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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To expect more than a mumbled apology?

293 replies

Mamapuddlefluff · 30/12/2018 08:34

This is my first post, but I've been here for a long time. This may be rather long.

Yesterday was my daughters 8th birthday. She has been treated under CAMHS for the past year and a bit for anxiety and panic disirders and was discharged just before Christmas, which she is very proud of - it's been a tough year. Her birthday is the only thing she has looked forward to or been excited about in a very long time.

So all going well yesterday we take her out for lunch upon her request; me, my oh, ds and other dd plus my mum. Having a lovely time until my brother drops by as he's lost his key so wants to borrow my mums and drop it back. No problem. He comes back ans makes a snarky remark to my mum and is told to hold his whisht and carry on. My oh, however started a full blown argument in the restaurant with him. They do not get on, never have but there's no real reason except a clash of personality. My daughter starts crying as its her birthday and i tell my oh to stop as he's upsetting the kids.

My brother leaves and my oh is clearly fuming. The manager comes and asks is everything ok as my daughter is now v upset. I tell my oh calmly that whatever his issue is, now is not the time as its our girls birthday just calm down. I'm very quickly given a mouthful and told she is full of attitude she needs telling off not him - meaning our daughter who only told him to stop nothing else. He declares he may aswell go as he's clearly causing a problem.

We all leave and walk home, less than 10 minute walk. On this walk our daughter begs and pleads with her dad to not go anywhere, that she is sorry and she will do anything to resolve the argument. He gives her the front door keys and says I'll be back when I'm back. She literally crumples and is in bits as her main trigger for her anxiety is people leaving/dying. I tell him enough is enough and to stop can he not see what he's doing to her. I'm swiftly told to shut up and she wouldn't be like that but for me anyway and that i can take the kids and f**k off. He stalks off and thats that.

I talk the kids home and try my best to calm our daughter down and reassure her. My mum is aghast but busies herself helping with my other two kids. My oh turns up an hour or so later and goes to bed for a bit. I try to keep things as normal as possible for my daughter so play jigsaws with her until my oh comes down and demands i stop as he wanted to do it with her. My daughter tells him she wanted me to do it but he can help later. He gets all ragey and says that we're excluding him, but we weren't i just wanted my girl to have something to do to occupy her mind and give her something else to focus on. He then sits in a strop for the evening.

The evening carries on we have some party food. We have birthday cake and my mum gets ready to leave and he gives a general applogy for the way he acted. My mum tells him it should be more than that really and she leaves. My oh tells me my mum has no right in saying this its his house etc. He apologises to our daughter and the kids go to bed. He literally mumbles a sorry to me and goes to bed himself.

This isn't the first time he's acted like this. I think he owes us more than a mumbled sorry but more than that he needs to address his temper i think. Or AIBU?

If you've gotten to the end thankyou for reading. Xx

OP posts:
notapizzaeater · 30/12/2018 16:03

You've done the best thing for you and your family.

FrogFairy · 30/12/2018 16:30

Your daughter will never forget how her dad ruined her birthday.

She will also never forget how you reacted by getting her and her siblings away from this abuse.

Bluntness100 · 30/12/2018 16:31

I think it's one of the sadder things I've read on here. It s one thing to abuse an adult who elects to take it, but it's a whole other thing to know your own child's mental health issues, her triggers and to do this to her on her birthday.

I do hope you have left for good op, because, and I make no apologies for this, if you go back and knowingly put your child back into this then you too ar culpable.

Littletabbyocelot · 30/12/2018 16:45

You've done the right thing.

I was soo angry with my mum the day she threw my dad out. Within a couple of months I thought it was a big improvement and now I just wish it had been sooner.

This is an adult decision, for adults.

HelenUrth · 30/12/2018 16:49

Well done OP. Stay strong.

NotTheFordType · 30/12/2018 16:50

@KirstyAllsoppsFatterTwin

Perhaps a better way to phrase it would be
"Here's a chicken sandwich. It's 5% faeces content, is that okay?"
You wouldn't eat a sandwich that had shit in it, and you shouldn't accept a relationship that has any abuse in it.

Glad to hear your update OP. Nanas are fucking brilliant, aren't they? Hope you can work out a plan between you to stay strong and find a new place to live with your DC. Please do call Women's Aid as well, they can help you find specific support and advise on legal issues e.g. contact.

Please also contact CAMHS tomorrow as I think it's very likely your DD will need to access help again. You mentioned she was very proud to be signed off, so please reassure her that accessing their help is not going backwards, and that lots of people need help throughout their lives when times are difficult, and especially when people have been unkind.

BitOfANameChange · 30/12/2018 16:51

OP, this man is abusive and you need him gone for the sake of your DCs.

I took my DCs aand left my abusive ex, but I really, really should have left sooner. They are mid to late teens and both are riddled with anxiety and depression, one to the point of being suicidal at the beginning of this year. They are both getting better now, distance from the ex is helping massively as well as counselling. They have both chosen not to have any contact with him, and messages from him are all "me, me, me".

Please don't let it get to this stage. This man is NOT a fantastic dad. If he was, he would not be acting at all like this.

Get him gone.

Starlight456 · 30/12/2018 16:56

Co incidentally my exh said after I left due to his behaviour.

When he realised I had left I asked him what he expected to happen he said he would say sorry and it would go back to normal.

I think your dd is going to need a lot of reassurance this isn’t her fault.

I would turn your phone off have a. Nice evening with Nana

BitOfANameChange · 30/12/2018 16:57

I should have read all of it, but I'm glad to see your update, OP.

If I'd left when my DD was the age yours is now, I may have averted the worst of the MH issues my DCs have by working on them earlier.

I'm still a tiny bit scared of ex, I can't have a stand up row with him at all. We were all treading on eggshells.

I'd also be wary of any promises from him to change. My ex promised everything to me when I left, including marriage, something he always said he'd never do (I know, I know, I'd never make the same choice again).

But I know that if I went back, it would all be twisted around until he was the victim, and I the one to blame, and it would be 1000 times worse.

ibblebibbledibble · 30/12/2018 17:13

Good luck op, stay strong. Sounds like you’ve made the best decision of your life.

BookwormMe · 30/12/2018 17:15

Well done, OP. You are being an amazing mother to your children right now, removing them from such a toxic environment. Give your DD lots of reassurance that this has nothing to do with her or her birthday, but that it's been building up for a while and you decided to leave. She will thank you in the end. Flowers

Topseyt · 30/12/2018 17:26

Glad to see your most recent update.

Stay strong. Don't let him hook you back in with promises of change. If you go back he will treat you to more of the same, and worse.

A leopard never changes it's spots.

Keep reassuring your DD that this is not her fault. That you have been considering this and building up to it for a long time because of his abuse of all of you.

Pandaponda · 30/12/2018 17:50

Hello OP, I have been in your situation and I totally get how stuck you are. Leaving an abusive relationship is a process not an instant decision off the back of a mumsnet thread. PPs have suggested women’s aid. The helpline number is 0808 2000 247 24 h. You don’t have to be being hit to ring it - what you and your kids are going through is domestic abuse. Women’s Aid are brilliant at supporting women like you and they won’t pressure you to leave before you are ready to. They can put you in touch with local support services in your area. It took me 18 months - dealing with very similar behaviour to what you are describing. I ended up getting a court order to get my OH out. Things are not perfect but they are much much calmer. Start with women’s Aid and they will help you sort through your thinking. You can call them as often as needed. Good Luck.

Pandaponda · 30/12/2018 17:55

Sorry - just seen your update that you have left. You are a brilliantly strong woman. Please do contact women’s aid as they can help with next steps including potential court order if needed.

Armadillostoes · 30/12/2018 17:56

Well done OP! For your DD's sake, don't look back. You have been an amazing mother to get her out of a damaging situation. Don't let anything tempt you to take her back there.

hippoherostandinghere · 30/12/2018 17:58

God bless your Nanna. Keep strong.

GahWhatever · 30/12/2018 18:03

I'm not reading past page one as it's bringing up things from my own past I'd rather not. But this:
He does threaten to leave fairly often, it used to upset me but now I'm almost numb to it now.
Your eight year old's anxiety is based around people leaving and the fear of people leaving. She isn't numb to this. Let (make) him go.
I'm weeping for her, and you both. This is no way for her to live, walking on eggshells. Make the break and deal with the one-off repercussion of his leaving via CAMHS.

itsanewnameagain · 30/12/2018 18:16

Hope you're doing ok op. Get all the help and support you need to stay strong. Women's aid, freedom programme, your family & any friends. And don't be afraid to call the police if you feel threatened in any way.
Your H sounds like my dad - myself and my siblings walked on eggshells to avoid his aggressive outbursts all our lives.
DM threw him out once when I was about 12/13, but allowed him back again pretty quickly. When she finally left him a few years ago after 40 years of it, I asked why she'd let him come back that time, she said it was because I'd begged her to. I can believe this, as I was convinced that if my parents were ever to separate, there was no way my dad would have let dm have all the children (there were 5 of us), and that as the eldest, me & Db would be sent to live with him. I guess the reason I'm saying this is that even if your kids seem distraught by the separation, this is not a decision that it is appropriate for a child to make. You know that they will be better away from his despicable abusive behaviour.
Myself and my siblings didn't get away when we were young, and as a result never got to feel fully safe, secure, and at peace in our own home. As a result we have battled (and continue to) a range of mental health issues - addiction, eating disorders, ocd, depression, anxiety. Don't let this happen to your kids. And don't let what happened to my mum happen to you, she finally got away, but her life could have been so different had she not been controlled and abused by him.
Sending you Thanks

Minxmumma · 30/12/2018 18:29

I could have typed this myself a decade ago..... One of my twins ended up needing camhs support for her father's emotional abuse. As she grew older after we divorced she found the courage to tell him exactly what she thought. It wasn't pretty but a hard lesson he needed to learn.

Your strength and courage to walk away is the best gift you can give your children right now.

He will back pedal or get really defensive. Please document everything he says and does. In the mean time, phone off and relac in the safety of your Mum's.

GahWhatever · 30/12/2018 18:44

I read your update. I am so so happy that you have made a break for it. It won't be easy to make it stick. Please be strong. For yourself and your daughter, please see it through.

ohfourfoxache · 30/12/2018 19:42

I’m so relieved that you’re out. You - and your kids - deserve so much better.

ohfourfoxache · 30/12/2018 19:44

You might find this helpful btw

www.entitledto.co.uk

OoohAyyye · 30/12/2018 19:54

I never really gasp at threads but the way your OH reacted made me. What an awful father. OP I am so happy you've left with you're lovely children Flowers

Skinnyjeansandaloosetop · 30/12/2018 20:06

I have been there and understand completely what you are going through, but can say with real conviction you’ve done 100% the right thing. Best of luck to you and your DC. A new start for you all in 2019 Flowers

MrsTerryPratcett · 30/12/2018 20:07

Just remember when you feel weak or forget...

this man repeatedly threatened to leave a small child who suffers anxiety at the thought of it. He had no intention of leaving, just wanted to threaten it, over and over, even though he knew it caused his child pain.

Give Nana a big hug.