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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To not want him to come home?

122 replies

thesearch · 25/01/2019 08:11

The minute my husband walks in the door from work he starts packing stuff away or tidying up.
I wouldn't mind if it was helpful and the kids and I had moved on to another game. But, he will pack away what we are doing.
The most recent example. The kids are I were having a picnic and riding skateboards in the garden. He got home, packed up the muffins and started putting away the skateboards.
I've had many calm discussions asking him to stop doing this. Nothing has changed.

AIBU to be annoyed?

OP posts:
thesearch · 25/01/2019 11:37

@Namestheyareachangin why are you still there?

OP posts:
userschmoozer · 25/01/2019 11:38

Can you compromise and have one tidy room that he can relax in, and push him to get therapy?

thesearch · 25/01/2019 11:43

@userschmoozer no. He's even annoyed if our kids leave a spot of toothpaste in the sink. I am over living with his unrealistic standards. I want my own house where I can be happy.

OP posts:
Lifeisabeach09 · 25/01/2019 11:46

You'd definitely be happier on your own, in your own space.
Ask him to leave, establish a co-parenting agreement, see a solicitor.

So many women put up with this shit when they don't have to.

hellsbellsmelons · 25/01/2019 11:49

That sounds like a good plan OP.
Is it do-able for you?
Will finances stretch to 2 households?
If so then start making your plans.
Imagine how happy you will be.
No walking on eggshells.
No dreading the front door opening.
No running around doing things to HIS standards.
No conflicting parenting.
Eat what you want
When you want
Watch what you want
Go to bed leaving things out to sort out 'tomorrow'
Go to bed when you want
No snoring
No bed sharing - it will be all yours
Your own space decorated how you want it
Your own taste in furnishings
FREEEEEEEDOM!!!!!!!!

thesearch · 25/01/2019 11:52

@hellsbellsmelons
That sounds like absolute heaven. I could be happy again.

OP posts:
Namestheyareachangin · 25/01/2019 11:55

@thesearch

Not sure really. Various reasons. I do love him in some ways and see much to admire in him (the traits that make him difficult to live with also make him a very capable, organised and high-achieving, dedicated and interesting person - he knows a lot about a lot, highly educated, has had a book published and is working on another proposal, plays and writes music... there are reasons I was and am still attracted to him).

He is the father of my child; a good one in his own way, a bad one in others but in some ways our respective neuroses balance each other out. Together we can give her a lot of time, a lot of love, a good standard of living. On my own I would struggle to do as much. Also I would have to give him full responsibility for her when he had access, which I wouldn't like as I don't trust some of his family.

I want another child, and a sibling for my daughter, and I don't want them to have separate fathers or for my daughter to have a stepfather and feel like an outsider in our family home set up. He also wants another child.

A lot of the things we do want and value are the same - home, family, holidays, savings, we see eye to eye on a lot of what matters.

Much of the damage being done to me is about my response to him, which is exaggerated because of a dificult upbringing.

Finally, my mum committed suicide this summer (it was around summer I was really starting to think I couldn't bear him any more) and he has been sensitive, helpful and kind. He has helped me. I wouldn't have liked to face a life trauma like that on my own. It made me feel like we had a real relationship again. And I also think making big decisions while still processing this trauma isn't wise.

But no, I am not happy with things. They could be better, for me and my daughter. But questing after impossible levels of perfection is exactly what drives me mad about him!

Namestheyareachangin · 25/01/2019 11:56

For balance though, everything Hellsbellsmelons says above is absolutely true, I dream of it too sometimes, and if you want to and have the means and the strength to do it you definitely should. xx

thesearch · 25/01/2019 12:02

I don't have the finances to keep the house by myself. The kids and I would have to rent something a lot smaller.
But I'm totally okay with something smaller. Right now I'd live in a shed just to not have to deal with his negativity.

OP posts:
thesearch · 25/01/2019 12:06

We have an autistic daughter.
Today he told me that she doesn't have autism as she's not in a wheelchair and slurring etc.
I am horrified etc on so many levels that I don't even know where to start.

OP posts:
SilverySurfer · 25/01/2019 12:10

OP, I don't know how you live with this person. It's so easy for posters to diagnose OCD when, in fact, he could just be a twat.

Have you tried doing the same to him? If he is reading a book, take it and put it back on bookshelf, if he's watching tv I would turn it off and take the remote, if he's playing on X-box, if I was mad enough I would cut off the plug.

He's controlling and I'm not surprised you're sick of it.

SuperLoudPoppingAction · 25/01/2019 12:13

If she has a diagnosis of autism,they don't give them out like sweets tbh.
That kind of attitude could be a real barrier.
(I have autism so could be biased. Also haven't noticed autistic people slurring.)

DrinkFeckArseGirls · 25/01/2019 12:17

If your DD has a diagnosis of autism, it’s not a stretch that one of her parents could have the same condition...

user1471590586 · 25/01/2019 12:23

I'll probably be shot down for this but I'm just wondering. Sometimes autism runs in families, I believe my son is autistic (early stage of diagnosis pathway) and I often wonder if anyone else in our family might be. Could it be possible that he has a mild version and him cleaning is a coping mechanism from sensory overload. I just wonder now he is denying that your child has autism. Could it be that he suspects he might be on the spectrum himself and is in denial about it by saying someone must have some physically visible disabilities to be autistic?

Or, I'm probably talking rubbish and he is just annoying.

hellsbellsmelons · 25/01/2019 12:23

I could be happy again
Oh OP - we all deserve to be happy.
Please make it happen for you and your DC.
I'm not sure what you do about your DD.
I know a good few autistic people.
Could you arrange for her to meet some in your area so she knows that actually, most aren't in wheelchairs or slurry all the time.
Bless her. Is your DH telling her this?
And I agree with PP, your DH could be autistic too.

Idontbelieveinthemoon · 25/01/2019 12:29

We have an autistic daughter. Today he told me that she doesn't have autism as she's not in a wheelchair and slurring etc.
I am horrified etc on so many levels that I don't even know where to start.

OP you know without anyone picking apart your words that this is deeply, deeply wrong and vile of him. You know how much damage he's going to be doing to your DC. You know you need to start by seeking legal advice and moving from there. You cannot and will not ever be happy living with someone so revolting, but worse than that, your DC will learn that unhappiness is the norm. Please don't let them grow up believing that marriage and love equals unhappiness and unkindness.

SuperLoudPoppingAction · 25/01/2019 12:36

'Or, I'm probably talking rubbish and he is just annoying.'

You can be autistic and also an arsehole. T isn't an excuse to be controlling.

A tendency to want to control your environment is definitely possible with autism. It's the sort of thing that might be helped with a diagnosis and some talking therapy and/or medication.
Not denial and abusive behaviour.

SuperLoudPoppingAction · 25/01/2019 12:36

T = it

hellsbellsmelons · 25/01/2019 12:47

Wow just re-read and HE said that about his OWN autistic daughter.
That's a LTB right there!

ReanimatedSGB · 25/01/2019 20:51

OK, time to start making plans to get rid of him - either you move out and take DC with him or you tell him to leave. Have a chat with Women's Aid about what would be the best way forward for someone in your circumstances - what benefits you might get, whether you could force the sale of the house if he decides to make thinks difficult etc. But you and DC matter more than this prick's feelings. He's not considering yours.

CheshireChat · 25/01/2019 22:13

Realistically, you don't need to make excuses to break up a relationship even without something particularly terrible happening, relationships can break down. So if you're genuinely unhappy, then start looking at how you can separate.

I certainly couldn't live with someone like him.

babysharkah · 25/01/2019 23:04

Oh op, bar your daughter with autism my husband is exactly the same and it does my fucking head in. His negativity is so draining. He never just has fun with the kids, he's like a drill sergeant as soon as he gets in. It's so boring.

Firesuit · 25/01/2019 23:21

I think I am him. Except I only have one child, and I don't clean up the mess, I just live in a permanent state of distress and unexpressed rage at being forced to live with it.

It's not OCD to want to live in a clean and tidy house. OCD is just a term of abuse used by people with lower standards to justify why theirs should prevail. Of course tidy people feel distress at mess, if they didn't there would be no reason to tidy.

I'm willing to bet that the hypothetical "MH problem" would cease to exist if he lived alone or with someone with very similar standards. A "MH problem" that only exists when you're with particular people is not a MH problem.

I agree that no-ones standards are right, it's pointless to frame it in terms of right and wrong. Where incompatible people live together, they will both be distressed by each other. Probably they should stop living together. (But if you are going to do something about it, it's easier for the person whose behaviour is a problem to do something about it than it is for the person whose feelings are a problem. To use an analogy, it's easier for a noisy person to stop making a noise than it is for the person bothered by the noise to learn not to dislike it.)

SuperLoudPoppingAction · 25/01/2019 23:39

But...
Cakes at a picnic aren't a mess.

givemesteel · 26/01/2019 01:08

The issue is that he is treating you and your kids like objects he can control. I'm betting that if his boss' kids were in the office playing he wouldn't go and tidy their toys away no matter how much noise they were making.

You need to have another chat about your marriage and tell him you're no longer willing to be treated like a vassal or for the kids to be. He needs to learn to control his behaviour or get external help. There needs to be an immediate noticable improvement and evidence he is seeking help.

If he doesn't improve you should ltb.

By the way, my dad had some of the behaviour of your husband, though not as bad. He would make us very anxious if there was mess and no level of tidiness would make him happy, even if we tried to tidy up. Like you, I waa always happier in the house when he wasn't there.

Both my sibling and I are quite anxious individuals and I believe that's largly why so I urge you to either demand a change or leave as the situation is very damaging for your children and their mental health. It's teaching them that they don't matter, that having fun is wrong and that they can't live up to their father's standards.

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