Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Being horrid to my DH

25 replies

AverageHuman · 30/01/2019 17:47

DH cheated on me and I found out a few months back. We are making a go of things but I’m just still so angry and I’m rarely nice to him. Things remind me about it and I can’t help but be difficult about things or make comments that relate to it. There are some things I’ve asked him to do to rebuild trust and some are done but not yet for (for reasons beyond his control). I’m still trying to get my head around why he did it and he just says he was really stupid.

AIBU? Anyone been in this position and how long did the angry feelings last?

OP posts:
RightOh · 30/01/2019 17:50

I'm really sorry, I don't think I could overcome such a betrayal of trust. Can totally understand your anger, but that will end up corroding the relationship anyway.

Can you seek couple counselling? I think you need professional advice and guidance. Good luck Flowers

Fatasfook · 30/01/2019 17:51

I would never recover from this.

TheyCalledHerPatience · 30/01/2019 17:54

I'm in a similar position but for less time than you. I feel like if I can't let go of the anger and resentment then I'll know it's irreparable. I want to try and work it out (I know not everyone can understand that) but I've set myself a time limit. If I can't stop throwing it back in his face then that's as much of a problem as if he continues to betray my trust. It won't work, it's not worth it.
I plan to give us a year to try

Escumator · 30/01/2019 17:56

Youll never get over it. I tried for 6 years. The trust has gone

babyno5 · 30/01/2019 18:08

I'm a year and a half in and I'm struggling to get over it. Feel like it's always simmering. I think ultimately it will break us.
I wish I could be more positive for you xx💐💐

KurriKurri · 30/01/2019 18:14

A few months is not long - allow yourself time before you ultimately decide whether you want to stay with him or not, keep in your head the option that you can leave if you want to - he's the one who needs to be making an effort. I think men sometimes think cheating is just 'sleeping with another woman' and that once they stop doing that things can start to get better. But actually it is so much more

There's the deception - all the times they lied to you - how easily they lied.
The feeling that thye may have betrayed your private life to the OW - talked about you, bad mouthed you whatever.
The fact that they deliberately and knowingly did something that they knew would cause you huge harm and terrible hurt, they thought about that but did it anyway.
That they were willingly to lose you (and wreck your family if you have children) so you know that ultimately you aren;t the most important thing in their lives.
It is that awful sick feeling when someone has betrayed you, that someone you thought was the person who loved you most has treated you so shamefully and nastily, without a care for your feelings. That is a massive divide the knowledge that they could do that terrible thing to you and takes a huge amount of getting past.
And of course there is also the sex with someone else, but for most women I've talked to it is the emotional more than the physical betrayal that is so hard to get past.

I couldn't get past it with my XH - I knew I wouldn;t be able to trust him and I knew that if we stayed together we would both be miserable - I wouldn;t trust him, he would feel watched and untrusted. It was broken beyond all repair.

You are entitled to as much time as you need to sort through your feelings, and if he wants to commit to your relationship he needs to understand and acknowledge that, to truly understand the depth of the damage he has done.

You say you are rarely nice - that's unsurprising - he was phenomenally horrible to you, you don't owe him niceness, you are trying to give it a go that's really more than he deserves.

I would aim for keeping things civil, in an everyday sense - so try not to argue about pointless things, but let him know that it will take you time to get through the deep anger you feel and he needs to be patient. Trust and respect has to be earned - it doesn't just return because he isn't sleeping with OW now. He needs to prove he can be trusted, and for me the important hting was that my X acknowleded and respected my feelings and actually 'got' how betrayed I felt. sadly he never did and we went our separate ways.

I hope things turn out better for you, but don't be told what you are allowed or not allowed to feel, listen to your feelings and allow yourself whatever time you need to work through them - there aren't any rules about how fast it has to happen (or if it happens). And you may very well find it is one step forwards two steps back for a while - its not a smooth road.

AverageHuman · 30/01/2019 18:25

Setting a time limit is a good idea. It’s all very well wanting to try in theory but not if it doesn’t work in reality.

KurriKurri yes that’s it, DH does not really seem to feel any proper remorse or empathy. I wonder if on some level he has justified it because I haven’t given him much (any?!?!) attention since the kids came along. He denies it, it’s just my hunch coz I can’t get my head around why he doesn’t seem more sorry.

OP posts:
AverageHuman · 30/01/2019 18:27

I feel so sad reading posts from others in this situation

OP posts:
AverageHuman · 30/01/2019 18:32

Maybe we do need counselling. Doesn’t seem like anyone really recovers from it Sad

OP posts:
Passing4Human · 30/01/2019 18:35

Hi OP, I have a friend who worked through this (they're together now still 15 years later and happy) but it took a couple of years for the anger to subside and she says it was only when they went to couple counselling that she felt she was really starting to work through it. She said that counselling pushed him into facing up properly to what he'd done as he hadn't realised the level to which he'd hurt her.

I have another friend who is still with her husband decades after he was unfaithful just a year into their marriage. She still gets incredibly angry when she talks about it (I never see her get like this about anything else). Part of it I think is that at the time she had to pretty much beg him to go to counselling as he seemed certain that he wanted to end their marriage. Eventually he agreed to go and they worked through it but I think that his indecision and uncertainty about them staying together when it happened stays with her. All the "what ifs". TBH I find him a quite arrogant in other ways and a lot depends on what the person is like and whether this one appalling thing they did outweighs all the good stuff before (assuming that hopefully there is a lot of good stuff).

KM99 · 30/01/2019 18:38

You are angry (rightly so) because you aren't ready to forgive and move on. It sounds like there are things you need to hear and maybe to happen before you get there. Maybe take a pause and spend some time thinking about what you want.

AverageHuman · 30/01/2019 21:03

Thank you @Passing4human. This is good to know.

@km99 yes I think you are right.

OP posts:
Igotthemheavyboobs · 30/01/2019 21:06

Personally Op, I couldn't get over that betrayal and I would be acting in the same way, if not worse. We would end up splitting but I would be made out to be the 'bad guy'.

If you can't get over it and move on, you need to leave for your sake. I wish you the best of luck though, whatever you decide. Flowers

LostwithSawyer · 30/01/2019 21:10

Leave.
I've been there. 7 years ago, we worked through it, went to counselling and even moved away for a fresh start.
8 months ago I found our hed done it again.
No getting over it this time, only thing I'm getting over now is him!
Good luck.

AverageHuman · 31/01/2019 04:14

@LostwithSawyer I’m so sorry. Why did he do it again, do you know why??

OP posts:
Claudia1980 · 31/01/2019 05:56

Sorry but once a cheater always a cheater. I’ve honestly never met a person who has only cheated once. They ALWAYS do it again. I’m really sorry for you OP. You deserve better. I don’t think I’d ever get over it.

HaudYerWheeshtYaWeeBellend · 31/01/2019 06:00

Once the trust is gone you can never get it back.

LostwithSawyer · 31/01/2019 07:34

He was bored apparently Grin started off as friendly chatting.
He started it a month after we got back from our 10 yr anniversary amazing holiday.
Clearly it wasn't amazing for him!
All I know is I don't have anything left to give this marriage. He's drained me, the love and trust has completely gone and i don't want a man that thinks its acceptable to treat the woman he supposedly loves like that.

AverageHuman · 31/01/2019 09:05

Bored???!!! Jesus. That’s salt in the wounds after a lovely holiday. I am finding the smallest amount of understanding in this because I know he’s fallen to the bottom of my list in terms of attention. Not that it excuses it AT ALL but I can see what might have spurred him to do it which makes me think there is a chance for us.

If we had nice holidays together (and what he would class as ample sex...!) I don’t think he would do it. But I could be very very wrong.

I think it could happen again if we had troubles tho and thats my worry as marriages will always have rocky patches.

OP posts:
AverageHuman · 31/01/2019 09:08

I feel angry on your behalf. Surely there is nothing more you can do if he has done this even when things are good.

I couldn’t (can’t!) live with affairs and I guess if you stayed you’d have to accept he will have them. I already feel enough of a fool.

OP posts:
chickensaresafehere · 31/01/2019 09:34

My friend has got back with her dh after he cheated multiple times & I'm struggling to get my head round how she can move on,as it's not something I could do.
I love the motto that I read on here once -
'If someone shows you who they are,believe them'.

LostwithSawyer · 31/01/2019 09:58

Thats why the moment i found his secret phone i knew my marriage was over and i hadn't even spoken to him yet.
Our life seemed really good. We got on great, laughed, had fun. I have a high sex drive, he doesn't. Well not with me anyway.
There was no excuse to look elsewhere other than he was bored with me.
I get it 20yrs of the same person can be monotonous but blimey i tried so hard to keep our relationship above average.
He should have ended it with me not start sleeping with someone else.
I'll never trust again!

Foxandthehound · 31/01/2019 10:07

I recovered from it! He slept with his ex. I hated him for it, the sight of him made me feel physically sick. Admittedly I was nasty to him, exactly how you describe. I almost obsessed about it, it was in my thoughts all the time.

2 years down the line it's a horrible, but very distant memory. I don't think about it anymore, and me and Dp have a good relationship. I don't think the trust will ever be 100% again, but we're definitely at a stage where we know we will have long and loving relationship

Lemond1fficult · 31/01/2019 11:05

Assuming you want to get over it and move forward with this, you do need to change your behaviour. It's obviously his fault you have these feelings, but there's no future for you both if you can't act as if you forgive him. Totally understand for some here it's impossible to forgive and forget, but you obviously want to try.

For what it's worth, i have been in your position, and successfully moved on. I am still with him 9 years on and we are genuinely happy. And I happen to think he was worth it.

That said, it was a one-off, he confessed immediately, he did everything I asked of him to make me feel safe, and he still apologises for it because he feels so bad. If this is your husband, maybe you can move on together too. If he's being anything other than contrite and understanding though, you need to ditch him.

badlydrawncat · 31/01/2019 18:41

When it happened to me, it took about 6 months before the rawness went. It does depend on the circumstances though. We'd been living apart because of work commitments, my husband told me about it and was as upset as I was. It was a 'fling' not an affair, it
was 2 weeks of sex between 2 lovely people. I was incredibly hurt, so hurt it surprised me. All of that was 30 years ago, I can even laugh about it now.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page