondary to his body's need for alcohol.

Once you understand this you will know what you need to do to protect your own mental and physical health.

DamnDeDoubtanceIsSpartacus · 10/09/2017 11:16

I imagine that he will want you to provide support to him even though he withdrew his support when you needed it. I would leave, you will have a chance of happiness if you do.

Sugarpiehoneyeye · 10/09/2017 11:18

He isn't going to change, whilst it is very sad that his DF is ill, he will more than likely use alcohol more.
You have put up with enough, things are unlikely to improve.💐

Jaxhog · 10/09/2017 11:19

He sounds like a man who struggles with managing his emotions. So he avoids them as far as he can. This is who he is. He probably drinks to help him cope with those emotions. He won't change.

You have to decide whether you can continue to live with this.