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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Is my marriage worth saving?

34 replies

buffalowing · 19/09/2020 23:08

I don't want to drip feed nor do I have 3 hours to write it all down!

My husband hasn't been the same since we had our 3 year old. My feeling is that he was used to effectively being a single man who done what he liked then we had a kid and I expected family life. He's never enjoyed spending time with me but I didn't realise this till we had our boy. We've had lots of ups and downs in the last 3 years. Iv asked him to leave. He won't go as he says he has no money and nowhere to go. I moved to NI at 19 to be with him. I have no family here and he refuses to move to Scotland where my family are. Iv taken sick from work and moved back to mums and he's came crawling and Iv came back on the promise things will change but when we get back to real life he goes back to his ways. He struggles to spend time with me, he has cut off his family and has never held a proper relationship with anyone other than his friends.

I'm desperate for love. I know I can be hard work at times but honestly no more than anyone else's wife. He's messy, dirty, doesn't spend time with me, doesn't understand I need affectionate and doesn't communicate. I am genuinely a fun person, I'm upbeat and full of energy, I want to have fun and go on day trips and cuddle on the couch at night in front of a film. Yes I 'nag' about some things but I'm not the worst. It just feels like he hates me and in the last year I have grown so much from that. I used to need him. Now I don't. I don't know if I want him. I just know that when it's good, it's nice. Our 3 year old adores him and we have fun. I know he is different and needs his own space and can't be fun all the time - that's fine. I give him space and he's out almost every night with his 2nd job (that he chooses to do, I don't see any money from it but he enjoys it) or football/golf/pub with his mates. He has no interest in spending one on one time with me. He just wants to watch tv and if I talk through it he sighs and pauses till Iv finished talking and then presses play with only saying yes/no/ok.

We have had 2 nights out/overnight since our boy was born but he isn't interested in having a babysitter unless it involves going out with our friends. I just feel like there is so much more to life. I am at an age now where I know someone could give me so much more and what I have to give is wasted on him. I'm so reluctant to end it as it means a different life for our boy and it means me starting all over again. I'm sad. I'm unhappy. I have spent the last year realising that I don't need anyone to make me happy but I want someone to share my life with. I want someone to be happy with and I'm scared of starting all over again.

The last 3 years have been awful. I spent my maternity leave fighting with him to spend time with me. The last 2 years I have grown and matured like I didn't think I ever could, I have realised I don't need anyone. I can and have done it on my own. I am strong and have got my confidence back. I used to second guess myself about everything in case he or anyone else judged me but now I don't give a fuck. I do me.

I just don't know if it's worth saving. We have so much resentment towards each other without even speaking. I know he has issues with self esteem and confidence that he doesn't even realise himself but everytime I speak I am wrong. He hates me for being right. He isn't on my side. He's not on anyone's team so everything is a battle. It just seems so hard to leave and to move - he won't go and has told me he will never leave.

Is there something different I can do or make him realise a marriage is being on the same team as someone? Is there any point?

I love him when he's being nice. I love the man he can be 10% of the time. Is that enough?

OP posts:
Eekay · 19/09/2020 23:11

10% is definitely not enough! Life's too short for this crap. Get out and start living a happy life with DC.

GreatestShowUnicorn · 19/09/2020 23:12

Have my first LTB

BlueJay99 · 19/09/2020 23:16

There is more to life. You'll have a better time without him and hopefully find someone who appreciates you (and your son) and spending time as a couple and as a family.

He's had enough chances. You might as well do it once and for all and LTB.

mayflowerapplepie · 19/09/2020 23:16

You want him to be something he is not. It was entirely selfish of him to have a child with you (and possibly naive on your part) but I think you are trying to force him into being this acceptable partner and he just never will be. Don’t waste your time any more

billy1966 · 19/09/2020 23:32

Total waster.
Move home.
Don't waste any more time.
3 years is enough.
Get your act together and move on.Flowers

happythankyoumoreplease · 19/09/2020 23:32

Life's too short to waste wishing this loser will change.

1Morewineplease · 19/09/2020 23:38

He really doesn't deserve you.
You need to do what is best for you and your children.

Thedogscollar · 19/09/2020 23:45

Please don't give him any more chances or any more of your time. He isn't going to change and he will never make you happy. You want and deserve 100%. Do not settle for a measly 10%

buffalowing · 19/09/2020 23:48

Thank you for your comments. I can't say I'm surprised at your responses. I'm sad tho. Iv lived this life for so long that I'm scared to leave it.

For me it means changing jobs, country, schools, friends, everything. He won't go so I have to. I don't see the point in staying in NI when I'm so lonely. It makes sense to go back home and have my family around me but iv lived here for 15 years since I was a teenager, it's a big move. I think if it was less of a move I'd be ok with it. I'd be happy to move somewhere down the road but that's not realistic. What's the point. I spend my life booking flights and with covid Iv not even had the pleasure of chatting to family in a garden. Yes we FaceTime and zoom but as time goes on it gets less and less and it's not the same.

OP posts:
Thedogscollar · 20/09/2020 00:00

Any change can be daunting but this change is going to benefit both you and your son so much. You will probably wished you had done it earlier.
Good luck with everything. Please don't let him change your mind. You can and have to do thisFlowers

N0tfinished · 20/09/2020 00:03

Definitely go. Also, it would be better for your son to go before school starts, as it would involve less upheaval. Now is the time. Can you honestly see it getting any better?

billy1966 · 20/09/2020 00:05

OP, of course it is daunting but think about whether you wish to be in this EXACT same position 10 years from now, posting the same thread...

That's the question.

With only a 3 year old, you must be young.

You have one life.
So precious.
Don't waste it.
Flowers

buffalowing · 20/09/2020 00:21

I do wish I had done it earlier. I would never change anything as I wouldn't have my son but I wish I could see him through the eyes I have now. I was young, naive and vulnerable when I met him. He's not a bad man but he's not kind.

I'm 34 and he's 41. He's never going to change and I know that but I also see he's made a slight improvement since things were really bad a few years ago. He doesn't see how unkind he is sometimes, I genuinely don't think he means it but he could do so much better too.

I think I just feel apprehensive that when I go he will realise and he will change but I know that when I go I won't come back. I just want him to realise now and make amends. I know he doesn't want to lose us but he doesn't understand how hard he makes life for me. Iv sat tonight looking up what marriage is and what it means. It doesn't mean fighting every minute of every day or having attitude every time someone speaks to you. I hate this I really do.

OP posts:
Thedogscollar · 20/09/2020 00:24

Keep your last sentence from your last post in your head. You do not want up lead a life you hate every day and your son deserves a better life too.

user186428036428936 · 20/09/2020 00:25

I genuinely don't think he means it

Really? Or is that what you wish was true?

buffalowing · 20/09/2020 00:43

I really wish it was true but I think a really small part of him wants to be better too. I'm just so tired of trying to help him through whatever fight he is having. It's just so hard treading on egg shells around him. I don't think he even knows why he's like this

OP posts:
Ponoka7 · 20/09/2020 01:26

Stop focusing on him and finding excuses for his behaviour. Start focusing on you and your quality of life. Your 30's a time of increasing confidence and knowing what you want. Your sex life should be at its peak. You're not getting to experience what you should be, don't waste anymore of it. You'll look back and regret it. Now is the time to get your life in order as you hit your 40's. Stay with him and you are going to be thoroughly miserable as you get to your peri-menopause. It will effect how you are as a Mum.

1forAll74 · 20/09/2020 01:43

You really should separate, as this kind of life, and marriage upset, is always damaging to the person who is always on the receiving end of all the issues. i know it's not easy to start up somewhere else again, as in where to live,and financially etc. But you are very unhappy now,, what would be the final tipping point , where you can no longer live this way anymore?

I am sure there are hundreds of women, who will stick around in a not good marriage, thinking that things might get better, but things rarely change for the better in most cases.

TheVamoosh · 20/09/2020 01:46

Is there something different I can do or make him realise a marriage is being on the same team as someone? Is there any point?

No

I love him when he's being nice. I love the man he can be 10% of the time. Is that enough?

No

TheVamoosh · 20/09/2020 01:56

I'll be honest with you - I skimmed over some of the details because when you get to the point that you have this many issues in a relationship, the ins and outs of "who does what and why and what could be done differently", are no longer relevant. It seems to me that you are dealing with an impossible person who cannot be reasoned with and will turn everything around to make it your fault. Unless you want to live on this emotional rollercoaster for the rest of your life, constantly scrutinising your own behaviour and analysing his reactions to it, you need to end it. Don't enter into any discussion with him about why, just tell him you want out of the relationship. I realise this is very hard - I've got a close friend in a very similar situation who has left twice and keeps getting sucked back in.

IdblowJonSnow · 20/09/2020 01:59

Go back to your own family and friends OP. This is mo life for you and that situation wont do your son any good either as he grows up.
Go as soon as you can so you dont have to move schools etc.

Torvean32 · 20/09/2020 02:12

Im sorry i dont think there is anything there to save.
Ive had more suppirtive relationships from flatmates.

Can you move home to have your family support? Just dont take him back if he comes crawling again.

timeisnotaline · 20/09/2020 02:45

Go back now op so you can settle your son into a school. This is not enough.

ArranBound · 20/09/2020 03:07

He's already demonstrated to you that he won't change. Do you want to be miserable for the rest of your life? Your son will grow up seeing the dynamic between you two and thinking this is how men behave with their partners.
The only way you're going to change things is to move back to be with your own family, get a new job and get your son into a new nursery or school.
Sending best wishes for a better future for you and your son.

VickySunshine · 20/09/2020 03:42

What do you think you should do ?

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