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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To be annoyed at husband regarding cleaning

493 replies

User40465 · 08/12/2019 09:05

My husband works away 4-6 weeks at a time and around a week before he comes home he sends me lists of everything in the house he wants cleaned. He basically wants the house to look like a show house.

Just to point out i am clean but just not as squeaky OCD clean as he is. I work and have 2 children under 5 so think it’s abit unfair for him to expect it when he could help me when he comes home?

Aibu?

OP posts:
Flylilly · 11/12/2019 15:01

Good lord op I've just read through this entire thread and feel incredibly concerned for you- I hope you are ok x

CA321 · 11/12/2019 19:02

This is so far from normal. Please don’t tolerate this. My husband also works away and I work full time with 3 kids. We do have a cleaner to help and he keeps a list of “his” jobs to do when he comes back. We can both add to the list - can be family admin or anything I haven’t had a chance to do or things I can’t do. When he gets back he just gets on with them. Because he recognises that I’m holding the fort day to day while he’s away and he does what he can to share the load. You deserve that too.

constantreader · 11/12/2019 19:17

@User40465 you telling people that the kids are happy he's coming home triggered such a memory for me! That's exactly what I used to say. Then little by little I started confiding in my closest friends how unhappy I was when he came home. I particularly recall bawling my eyes out in the gym to my best friend one morning, I was so stressed and miserable at the thought of him coming home and having to put up with his shit again.

I've heard good things about the Freedom Program (though I haven't done it) - please look into this. Talk to WA. Have you got friends you can trust, that would support you? Feel free to PM me for support, or just if you need a listening ear.

It's baby steps for you to get out of this, if you want that. Nobody here can tell you what to do, you have to decide for yourself. It's also impossible for people who haven't been in this situation to comprehend how it could have got to this - believe me I used to not understand either until I found myself in it. I'll say it again - I'm happier now than I have been in years. I still have obstacles to face (finalising the nasty divorce, selling the house and finding a new one, thinking about a new job....) - but they're MY decisions to make and I don't have to answer to, or explain myself to anyone ever again. That feels amazing.

Find your strength. Sending hugs Flowers

BlokeNumber9 · 11/12/2019 19:43

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

messolini9 · 11/12/2019 20:00

Hang on, you had 2 children with this lunatic and then noticed the lunacy?

If I could just stop you there, @BlokeNumber9 ... Yes.
Because that tends to be the nature of how coercive controllers work.

Read the Lundy Bancroft book linked upthread if you genuinely want to know why.
Conversely, if you are merely have a Goady Fucker moment, how Naice for you that you don't understand 'cos it never happened to you. Perhaps think on that before you aim kicks at people who are already bruised, huh?

constantreader · 11/12/2019 20:11

@messolina9 well said

@BlokeNumber9 Utterly unhelpful. Wonder why you feel the need to criticise a person in crisis? Jog on.

User40465 · 11/12/2019 20:48

Thanks for everyone saying I’m welcome to PM them, unfortunately I don’t get on my phone much as I’m always so busy.

He’s still away. Conversation is very awkward today, have only spoken about the children.

I know there has been alooot of posters mention about speaking to Women’s Aid, but I just feel like I would be wasting their time as my problems aren’t as big as some other women. Or at least I don’t feel like they are.

OP posts:
Thelnebriati · 11/12/2019 20:57

@BlokeNumber9 Abuse and coercive control usually start during pregnancy and its a gradual process that escalates as time goes on.
Abusers very rarely announce thats what they are at the start of a relationship.

Alsgirl · 11/12/2019 21:27

OP please don't feel pressurised into doing anything you aren't happy with. By MN or anyone. At all. Ever. That said, many of the people posting appear to have very similar experiences to yours and seem to be advocating you contact WA; they may be driven by concern about escalation. I don't want to worry you but like all the PP I am worried for you, and also concerned what your children are learning. For their sake, could you talk to someone? Your GP? They may be busy but are generally very on the ball with info about help for women in your position. Also, your think your problems aren't sufficiently bad to warrant speaking to WA. You don't feel they're worth mentioning. Hmm. How did that happen, do you think?

billy1966 · 11/12/2019 21:31

OP, you have had a huge reaction from poster's who are appalled by your plight.

Make no mistake, it is appalling.

Women's Aid are there for you and any other woman who finds herself controlled.

At the very least they will give you an opportunity to speak to someone.

Please do this OP.

You are on our minds.💐

messolini9 · 11/12/2019 22:00

Women’s Aid, but I just feel like I would be wasting their time as my problems aren’t as big as some other women.
But, as no doubt WA would tell you if you ever DO wish to contact them, that's like saying you mustn't go to hospital with a broken wrist, because other women have a life-threatening condition.
Coercive control doesn't need to be ranked, just unpicked until the sufferer has some peace & autonomy once more.

Or at least I don’t feel like they are.
A very, very common response for those still trapped in the FOG of the abuse cycle. I hope that for you, OP, this doesn't feel as if I am looking to contradict or correct you. But once clear of the FOG, & in happier hindsight mode, the pattern & signposts of that abuse are so clear & obvious ...

www.bpdcentral.com/blog/?Fear-Obligation-and-Guilt-FOG-in-High-Conflict-Relationships-36

For example - I mean this to come over gently & kindly - before you married, did you feel an urge to clean that was so compelling that you found yourself almost apologising for it as it got in the way of other things you were meaning to do (forgive me, this is in reference to one of your update posts, where you mentioned something about not getting back here as you felt you couldnt stop the cleaning urge)?

That is certainly not to say that you should be on here rather than housekeeping or any other damn thing that you wish to do! - but I wonder, if you look back & think on this, if you will perceive a difference between how you handled your domestic chores pre-marriage, to how you feel you MUST complete them now?

I know how shocked I was when the revelation of the true dynamic of my own marriage finally came to me, & it took a fair bit of time to process it. Part of the hardship of doing so was shame (it took a while to appreciate that the victim does not own the shame, the perpetrator does), but also the memories surfacing of friends hinting that all was not well, or that I was putting up with a lot, & was I ok, & did I need a night away, etc ... that took a lot of hard self-assessment, & a lot of grieving for the person I had contorted my own thinking patterns for, in order to hold on a a thread of belief that he was still a loving husband.

You take your own time. I don't think MN is going anywhere, & there are some wise posters on your thread. I sincerely hope anything I have written to you comes over in the supportive spirit it is intended as, & that you may even find a spark of wisdom or insight from my past experience.

Have a peaceful evening OP :)

KizzyWayfarer · 12/12/2019 06:54

Of the people asking if you’re looking forward to him coming home, do you think you could tell at least one person part of the truth? “No, not really, to be honest, he sends me lists of cleaning jobs to get done before he gets home. The kids are looking forward to him being home though.”
I’m sure the idea of being truthful feels scary but ‘lying for him and pretending he’s a nice guy’ is currently just one more job on your list.

billy1966 · 12/12/2019 08:07

@KizzyWayfarer

I think this is good advice.
💐

Equanimitas · 12/12/2019 08:11

When he's asked before for a photo of a room you've cleaned, have you asked him why or ignored the request? If so, what was his reaction?

woodchuck99 · 12/12/2019 09:04

As usual there is a lot of projection on this thread. We have no idea if things will escalate or if OP will need the help of women's aid etc. All we know is that the list is outrageous and anyone who could do that probably has no idea what it is like to look after two young children and work. It may be that he just needs to be put firmly in his place though and told that if he wants the place tidy he can do it himself when he has loads of free time at home or he can employ a cleaning firm. Time will tell. I do agree though that it might good be idea to tell people in real life about this as they know him and you better OP and would perhaps be able to help you decide what to do.

User40465 · 12/12/2019 09:13

@messolini9 thank you Flowers

I think if I was to tell someone I would just burst out crying and I don’t really want to do that. I have good friends but none I feel close enough to tell and my parents are going through a lot just now with other things so I don’t want to worry them.

If he’s ever asked for a photo I’ve always just sent one so wouldn’t know what he would do if I refused

OP posts:
BendyLikeBeckham · 12/12/2019 09:16

OP, I realise that you cannot see or recognise the extent of the abuse just yet. That is the whole point of the Freedom Programme. It helps you to see what controlling behaviour is. It is an education for you. And it will help you move forward, because right now you are stuck in a bad place and you are just beginning to realise it.

Waveysnail · 12/12/2019 09:24

I'd get him to pay for a one of clean just before he comes home

Waveysnail · 12/12/2019 09:25

Crikey forget about the cleaning get yourself.in the freedom programme

dexterslockedintheshedagain · 12/12/2019 09:28

I'd send him a photo of my backside, telling him he can kiss it Grin

Sannapaws · 12/12/2019 09:28

Tell him to go F himself. He can pay for a big clean before he gets back if he wants to. Or even better just get back and do it himself since he hasn;t had to do anything household or child related.

thaegumathteth · 12/12/2019 09:29

Would you want your kids living like this as adults? If the answer is no then you need to model to them how it's not acceptable.

FWIW I work part time from home, my kids are a bit older and dh works away frequently. I have a couple of health issues and if I message dh saying about it he will ALWAYS say to rest and think of a way to make things easier eg suggest online food shop or whatever. He would NEVER tell me I have to get stuff done for him coming home. And I will say that dh is very far from perfect But this kind of behaviour? No.

MzHz · 12/12/2019 09:49

If he’s ever asked for a photo I’ve always just sent one so wouldn’t know what he would do if I refused

Lovely, you don’t have to REFUSE, you just DON’T send one.

He literally can’t make you do anything, you just need to see this.

This isn’t about the cleaning, it’s about him controlling you and making you feel of less value.

When you’re on your own you KNOW you’re ok, that things done the way you do them is GOOD ENOUGH. You are good enough exactly as you are, you run and maintain the home and family alone perfectly well, your kids are happy and you are happy- until he’s there or until he starts on you.

You need to process what you need to do here and that is to extract yourself and your kids from this situation or eject him from it, whichever is the best for you

Please please please open up to someone in real life

I wish I knew you personally, I’d just hug you and do whatever I could to help you see just how much more you’re worth than this.

MzHz · 12/12/2019 09:50

My ex used to rant on the phone at me... flaming phone network always used to cut out...

Switch location off on your phone, switch Read receipts/notifications off and only reply to those messages you want to reply to.

Start creating and carving boundaries

Hepsibar · 12/12/2019 09:51

OMG how can you put up with someone like this.

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