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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To ask my husband to be quiet as he comes in from a night out?

54 replies

BumbleBee5w · 23/08/2020 02:41

My husband has been out tonight drinking with a friend. He got back about 45mins ago. I was asleep in our bed with our toddler. He went into our en suite and was jangling his belt around really loudly and then after he finished in there came into the bedroom. At that point I thought I was going continue getting undressed and make noise so I asked him to put his clothes on the landing for the moment to prevent disturbing us. He went onto the landing and slammed them onto the banister (turns out he was already undressed and thas is what the jangling in the en suite was) and then came back in and has shouted at me since then about how he was trying to be quiet and I'm unreasonable in telling him where to put his clothes. I have tried to apologise that I didnt mean to offend and explain that it was because I didn't want me or toddler to wake up and that know he was trying to he quiet but it was actually quite loud. He has just shouted me down, woken up the toddler and told me I'm manipulative and attacking him when hes vulnerable because he's drunk. Over and over again he shouted that I was manipulative and shouted how he was trying to be quiet. He stood up and said he wasnt sleeping in here and then stood over the wnd of the bed saying how it had all been sorted and his clothes would have been put quietly in the cupboard (which he kept banging really hard as he was saying it) if I hadnt have interfered. And shouting you're a manipulative, manipulative woman over and over again at me while me and toddler lay in the bed. Was I being unreasonable in what I asked him???

OP posts:
Immigrantsong · 23/08/2020 07:37

[quote BumbleBee5w]@terrace58 he doesn't have a drinking problem. He barely drinks. Possibly why he has got like this.[/quote]
Yes he has a drinking problem.

Stop trying to excuse him.

Immigrantsong · 23/08/2020 07:38

And apart from his drinking problem he is an ass.

Why are you with him?

Penguinnn · 23/08/2020 07:43

If you say he rarely drinks (and that’s true?) then don’t listen to the he’s got a drinking problem brigade, MN is so funny about alcohol and half a sherry at Christmas makes you an alcoholic. It sounds like he has anger issues though. You asked a reasonable thing. Maybe there are deeper issues in your relationship? Only you know really. What is your sober relationship like?

SociallyDistantPenguin · 23/08/2020 07:55

He may not have a drinking problem in the sense of being addicted to alcohol, but it definitely sounds like he has a problem with alcohol.

It's not ok for him to be aggressive towards you or your children, and it's not ok for him to be verbally abusive. The alcohol is not an excuse, he is a fully grown adult who made a choice in how to treat you last night.

MeredithGreysScalpel · 23/08/2020 08:03

Of course he has a drinking problem if he behaves like this whenever he drinks. ‘A drinking problem’ doesn’t equate to a bottle of vodka stashed in the toilet cistern that he can’t function without 🙄

Neron · 23/08/2020 08:04

He was trying to be quiet, you just wanted silence from him.
He rarely goes out and is trying to get to bed, yet you are telling him to put his clothes on the landing so not to disturb you.
Maybe you are manipulative, maybe you are not, but if he has said this to you before then you need to talk.

EarringsandLipstick · 23/08/2020 08:15

@Neron wtf???

Can't believe the posters excusing this arse 😡

OP I feel he does have an alcohol problem - as in a problem when he drinks alcohol, regardless of how often he does it.

Aggressively shouting at his wife & child, banging the wardrobe door & repeatedly insulting you is completely unacceptable & he's done it before.

He needs to address this, apologise & stop drinking.

Hope today is ok for you 💐

pooopypants · 23/08/2020 08:16

He may not have issues with abstaining from alcohol but he has issues with alcohol itself - namely being a class A cunt when he does drink. If he's standing over you and shouting at you after a drink, there IS an issue there.

Simple solution - he doesn't come home when he has been out - be that once a month or once a year.

I'm tempted to say that there are bigger issues in your marriage OP, but that's just a guess.

Neron · 23/08/2020 08:20

@EarringsandLipstick and this is the usual MN standard response about how he's an alcoholic. I'm surprised we haven't had someone telling OP she's in an abusive relationship yet.

Nobody knows how OP is, but if my husband accused me of being manipulative then I would be talking to him about it because I would want to know why.
A rare night out, he's immediately told to be quiet so OP isn't disturbed. Was it all necessary?

BumbleBee5w · 23/08/2020 08:21

Ok so alcohol does not agree with him. He RARELY drinks. The first occasion he was like this I was pregnant 10 years ago and the other time maybe 18 months ago. Is that really something that AA would be interested in? That is NOT a drinking problem. It is not. It is someone being an absolute arsehole. I've been an arsehole to friends when I was young and drunk. Friends have to me. They dont have drinking problems. It is the effect of alcohol.

OP posts:
lyralalala · 23/08/2020 08:25

@BumbleBee5w

Ok so alcohol does not agree with him. He RARELY drinks. The first occasion he was like this I was pregnant 10 years ago and the other time maybe 18 months ago. Is that really something that AA would be interested in? That is NOT a drinking problem. It is not. It is someone being an absolute arsehole. I've been an arsehole to friends when I was young and drunk. Friends have to me. They dont have drinking problems. It is the effect of alcohol.
Turning into an arsehole when you are drunk IS a drinking problem. It's not an addiction, but it's a drink problem.

He knows that happens when he is drunk yet at least twice (if we assume the first time it happened with you was the first time ever for him) he has chosen to consum alcohol and then come home and be aggressive to you.

Coming home at 2am, waking your partner and child then yelling at them isn't normal. It doesn't matter that it only happens infrequently - it shouldn't happen at all.

He needs to either not drink at all or stay elsewhere when he does. He should not expect you to be on the receiving any of that just because he fancies a boozy night out.

BumbleBee5w · 23/08/2020 08:27

@Neron did you read the part about my toddler being in the bed with me? I really do not see that as unreasonable. Especially now in the cold light of day

OP posts:
BumbleBee5w · 23/08/2020 08:29

@lyralalala no I agree with what you're saying. It's not on. I think I'd forgotten about the one night years ago but these two are 18 months apart so clearly it's an issue. He needs to stay away next time for sure! Its not one for AA though as another poster said it was

OP posts:
lookatmememe · 23/08/2020 08:33

Next time he goes out, pre empt this scenario and sleep in your child's room

Neron · 23/08/2020 08:34

@BumbleBee5w I read it. How realistic do you think it was for someone to be able to come in and get ready for bed without making some form of noise? The toddler was still asleep at that point, and like you said, it's rare he goes out.

I wouldn't be happy with being shouted at, nor for then waking the child. I would however be speaking to him about it and why he's accusing of being manipulative.

lyralalala · 23/08/2020 08:43

[quote BumbleBee5w]@lyralalala no I agree with what you're saying. It's not on. I think I'd forgotten about the one night years ago but these two are 18 months apart so clearly it's an issue. He needs to stay away next time for sure! Its not one for AA though as another poster said it was[/quote]
They can help actually. My DH went a couple of times after one incident. They were excellent about educating on the link between alcohol and anger in some people, and also about the impact even one incident can have on children.

BumbleBee5w · 23/08/2020 08:44

I dont mind a bit of noise. I'm not an idiot. But I immediately realised how drunk he was by the way he was moving and making more noise than normal and simply ask he get his clothes off on the landing rather than fumbling about next to us and the opening cupboard doors etc. That is not unreasonable and does not deserve being shouted at

OP posts:
AnnaFour · 23/08/2020 08:51

The issue seems to be that when he gets really drunk he is combative. Probably like many of us on a ‘normal’ day he might get annoyed with you but controls himself like a mature adult but when totally wasted has much less control. Not to say that means he actually thinks you’re manipulative - he probably just got drunk stuck on that word! And to his drunk addled brain the issue was huge.

He really does need to accept that he should not get that drunk or he should stay elsewhere.

userxx · 23/08/2020 09:07

Booze just doesn't suit some people. Many of my friends included !!!

Next time he goes out drinking tell him to sleep in the spare room or the on the sofa.

Supsista · 23/08/2020 09:10

The belt jangle REALLY pisses me off. Almost as much as the key jangle.

It's so loud and travels so far.

EarringsandLipstick · 23/08/2020 09:44

I'm surprised we haven't had someone telling OP she's in an abusive relationship yet.

Well, I don't know about the rest of their relationship, but this incident was certainly abusive, and she mentions several other occasions of the same behaviour, all linked with alcohol.

How exactly was she being 'manipulative' asking her drunk husband to keep the noise down so as not to disturb her & her toddler? 🤷🏻‍♀️

I can't get over how you excuse his behaviour!

Yes, definitely I'd be having a conversation with my husband - about his drinking and how it affects his behaviour, and how it affected their family on this occasion (OP hasn't slept, and will be up dealing with DC while he sleeps off the hangover).

He can then explain his 'manipulative' comment as there's nothing in what OP has told us that seems vaguely manipulative.

EarringsandLipstick · 23/08/2020 09:46

That is NOT a drinking problem. It is not. It is someone being an absolute arsehole.

The 'drinking problem' bit comes with him being abusive when he drinks.

If he drinks so rarely, I assume it'll be no big deal for him to stop completely.

GisAFag · 23/08/2020 09:59

Who is really quiet when drunk and at night. You could have waited until the morning to have a chat with him. Or you could just accept the fact he's noisy for 10 mins and then he'll be asleep.
Wonder if your anger at this is actually because he went out and you were in with your child.

Yeahnahmum · 23/08/2020 13:31

Dont get into arguments with drunks... it is pointless!

Himcalling you manipulative is just him saying things that he would probably always feels already but came out more and stronger as he was drunk...

And considering last time he was drunkwas 18 months ago... well.. i feellike you could have just removed yourself and toddler easier then to argue with a drunken fool.

And you say " oh this is going to be a fun Sunday " well.. the last time this happened was 18 months ago. Give the bloke a rest. Let him have some fun and a hang over day.

It sounds like you are a bit salty that he went out and you got stuck with the toddler last night and the whole of today.

Should he have shouted: no.
*But he might have been much louder in your mind as you were sleeping. And considering he did the same thing last time he was drunk. .. why did you have your kid in your bed KNOWING he wasgoing to come home drunk .

I wouldnt dream of doing that knowing my husbandwas coming home soon drunk as a skunk 🤔

BumbleBee5w · 23/08/2020 14:35

Nope @GisAFag my anger is because I got shouted at. Getting shouted at is a NO in my book. Going out and "leaving me at home with the kids" is fine as it happens the other way around in equal proportions. Hed put the toddler to bed before he went out, I had a relaxing watching crap on the tv

OP posts:
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