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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To be furious with DH over party

336 replies

SilverBirchTree · 03/01/2018 10:43

Been with DH for over 4 years and currently in the middle of our first ever fight.

We have 3 month old DS and it’s been a rocky few months. Massive trouble breast feeding, and health scares with the baby including an ER visit. In the same period of time we moved house and we now live in an area that is completely new to me and 30-45 minutes drive from family.

I have been looking forward to having him baptised. I was so worried and unwell myself at the time of his birth, so missed the initial joyful ‘the baby is here’ time. I saw his baptism as the event for me to quietly celebrate my beautiful baby and how far he’s come.

My mother lives down the street from our family church. We’ve had family weddings, funerals, baptisms there for decades. Mum offered to organise the baptism then serve tea and cake at her house afterwards. Perfect.

DH said no. He wanted the baptism to take place in our new community. He made a little speech about how we’re adults and we need to throw our own events, how his parents shouldn’t have to drive so far to get to it etc. He said he’d do most of the work. I very very reluctantly agreed to have it in our new area and host our parents and siblings at our new home.

Once it was booked DH tells me that actually he needs to invite all his aunts, uncles and cousins. A week later he says that tea and cake isn’t enough- it has to be a cooked lunch. And his grandparents are too old to eat on their laps so it has to be a sit down lunch. Plastic cups are no good, we have to rent glasses etc etc etc. meanwhile he has done sweet FA to make it happen. I even had to repeatedly remind him to tell his grandparents the time.

Then at Christmas he took to bed with a migraine. The reason - he is so stressed about the party, he won’t be able to ‘help’ anymore. It’s up to me. Oh, but his mother (a whole other story) will ‘help’ instead.

I’ve spent the week beside myself with stress (made worse by Baby induced lack of sleep). I am furious that he insisted we turn down my mum’s offer to host and then left me high and dry with his family’s demands and the mental load of trying to please them all.

Today I finally cracked and accused him ruining something that was important to me. We had a full argument with raised voices and me crying. He continued to spout his views about hosting our own events like a broken record, seemingly not caring that I’m the one doing to heavy lifting to meet his directives.

He’s now off sulking and probably texting his mother about how mean I am.

AIBU? Any advice on what to do now? I’m new to arguing with a spouse and not sure what happens when neither party is willing to apologise.

OP posts:
Mumsnut · 03/01/2018 15:26

My guess is that all this was about his jealousy of your parents. Having successfully taken the event out of their ambit, he has achieved all that he was interested in and is thus taking no further interest.

SilverBirchTree · 03/01/2018 15:32

Mumsnut, I think you’re onto something there. He has a real bee in his bonnet about my parents having had more of a ‘go’ with the baby than his parents because we stayed with my parents for 6 weeks after the baby was born. We were waiting for our house to be built and I was having a hard time and needed my mum’s help.

We now live much closer to his parents, who show up almost every day and stay for hours while he is at work. So I think any early inequality between our parents has been more than rectified.

But yes i think a big part of his ‘let’s get to know our own community’ spiel was motivated by him not wanting my mum to host.

He doesn’t even go to church himself.

OP posts:
Oraiste · 03/01/2018 15:40

You need to have a big talk with him next week about establishing your boundaries in your community. This also needs to include where almost daily visits from his family to you fit in because, you know, you'll be out getting to know your community, won't you? Wink

Are PIL looking after the baby when you go back to work? I would maybe rethink if this is a possible plan.

expatinscotland · 03/01/2018 15:45

'We now live much closer to his parents, '

Why am I not surprised. His tit for tat bollocks in very immature.

'But yes i think a big part of his ‘let’s get to know our own community’ spiel was motivated by him not wanting my mum to host. '

Of course it was. It was to get you to do exactly what he wanted: have the party he wanted, on his terms, with his mum running the show.

He's a wanker.

'We now live much closer to his parents, who show up almost every day and stay for hours while he is at work.'

Dear god.

Ohforfoxsakereturns · 03/01/2018 15:55

OP you can see what’s going on here yes?

You are going to need to set some very firm boundaries immediately, with your DH and your ILs.

If you don’t you will, I imagine, live with a brewing resentment.

You can see these red flags? Act on them.

Weezol · 03/01/2018 16:13

At some point in the future, please show your mum all the posts saying she sounds fab. And please could you ask her if I can use her cake idea? My lot would find it genuinely funny Grin

C8H10N4O2 · 03/01/2018 16:13

He doesn’t even go to church himself.

WTF? So what is this community he talks about? One he doesn't participate in himself?

GreenTulips · 03/01/2018 16:21

You need to stop those daily visits sharpish!

humansnowman · 03/01/2018 16:24

OP

If you really want to be vindictive and piss off the MIL serve up chick'n nuggets and sos rolls. Otherwise look for Frys/Vbites frozen food. The Cornish style pasties are pretty authentic. DH has been eating them for years and doesn't have a clue. It's all vegan and quite a lot is sold by Holland and Barrett.

MIL can stick that in her funnel and smoke it.

humansnowman · 03/01/2018 16:26

Or get a load of cupcakes iced with 'go forth and multiply

Suitably biblical and rude at the same time.

Dozer · 03/01/2018 16:40

Boundaries OP, boundaries. No new mother wants the in laws over so frequently, even if the in laws are otherwise brilliant, and these ones sound a PITA!

Make some changes immediately, eg so that they almost always come over when DH is present too.

I’m worried that you may have given up your job for this house move, which was a big personal risk. And now DH is behaving badly!

KERALA1 · 03/01/2018 16:54

Just no with the hot food. Its too hard. Oven faffing. Plates. Forks. Napkins. Where to sit. NO HOT FOOD!

Tea and cake. Sandwiches at a stretch - end of. Your DH sounds mental mine in the same circs would be desperately scaling back not upping the ante. I am a pretty experienced confident hoster and what he is suggesting is big for me now with primary kids certainly not appropriate for someone who has their first 4 month old baby to look after. Madness. If he's that bothered about hot food he can get his wallet out and pay caterers.

SchoolMoney · 03/01/2018 16:59

Another internet voice singing praise to your DM for her cake idea!!
Also we have very similar MILs. You know there's no life expectancy for those who don't have chicken every meal. I think on some level she tolerates me since as a vegetarian I won't be around long.
Make sure to find out exactly what she is bringing 'because X said they might pick up something on the way and they don't want to risk doubling up'.

Nanny0gg · 03/01/2018 16:59

We now live much closer to his parents, who show up almost every day and stay for hours while he is at work.

You need to start going out...

TheDevilMadeMeDoIt · 03/01/2018 17:02

So putting the baptism party issue to one side for a minute OP......whose idea was it to move to somewhere that just happened to be further away from your parents and much closer to his. And why?

Did he get a better job in the area?

Will it make you picking up your career more difficult?

I have a nasty feeling that you are just beginning to see the real him. The one who wants you under the thumb, with him and his parents and wider family centre stage while your family are sidelined to be a smaller and smaller part of your life.

I sincerely hope I'm wrong.

justforthisthread101 · 03/01/2018 17:03

^^ What Nanny0gg said.

Cantuccit · 03/01/2018 17:18

We now live much closer to his parents, who show up almost every day and stay for hours while he is at work.

Sorry OP, but he sounds a smug, arrogant mummy's boy.

He gets to leave the house while you play host to his parents for hours on end.

He begrudges you having a Christening at your family church (when he doesn't even go to church) in a game of one-upmanship with your parents.

The more you post, the more I dislike him.

Please don't tell me his parents have a key?

YouTheCat · 03/01/2018 17:31

I'd definitely be going out very often around the times they usually turn up.

CauliflowerSqueeze · 03/01/2018 17:43

Oh I really really want to come to your party and sit at the side and watch the dynamics.

Please? I could bring some nuggets and my own paper plate?

CauliflowerSqueeze · 03/01/2018 17:44

Who else wants to come? We could masquerade as People from the Community?

GummyGoddess · 03/01/2018 17:55

You need to start going out as everyone has mentioned, is there something like BusyLizzy or similar where you are? Children and family centres? Then there's classes or groups every day you can go to so you're not stuck in the house with them all day.

AgathaF · 03/01/2018 20:13

They turn up ever day and stay for hours??? Are you happy with this? If not, what are you going to do about it?

It seems to me that there are some behaviours going on here that need nipping in the bud sharpish.

SilverBirchTree · 03/01/2018 20:39

Would love it if you all came along! We could all have a wine with my Mum.

We moved here because he and his parents bought a block of land here. They’ve spent 3 years developing it, and his parents basically gave him a huge amount of equity in it for free. So there is a sense that the house is ‘their’ house. And yes they have a key. They also approach via the glass doors leading into the garden so they can always see if I am home or not.

I’ve been meaning to say something about the frequency of the visits but I was hoping it was only happening because we just moved in. Also I thought the novelty of seeing the baby might wear off over time. Then I didn’t want to upset anyone before Christmas...

The comments here are spot on though. I really need to do something about it. When the dust settles on this I will say that one visit during the week is plenty. It messes up the baby’s napping and my day in general when we have to stop what we are doing and host them.

OP posts:
SilverBirchTree · 03/01/2018 20:49

@SchoolMoney they sound very similar! When did people start thinking they needed meat at every sitting or it’s not a real meal?

I ordered sandwiches with meat in them anyway, but of course there needs to be multiple kinds of meat at this 2 hour event or our guests will fall to the ground withering in agony for lack of iron.

OP posts:
Figrollsnotfatrolls · 03/01/2018 20:50

Maybe there will be a suspected burglary nearby and you can fence /gate /lock all the back way to your doors? Toddler groups /library /swimming - op you need to be unavailable!!