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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To not know if this marriage will ever work?

261 replies

FizzyWaterMelon · 25/02/2020 23:31

First post so go easy on me please.

Tl:dr. Husband wants me to work part time and look after the house. Super high expectations make it impossible and we both feel like crap.

I've been with my now husband for just under two years. We got married in January, a rushed wedding as we'd just bought a house together. The house has needed a substantial amount of work done inxli9a new kitchen and bathroom, costing a small fortune we borrowed from my mum and came from his savings account. The house is in my name and me (and my mum) paid the deposit.

He is a really loving and caring guy. Always puts me first, looks out for me, makes sure I'm OK in stressful situations etc when my anxiety plays up.

When we met I had returned to uni and was going to pursue becoming a primary teacher, then later it changed to accountancy. I had always had a goal of having a good career that would allow me to live the lifestyle I want. I don't want lots of holidays, I just want to do things with my horse. We decided mutually that there was no point me getting a new career underway to then take so many years off to have children, and so I cancelled my uni course and finished with a BA.

Over the last few months and with me working various shift patterns from part time to full time, we have talked so many times about me only working part time and staying at home to look after the house etc while he works full time. We have discussed it that often I don't remember who's idea it was and feel he has been pushing me to give up my job so I an become a good little housewife.

My part time job pays the mortgage and for my horse. That was the deal, and he pays everything else. In return it's my job to take care of the house, do the washing etc. Except every time I do something he has a problem with it. I stopped doing washing in his day off as I was mixing loads and things weren't getting washed properly. I stopped cleaning as I was either doing it too quickly and therefore incorrectly or too slowly and taking too long.

Basically, everything I do he says is wrong, and it's getting me down. Tonight is the 2ns night in 6 weeks I'm sleeping on the couch. I do things a regular person does but everything is wrong and apparently shows I have no respect for him at all.

He is very considerate in some areas. Always makes sure my mum is OK now she's on her own, takes care of all the bills from his pay, wants me to have the best life I can. And in return I just need to treat him the way he treats me. The problem is I just can't. I always mess it up or over think it or only think about myself.

Am I being unreasonable? Should I just suck it up and work on being a better wife? Not many folk can say they only work part time with no kids and have so much free time.

Kudos if you go this far.

OP posts:
GiveHerHellFromUs · 26/02/2020 11:55

Yeah, can you even request a C Section for no medical reason? I didn't think you could

Yeah you're allowed to opt for a c-section because that's just what you want. My friend did.

Limpshade · 26/02/2020 11:58

He's financially unstable.
He encouraged you to borrow money from your mum to help you both buy a place.
He encouraged you to quit university after you'd made a brave choice to return to your studies in order to forge a career.
He encouraged you to go part-time so you're now doing shift work with few prospects.
He criticises and belittles the work you do around the house.
He says he is unable to have children and is encouraging you to pursue adoption.
He told you that you would not be allowed to have a natural birth or breastfeed.

You are "thankful" you cannot have children with him.
You are worried that if you leave the house for the night, he will "take" it.

This is a relationship of less than two years. Please lean on the support of your lovely-sounding mum and start forging the life you WANT to lead, not the one he has tethered you to.

TopoftheT0wer · 26/02/2020 12:11

60+ = meaning someone who has paid their mortgage off, no debts and has paid into a pension & therefore can afford to only work part time

DisgraceToTheYChromosome · 26/02/2020 12:11

Run. Like. Fuck.

LuckyLickitung · 26/02/2020 12:14

He sounds fucking awful. Do your research. Leave.

AryaStarkWolf · 26/02/2020 12:22

Yeah you're allowed to opt for a c-section because that's just what you want. My friend did.

Are you in the UK? I'm in ireland I don't think you can do that here (although it's been a few years since I had a baby myself so not 100% sure it's still the case)

Littletabbyocelot · 26/02/2020 12:31

You can ask for a csection as many women have complex reasons for needing one (such as previous sexual abuse, difficult earlier birth). However, if you asked for one because your husband would not let you have one i imagine a safeguarding referral would be made for the baby.

user1480880826 · 26/02/2020 12:32

He sounds horrendous OP. Why on earth did you quit your degree and career because you might have kids one day? Most people take a career break AFTER giving birth, not before.

He is controlling you. I can’t understand why in the same post you can say how kind and considerate he is and then tell us he won’t let you work and criticizes everything you do. He sounds truly awful.

Ask him to leave.

MidniteMessenger · 26/02/2020 12:49

Tell your husband to jog on and clean his own bloody clothes and do the cleaning himself. Are we back in the 1950s or is he pursuing your house by claiming he pays all the bills?

Don't be a mug OP. Go back to Uni, finish your course and get a career. Millions of us including myself work, have had kids and pay our bills without relying on no bloke.

ZagZig · 26/02/2020 12:53

' I can’t understand why in the same post you can say how kind and considerate he is and then tell us he won’t let you work and criticizes everything you do'

That's exactly what abusers do, give with one hand while taking with the other!
It really fucks up your head. They're lovely in some ways whilst also being horribly abusive

HollowTalk · 26/02/2020 12:55

I agree with absolutely everyone. Leave this guy. Go back to university. Have a wonderful life.

VBT2 · 26/02/2020 13:53

Run. Now.

This is the only time you have to build a career. You can’t rely on this man for your future. Try getting a decent job in 10+ years time when you have no experience to fall back on and you’re competing with new graduates.

What happens if he loses his job? Or suffers poor health? Or his pension can’t afford to keep you for the 40 working years you still have ahead? It’s just madness for you to sideline building your career at this time.

That’s before getting into his bad credit (what bills do you have to reasonably compare to a mortgage payment?!), his controlling behaviour and the fact he’s stopping you from having kids. He can’t possibly love you, or have any respect for you.

Divorce him now, and quickly, even if it costs you half the house, it’ll never get cheaper and your freedom is absolutely worth it. Kick him out, pursue a full time career and find someone new who you can build a life with.

KickAssAngel · 26/02/2020 13:57

My husband is 50 but we're an equal partnership who year each other with respect. He knows that criticising someone's work is ride and controlling and doesn't do it. If there's really a problem with how something has been done we fix it together. We do bicker at times, but not often.
So your husband's behavior is not to do with age. It's because he wants to control and bully you.

It's not directly relevant because you should NOT have kids with this man, but he seems to be a world expert on make and female reproduction, better than any doctor I every met. We had extensive fertility treatment and none of the experts knew as much as your DH does about having a child and breast feeding. That's another way he's controlling you. He just wants you in the house being his slave. It won't be long before he starts saying you shouldn't go out without him.

Get a shit hot lawyer,a job, and change the locks. This has disaster written all over it.

Nowayorhighway · 26/02/2020 14:18

Yeah, can you even request a C Section for no medical reason? I didn't think you could

You definitely can in the UK but it is hugely discouraged by consultants. I requested one because I had two previous traumatic births and even then they tried to talk me down right up until the morning of the caesarean!

LAA2 · 26/02/2020 14:19

Is there no way of transferring the ownership of the house into your mothers name without him knowing seeing as it is in your name. That way the house isnt part of any divorce proceedings, then it can be transferred back afterwards. Not sure if that is even possible but that was my first thought to ringfence the house

Mycatwontstopstaring · 26/02/2020 14:20

Read up on relationships with a narcissist. Sounds like he is one.

SallySun123 · 26/02/2020 14:28

he had said I couldn't have a natural birth or breast feed

This alone would be a deal breaker for me. Why the fuck should anyone dictate this.

I have friends with a similar age gap and the guy is nothing like you describe. Get out now before you start to have even bigger regrets. And get back on with your education and life goals, god knows why he made you stop those. A partner should be building you up not tearing you down. You have your whole life ahead of you you’re young. Be brave, you deserve better.

bibliomania · 26/02/2020 14:47

Get legal advice about what will happen to the house if you split. My understanding is that in a short marriage, he will have less of a claim on the assets (the house) as it's harder for him to argue that these are assets you built up together.

Honestly, you know the answer deep down, OP. This is no way to live. He likes you only if you're a good little Stepford Wife. He doesn't know or like the real you at all, does he?

SVRT19674 · 26/02/2020 14:51

That you can't have a natural birth or breast feed? Excuse me? Your body, your decision. Divorce this man and get yourself someone who really wants to form a family with you and appreciates you. Don't waste your fertile years on this non-entity.

hammeringinmyhead · 26/02/2020 14:55

What the hell are you doing? There are more red flags here than I think I have ever seen in one thread.

You're going to need to write the laat couple of years off ans get out with what you can if you want to be happy. Reading about him dictating that you can't breastfeed makes me want to drop kick him out of a window.

AryaStarkWolf · 26/02/2020 14:55

You definitely can in the UK but it is hugely discouraged by consultants. I requested one because I had two previous traumatic births and even then they tried to talk me down right up until the morning of the caesarean!

Imagine telling them you wanted one because your husband said you weren't allowed have a natural birth..........

Justtryingtobehelpful · 26/02/2020 15:23

Read these two books.

Lundy Bancroft's book 'Why Does He Do That? docdro.id/py03

Don Hennessy
How He Gets into Her Head: The Mind of the Male Intimate Abuser

The Hennessy one will explain how he chose, set up and groomed you to stay accepting this abuse.

Listen to your gut instinct which is telling you to get out of this relationship now.

He is purposefully making you feel inadequate. He is fully aware of the tactics he is using. Start educating yourself and see him for the abusive man he truly is.....

Good luck on your journey to separate your life from his....

bugbhaer · 26/02/2020 15:24

I don't know anyone who works part time who doesn't have children ( unless they are 60+)

I went 0.8fte at 38 and 0.5 at 40 @TopoftheT0wer

Blueuggboots · 26/02/2020 15:32

Why are you sleeping on the settee? By choice?

Is he a medical professional to suggest you can't have a natural birth or breast feed?

He sounds like a prize twat. Speak to your mum and tell her what is going on.

brinelled · 26/02/2020 15:47

Your descriptions of him put me in mind of a young Josef Fritzl Shock

Seriously.