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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

How to get through to DP over Coronavirus

25 replies

FromtheZoo · 30/03/2020 18:12

Me and my DP have a house together and a baby who's just turned 1. He has a child from a previous relationship who's of school age and who comes to stay here every other weekend. He works weekdays during the day, including Saturdays and also night shifts most days, including weekends at a second job. Obviously I'm here looking after both children when he's at work.

My issue is that since the coronavirus outbreak I have been really anxious about myself catching it or any of my family members catching it, I do have health conditions although not ones that have been mentioned as making me higher risk. But since being told not to come into work by my employer at the beginning of March I've hardly left the house unless I've had to - my DP however, has been living his normal life. He is classed as a key worker and so needs to go to work, which I'm grateful for as we need that money to pay our mortgage. But it does make me anxious. But the main problem is that he was still doing other things like going to see his mum, popping out to chat to friends while he was there and just generally not taking any of this seriously. Every time he would come back home I would tell him how I felt about it and it would always end in a shouting match. He said I am brainwashed by the media, I'm a follower and I'm low risk so I'm overthinking it, it's just a flu and I need to gargle salt water and drink hot fluids to keep it away. So things have been very tense here for a few weeks to say the least.

Fast forward to the evening the lockdown was announced, I was relieved as I thought now he can't do any of the things he's been doing, surely now it will be just work and then straight home. The next morning, I approached him with the intentions of discussing the lockdown and the fact schools are closed now and that him and his ex are both key workers, so what will happen with their child, is there a plan for childcare. As soon as I asked him if there was a plan he bit my head off, he said he will do the childcare if his ex needs him to and he shouldn't have to ask my permission (which means it will be me because he works 6 days a week and then the night shift every night too) I said there's nothing wrong in me asking what the plan is seeing as ultimately it will fall down to me and that all I care about is making sure both he and his ex are only leaving the house for work and then coming home - minimising the risk to me and both the children passing it around between houses, otherwise I'm not happy to do the childcare. He then got really aggressive and said he can't control what his ex does with her life and that I was being ridiculous, I'm selfish and i must hate his child, I think she's dirty and infected that's why I don't want her to come here. We ended up arguing for the whole day, where he said a lot of horrible things to me, and to cut a long story short he left here to go and stay at his mums house a few days ago, where he is currently with his child. I guess his mum is helping him out while he's working. We have barely spoken until today, he's hardly even asked about our baby. But when I spoke to him today he let slip he's "basically been staying inside the whole time apart from popping out quickly to chat to a couple of friends in the day".

He is still not taking it seriously!!, he doesn't understand or maybe doesn't care that he's putting his child and his mum at extra risk, exposing his child to even more risk than she already is at as a child of two key workers, then wants to come back over here, with his child and put me at risk too. When I say this he sees it as me being against his child, but I feel the same way about him coming back here even without his child.

So my questions are, am I being unreasonable in any way here? He says I am 100% being unreasonable entirely.

How do I make him take the coronavirus more seriously?

Should I just forget how I feel and let him come home and look after his daughter as and when I'm needed to?

In general, aside from this issue we have problems that we need to work on, communication and his aggression being a couple of them, we were planning on doing individual and also relationship counselling. My fear is that by the time all this is over I won't have any relationship left to work on.

Sorry it was a long post and thank you in advance

OP posts:
Kastanien · 30/03/2020 18:54

YANBU, he is going out and about more than he should. Can you tell him not to come home for the duration of the lock down?

Wewearpinkonwednesdays · 30/03/2020 18:58

He works weekdays during the day, including Saturdays and also night shifts most days, including weekends at a second job.

Hang on, so when exactly is he home if he works during the day, night shifts and weekends.

paperandfireworks · 30/03/2020 19:01

What do you mean by night shift? How many hours a day does he work?

FromtheZoo · 30/03/2020 19:02

@Kastanien I've said this and he said I'm selfish bitch for trying to keep our child away from him, that it's his house too and he won't stay away from it

@Wewearpinkonwednesdays he leaves home at 8am home from 2pm then back out to work for the night shift from around 10pm and on average roughly gets home from that from 4am, he gets one day off a midweek and then a Sunday. But still does the night shift on these days.

OP posts:
FromtheZoo · 30/03/2020 19:05

@paperandfireworks sorry I know it's confusing. He has two jobs - one of them is 8-2 5 days a week, one of those days has to be a Saturday so he gets one day off mid week and then Sunday off. His second job is 7 nights a week roughly 10pm till 4am. He's a workaholic

OP posts:
BananaPlant · 30/03/2020 19:11

He’s a selfish twat.

He also must spend zero time with either child.

ChainsawBear · 30/03/2020 19:21

You said it yourself, your relationship already had serious problems. Let him stay at his mum's.

FromtheZoo · 30/03/2020 19:21

He does work too much but I feel like I can't complain about how much he works as he pays and has paid my half of the mortgage and bills since my maternity pay ran out and while I'm looking for a job with more hours

OP posts:
SexIsAProtectedCharacteristic · 30/03/2020 19:23

Someone who uses that kind of language towards their partner is not a nice person IMO.

I'm sorry you're dealing with this. Let him stay at his mum's.

OoohTheStatsDontLie · 30/03/2020 19:27

I am not sure you can get through to someone with high levels of aggression that thinks calling you a bitch is acceptable in an argument, to be honest. Sorry if that sounds blunt but you can't win over anyone who is refusing to listen to what you're saying.

SistemaAddict · 30/03/2020 19:30

LTB. Seriously. This has shown him for who he is.

Blanca87 · 30/03/2020 19:31

He should be paying for that anyway. He sounds like a selfish cunt to be fair.

OlaEliza · 30/03/2020 19:36

You're better off without him. He's abusive.

mamangelo · 30/03/2020 19:36

I would defo leave him at his mums and treat this as a trial separation. He sounds awful - childish and abusive

FromtheZoo · 30/03/2020 19:42

@mamangelo that's what I thought was happening when he left. That we were doing some kind of trial separation. But he seems to think he's at his mums because i don't want his child here, because of the coronavirus and not because of any other reason. I said it's about the coronavirus yes and that he's not taking that seriously but now it was also about how he spoke to me and the argument that happened but he says if that was the case he should still be able to bring his child here to spend time with our baby/her sibling.

OP posts:
mamangelo · 30/03/2020 20:42

He is using the ‘you don’t want his child there’ as manipulation to get to you. He knows this is really an upsetting accusation especially as you clearly spend a lot of time (more than him!) with said child. Don’t let it get to you, be really strong and clear 1 stand your ground! X

FromtheZoo · 30/03/2020 22:01

Thanks guys. I was very prepared to be told I was unreasonable. I've not spoken to any of my friends about this so I was second guessing myself

OP posts:
afternoontwee · 30/03/2020 22:20

I've had what we believe was COVID19 for the past week - my baby was diagnosed with it in hospital through symptoms last Friday (no testing where we are unless admitted to hospital) and I got it a couple of days later.

It is not like flu. I've had flu, and Swine Flu when that was doing the rounds 9 years ago. This illness completely floored me and incapacitated me for a week. People who say 'it's just a flu' need their head examined. Do whatever you need to do to protect yourself and your baby from it.

FromtheZoo · 30/03/2020 22:50

@afternoontwee sorry to hear about you and your baby. This is what scares me. Hope you feel better soon Thanks

OP posts:
FromtheZoo · 30/03/2020 22:54

He's just sent me a link to a conspiracy theory video about the real reason the government want you to stay inside....

I just can't believe he is ignoring the fact thousands are dying and choosing to believe conspiracy theories about the virus to the point where he's putting our relationship on the line. I just feel so hopeless I don't know what it will take to get him to understand.

OP posts:
RC1511 · 30/03/2020 22:57

I’m more concerned that he works days, most nights and weekends? When does he have time for all this?!

FromtheZoo · 30/03/2020 23:01

@RC1511 it concerns me too. He barely gets any sleep and I don't think his lack of sleep and working so hard helps our relationship. I think it has a lot to do with why we argue so much and why he is so aggressive. My baby doesn't sleep very well most of the time and I know that has a massive impact on my mood and tolerance level as well

OP posts:
Thehop · 30/03/2020 23:03

He’s a nob and he doesn’t care about your feelings.

I’d be looking to make this split long term

WhereYouLeftIt · 30/03/2020 23:21

"... it's just a flu and I need to gargle salt water and drink hot fluids to keep it away. So things have been very tense here for a few weeks to say the least."
And he says YOU are the one who's "brainwashed by the media"?

Parental access is for the benefit of the child, not the parent. I see little point in his older child coming to your house to be looked after by you whilst he's out working every hour of the day and night. It give his child no access to HIM. You taking care of his child serves only the child's parent - his ex gets childcare (you) and he gets to pretend he's behaving like a father.

Sorry, but I think your relationship is dead in the water Sad. It takes two to have a relationship, and he's just not there. I think it would be better if you just cut your losses here. Be grateful he's at his mother's, long may he stay there and away from you and you baby.

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