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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Is this a pisstake?

246 replies

probablyneedmoresleep · 24/07/2019 07:57

Let me set the scene: husband works extremely long hours in finance and I’m a SAHM to a 1 year old. Usually in summer husband comes home at 7/8pm instead of midnight. This has not been the case this summer. We haven’t seen him and it’s been extremely disappointing and sad not to have time with him. This morning I find out he has been able to come home earlier but has in fact been going to the gym instead. I’m in rage mode about the fact he would rather do this than see us, and i appreciate he deserves a break but we have a baby - breaks don’t really exist. And when I explained to him this morning it was a pisstake he just continued packing the fucking gym bag. AIBU?

OP posts:
justasking111 · 24/07/2019 12:37

It sounds like an episode of Mad Men which is quite chilling to watch to be honest. Addictive though.

StCharlotte · 24/07/2019 12:41

DH texted me complaining the whole time, and asking me inane questions etc what should he feed our child and what time etc

I might be saying "so you can do all this M&A stuff but you haven't got the intelligence to do a little light fathering?".

Glad to see some progress though OP.

I don't know if he'll change but you can certainly change how you handle the situation.

Ayemama has it spot on. Stop asking him, tell him.

Don't pander further to his parenting laziness by hiring help, he needs to develop his relationship with his son or imagine how your son's partner will feel in years to come because that's what he'll be learning is acceptable behaviour.

If he starts on about the horseriding costs, laugh in his face. And then cancel his Queen's membership.

And yes, when you do go out, TURN YOUR PHONE OFF!!! And tell him you will be turning it off so he doesn't wind himself up trying and failing to get hold of you.

Good luck OP!

hyperemesiscansuckit · 24/07/2019 12:42

I wouldn't give a man like that houseroom regardless of how much he earned. You are an unpaid nanny and housekeeper with sex available when he fancies it. I cannot see any future in this. He won't know his child, he won't know you, in any meaningful way. He's opted out of family life but as he's a high earner it doesn't look so shit. But it is. Wake up - he's not a good father or husband in my view.

This. I can't actually see what you get out of this relationship. What's even the point of his high salary if you can't do anything and 'he won't allow it'. He sees it as all his money. I wouldn't even bother trying to make things work with a man like this.

CheesecakeAddict · 24/07/2019 12:44

Thank you for this thread, OP. He sounds a lot like my stbxh, who I was thinking of going back to. Now I remember it all. He was the same except I worked and we said when I went back to work, we would divide the childcare equally. That didn't happen and he wouldn't let me hire a cleaner either so I was doing all that too. I went out about 4 times on an evening in DD's first 18 months I was with him, and I had to be back by 9pm every time because she would be screaming too much and he would call me so I could hear her and send photos of her. It was awful. I got no time off. So much nicer now I have sundays when he has DD and I have a day for me!

MrsGrammaticus · 24/07/2019 12:46

Unless he's looking after a foreign market that necessitates him staying so late....I don't him being there so long. To my mind, he's avoiding coming home. Perhaps he finds babies too much! He's probably working late, eating, drinking then going the gym. Or he's possibly got some kind of habit which he's conducting after work ....alcohol, women, whatever. Could you consider couples therapy.....something's going off the rails here OP.

grins · 24/07/2019 12:49

I've got 20+ years of working in M&A for large investment banks. Anyone who is not an MD has relatively little control over their lives. All banks have a huge degree of presentism. They try to pretend they don't and are improving, but they just do. This is particularly exacerbated the more junior you are. The going back and checking post gym is something I can understand. This can be done from home but requires practice to make it work.

Work can dip in the summer, but if you are on a live deal and that is going over the summer then that is just how it is.

Equally, most bankers are actually pretty inefficient (because presentism doesn't encourage efficiency and because many / most? senior bankers are poor managers).

This is not to be fully supportive of your husband. There is no point in earning a load of money if you have no home life (something many bankers learn the hard way). Get yourself some help to give you a break.

Equally, when at home, he needs to pull his weight. It may well be that he lacks confidence in how to handle DS because he has had so little practice. He needs to get over this and JFDI. (just like he would at work!). He needs to recognise that you need a break too.

There aren't too many significant investment banks in Mayfair. Is he on a road that rhymes with Baton Street?

AllSweetnessAndLight · 24/07/2019 12:52

I would not be happy with this setup. It's your life @probablyneedmoresleep. What are you going to do?

Greeve · 24/07/2019 12:52

Are you for real?!? I love looking after my son, that’s why I’m at home ffs. But occasionally people need a break.

Did you sit down with him and discuss the realities of parenthood before you conceived? Or at least right away if your baby was not planned?

You doing all week until weekends and holidays was pretty unrealistic to start with. You'll be so exhausted by the weekend that you won't have any quality time and in really bad situations, each week will get worse and worse as you become more exhausted and the baby becomes anxious because it is dealing with a tired, snappy mum.

LEELULUMPKIN · 24/07/2019 12:57

This place never ceases to amaze me. Why DO people put up with being treated like shit on someone's shoe?

probablyneedmoresleep · 24/07/2019 13:06

Did you sit down with him and discuss the realities of parenthood before you conceived? Or at least right away if your baby was not planned?

Yes I did - If you bothered to read my posts you will see I was fine with all weekdays and nights. Everything else was to be split. I EBF so of course I had to do more anyway. Although DS sleeps well he is highly active and high needs - has always hated being put down, hated car, hated buggy etc. So it can be hard work. That said I love it and don’t want to leave him. I just want a bit of time to myself whcih i don’t think is an issue. He was a very much planned and wanted baby.

grins

No, not that street. I get everything you are saying though, obviously. I respect his job enormously and he is highly intelligent but he has 0 common sense and I think is being wilfully ignorant with regards to DS.

Really appreciate all the advice given on this thread.

OP posts:
probablyneedmoresleep · 24/07/2019 13:07

You doing all week until weekends and holidays was pretty unrealistic to start with

This is BS. I don’t have any issue with this. I have an issue with him doing very little when he is home!

OP posts:
probablyneedmoresleep · 24/07/2019 13:09

He basically needs to just step up. He also needs to start making me feel loved and appreciated otherwise I’m just out of here. I love him but what’s the point of being alone all the time if the time we get together is just me resenting him for his failure to see I need help and help me. Never kissing or hugging me etc. Someone “flirted” with me at the weekend at the wedding and it was literally so ridiculously nice to feel vaguely appreciated and attractive that I feel quite pathetic about it.

OP posts:
grimupnorthLondon · 24/07/2019 13:13

If it's Mayfair and M&A, very likely it's PE work. I work with those guys and can confirm that the culture is crazy macho - extremely long hours, and yes usually a summer slowdown in European M&A (because most of continental Europe disappears for August so you can't take a deal to market). However, this year, the market got off to a late start (because of the March Brexit 'deadline') and so it is much busier than it usually would be at this point in the summer, with some deals still being started/prepped for market.

There are also a LOT of guys in this culture who effectively outsource family life - HOWEVER, they are the ones who can "throw money at the problem", as one colleague charmingly explained to me he planned to do when I was asking whether he was excited about the imminent birth of his first child. I have colleagues who have full time housekeepers, nannies AND au pairs, although their wife doesn't work. In addition they tend to be obsessed with gyms and fitness - client events often revolve around cycling/triathlons and the last couple of years has seen a huge upsurge in healthy "meal services" where all their food gets delivered each day to the office/home so that their whole life is outsourced.

OP sounds like she has the worst of both worlds - a DH who wants to be part of that culture but isn't prepared to (or can't afford to) pay for the home end of it.

In terms of family relationships, they vary. Most with successful marriages have a wife who knew exactly what they were getting up to, does not expect much (if any) joint social life, and is fine with having their expensive holidays interrupted by lengthy conference calls. There are a few men who make massive efforts to work from home in the evening, go to school events and even drop off in the morning. The ability to do that depends on which team you work in and how senior/valued you are. If you are a junior or mid-level without any particular brilliance or powerful contacts, it can be hard to manage that flexibility but some do.

I think it's a pretty repugnant culture and would hate to live that way myself, but the material benefits are considerable and that can work for SOME people IF the wife (and it's always a wife - I NEVER see this situation the other way around) is making sure that she gets a fair bargain in terms of paid help at home.

Greeve · 24/07/2019 13:13

This is my point, OP, it's not that you want time to do your thing, but if you said that you'd do the mass of parenting because he works, then you set a precedent where raising your son is your job and he is like the Dad in Mary Poppins. It's unrealistic and risky to promise that you will do all the nights and weekdays because babies are harder work than jobs. I don't care what job you do, a baby is still harder work. That's why I am saying it is unrealistic because waking up a million times a night with a crying baby can be soul destroying. It can be easy to think it's "fair" that since you get "the day off" (you don't), that he should get a "solid sleep before work", but it doesn't work out practically.

twistyturnycurlywhirly · 24/07/2019 13:13

If it's only once a week, it's fine, but every working day? LTB. Or tell him to come home on time every night for a couple of weeks so you can go to the gym every night. See how long he can put up with it.

grins · 24/07/2019 13:19

I understand - and being the spouse of a banker can feel a lot like being a single parent family at times.

If he lacks common sense he may want to think about another career long term as most M&A advice is ultimately distilling a lot of noise into just that. I don't say that to be unpleasant but as you get more senior, you get found out and your options to move career lessen (and the impact on your lifestyle increases).

I wish you and your family the very best with it all. It is not easy, I know.

grins · 24/07/2019 13:20

Grimupnorthlondon - good analysis.

Turniptracker · 24/07/2019 13:30

Sorry I have to ask - what are you getting out of this relationship? Are you having the life you wanted? Doesn't sound like you are able to do anything you want. Could family help you out and give you some free time. I couldn't do what you do. If I had agreed a 50:50 weekend split I would be reinforcing that and not accepting a grisling child from my useless partner. However will he learn if he always gets you to handle it for him? Guy sounds like he shouldn't have had a child at all tbh

Rainonmyguitar · 24/07/2019 13:31

So get a nanny/babysitter? It's not rocket science!

Oh my god. Get a nanny so the husband doesn't have to parent his own child? Stop making excuses for shit fathers!

justasking111 · 24/07/2019 13:39

Needing a nanny does not = a shit father, just a bloody hard working one perhaps.

It is a horrid world your DH is in, fear can be smelt, redundancy a hairs breadth away. Younger hungrier colleagues sniffing at your heels.

You need to have an honest talk with your DH, what are his worries, should he take a huge pay cut and get a less stressful job?

Jenniferturkington · 24/07/2019 13:48

It sounds miserable OP and I fully sympathise having been in a similar situation. It doesn’t matter that he was working those hours before the baby - life changes and so should his priorities.

Some things that helped me:

Threaten to divorce him with 50/50 custody of the baby?

Agree on ‘working hours’- yours are the same as his and after you are both co-parenting.

Go back to work and then split all nursery pick-ups / school runs etc 50/50. seriously this is the only thing that saved my marriage.

Don’t enable his ‘the baby will only settle with you’ crap. Just go out and let him get on with it. The baby will be fine (all mine were ebf but time it right and you can go out for an evening).

No way I’d be tolerating the gym- why should he have so much down time?

AmIRightOrAMeringue · 24/07/2019 13:55

Oh shit OP he tries to initiate sex when your asleep? Until you've chatted about it? You actually had to spell it out to him that he shouldn't rape you. I think a lot of your issues are down to his general lack of respect for women and the carers role.

I'm glad you have spoken to him and he seems to be taking some stuff on board. Please dont think you're somehow less or not entitled to family money just because he works. He can work those hours because you take care of every single other aspect of his life and his parenting so that he has the time ans energy to work. A live in nanny and housekeeper would still have sick pay holiday pages and other perks of the job...you have none. You are saving the family an absolute fortune in childcare costs. If he diesnt agree then you can always go back to work ans get in childcare. At least youd have a lunch break and social occasions with work.

Also him calling you when you were out for lunch - that's making it clear you shouldn't expect a proper break and the baby is always your responsibility not his. He saw it as him babysitting rather than parenting his own child

BossAssBitch · 24/07/2019 14:12

I work in finance, get home at 7pm Mon - Thurs, I go to the gym in the daytime as do most of my colleagues, absolutely no reason why your DH cannot do a 45 minute training session during his lunch break. The most obsessive exercise junkies in my firm are the senior partners, and that is a finance industry-wide thing in my vast experience, in fact, it's actively encouraged to be a gym bore!

lawnmowingsucks · 24/07/2019 14:26

but what’s the point of being alone all the time

There is no point

None

You are being taken for a fool imo

WorriedSENMum · 24/07/2019 14:38

He sounds a lot like my ex. Life was so much better in every way when I became an official single parent rather than someone who everyone assumed should be "grateful" for the financial situation we were in (that I was unable to enjoy due to financial abuse) & that exH was apparently "doing everything for the family". My fucking arse he was! So much better off financially & emotionally without him. One thing he didn't do was sexually molest me in my sleep. You don't need this shit. Break free & enjoy your new life with DS. Let DH pay for DS & arrange regular days with him. My ex never saw the kids at all until we broke up. Even now he only sees them, I quote "in the car on the way to & from his house". He only has them to reduce his maintenance liability. Hmm

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