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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To expect my husband to stay at home this Christmas

320 replies

Cloudsandrainbows · 24/09/2020 10:55

Sorry this is complicated and long winded, will try to get to the point. I have two children and my husband has another from a previous relationship....which for many reasons I have not seen in 3 years(the mother is very nasty, and always calling the shots, court would make no difference, she's not the sort to listen to a court order, and it's been so long and the relationship between me and this child has been too severely damaged to repair, not to mention the impact on my children to attempt a reconsilliation again), however my husband has still had regular contact every other weekend, and until the pandemic was staying overnight at his parents on those weekends.
With christmas looming I am anticipating the next hurdle. It is his turn to have his other child on Xmas Eve and day. They have for the past 4 years been taking turns rather than having half the day each as previously, which was unfair as my husband had to do all the running around in the middle of our Christmas dinner. 2 years ago, when it was last his turn, I was left heavily pregnant with a 3 year old over Xmas, and decided to go to my mums, which didn't actually help as my then 3 year old still spent hours upon hours crying for her daddy on Christmas Eve, and the whole experience was very upsetting all round. Our youngest will be almost 2 by Christmas and I'm upset for him as well as my 5 year old that they will not have their dad on Christmas day. I understand he wants to see his other child and have no issue with that, but I feel he should be spending the day with us. His other child wouldn't miss out by having Christmas with her mother instead, but our children will be devastated to not have daddy at home. I cannot imagine him telling her mother he can't have her this Christmas or asking to change the arrangements, or her accepting any changes but I feel he needs to put his foot down and do right by us for a change. Am I being unreasonable to expect him to spend Christmas with us instead of his other child?

OP posts:
Cloudfrost · 24/09/2020 12:21

I suppose if the kids are so devastated, another solution is... U miss out on Christmas with husband and kids, and he takes all 3 kids to his parents for Christmas... U knew ur husband had other kids when u met him, and even if things were all rosy with the other kid, u should have consi the possibility of things going south before blending families. While the approach is a bit fucked up I applaud your husband for keeping contact with his other child and spending Christmas with her. Out of the lot of you (you, ex, him), he is the only one acting remotely mature in this mess, trying to be a decent dad. Unless the child is an older teen I doubt that there is truly nothing to be done to fix the relationship between u and the child. Also this entire mess is shit for your kids, as they have a half sibling that they should be having a relationship with

Dunno if this is how u are, but u definitely come off as selfish and resentful

marns · 24/09/2020 12:24

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

reginaphalangeeee · 24/09/2020 12:26

but I feel he needs to put his foot down and do right by us for a change

What about doing right by his other child? Unbelievably selfish. What he should be putting his foot down about is being able to include his child with his family. However this is the situation you have and not sure why you think he should not have Christmas with his child because your children will be upset. It’s not just about your children, there’s another child involved too.

FortniteBoysMum · 24/09/2020 12:27

I would suggest court. These children are siblings and should be able to see each other on Christmas day. On his turn he should be able to take his child to his home same as he should on weekends. His letting the ex have control. End of day if she breached a court order she would face prison.

Hopoindown31 · 24/09/2020 12:28

Well you grownups are all going to have to find a way for your DH to be able to include all his children together in one location (i.e. your home) every other year to get what you want.

Preventing him from seeing his other child at Xmas when he has agreed contact is not a fair solution to this.

Chucklecheeks01 · 24/09/2020 12:29

Is your SD not coming to you because of your relationship with her? Is that why your DH leaves EOW to go to her? Or is her mother stopping her coming?

GarlicMonkey · 24/09/2020 12:30

Go to court & get this sorted. Those siblings should have an opportunity to know each other. And I say that as the mother of children who have never met their 2 half brothers because my (now ex) husband & his ex were terrible parents who wouldn't put their children above their own animosity. Knowing what I know now, I swear the pair of them enjoyed the conflict.

If you SD is, as you say, 'damaged' then the sooner CAFCAS & children's services are instructed to be involved by the court the better. Those poor kids being stuck in the middle of all of this.

OhCaptain · 24/09/2020 12:31

You must know it’s utter madness for your DH to continue this?

Christmas, birthdays, holidays etc. What? You’ll never see your SD? Your DC will never see their sibling?

It’s not doable? What about extended family events?

Proudboomer · 24/09/2020 12:32

A lot of naivety about court orders.
Yes he can go to the court and get an order for every other Christmas but if the mother fails to comply what then?
The only recourse is back to court to apply to have a penal notice attached to the order and then if she still won’t comply then another application for a committal and sending the mother to prison would be the last resort.
This could take years to sort out and what happens to the fathers relationship in the mean time?
I think if you take on a relationship with any partner who has children with a previous partner than you have to be prepared to share him/ her with the existing family and that well mean there are time you are excluded even more so if you continue to have another family with this person.

MouseholeCat · 24/09/2020 12:34

Why is the relationship between you and your stepchild too damaged to repair OP?

I would highly suggest working on that because the obvious solution here is everyone spending Christmas together.

1WildTeaParty · 24/09/2020 12:35

Be kind OP.

This is part of being a successful family.

From the outside:
All the children have their mothers.

His other child never sees the parents together. Yours often do.

Your children have their Ddad most of the time.
His other child only sees him occasionally.

Which child would you rather be?

I get that you want an ideal Christmas but it does seem that (whatever the reasons) to you the other child is an unwanted interloper. This is the family you joined and added to.

I think that you have to be the grown-up here and make sure that you and your children and everyone has the best time possible.

As suggested above, why not organise Christmas as shift-workers have to. Celebrate on a convenient day during the Christmas season and enjoy it.

Don't make your DH choose between his children. (Could you do that with your own?) Find a way to make them all happy- your children too.

WoolyMammoth55 · 24/09/2020 12:39

Hi OP, have voted YABU because (a) as others have noted your kids are small enough to handle a rescheduled Christmas day every other year, and (b) you seem to have no long term plan for how you and your DH are going to raise these 3 kids together for the rest of their childhoods.

If you expect him to choose you over his other child every year then you are both unreasonable and cruel.

I'm afraid that if I was your OH I'd be considering leaving a person so selfish that they couldn't compromise for the well-being of a child. For the sake of you and your own kids you need to get a grip on how to create a loving family unit that includes all the children - or I think there's a ticking bomb under your family. Good luck.

TheOrigBrave · 24/09/2020 12:40

court would make no difference, she's not the sort to listen to a court order

Don't be ridiculous. Granted, she might breach a court order and I know fully well that minor breaches are not taken seriously, BUT continued breaching would result in it become a criminal rather than civil matter and would have serious consequences.

YoBeaches · 24/09/2020 12:42

Use it as an opportunity to repair the situation with dsd. She is caught in the middle of the adults and is missing out on time with her step siblings too.

This isn't a one off, it's every other weekend. Be the grown up and find a way to bring this child back in to your family unit. Leave the mother out of it.

Suzi888 · 24/09/2020 12:42

@Redglitter

His other child wouldn't miss out by having Christmas with her mother instead, but our children will be devastated to not have daddy at home

This doesn't even make sense. So his other child won't lose out by just seeing their Mum on Christmas Day - so same surely applies to your children. Your children will be upset not spending Christmas Day with their Dad - same will apply to the other child.

The other child is just as entitled to see him. Why should your children's feelings trump theirs.

Ultimately your husband needs to grow a pair and get this sorted properly. That way you won't have this problem. Until he does you need to just accept that hell be away every other Christmas Day.

Agree with this. YABU
ZeroFuchsGiven · 24/09/2020 12:46

@TheOrigBrave

court would make no difference, she's not the sort to listen to a court order

Don't be ridiculous. Granted, she might breach a court order and I know fully well that minor breaches are not taken seriously, BUT continued breaching would result in it become a criminal rather than civil matter and would have serious consequences.

My Dp's ex continuously breached court orders, not just with contact but other things too. We are now the resident Parents and she gets EOW ordered by the court.
RomanyBlood · 24/09/2020 12:47

I am confused. Where would he be with his eldest child?

GhoulWithADragonTattoo · 24/09/2020 12:48

YABU but the whole situation is untenable. You need to include SD in your family and build up a good relationship with her I’m your home. You need to be the adult here.

IntermittentParps · 24/09/2020 12:50

YABU, if just for saying 'His other child wouldn't miss out by having Christmas with her mother instead, but our children will be devastated to not have daddy at home'
Why wouldn't his other child not be devastated to not have daddy at home?

pastandpresent · 24/09/2020 12:50

His other child wouldn't miss out by having Christmas with her mother instead

Then maybe your children won't miss out by having Christmas with their mother(you) instead either.

MzHz · 24/09/2020 12:54

If he’s taking his dd to his parents for eow, he can bring her to your home for the weekend or for Christmas

He has a court order, she has no right to withhold and he needs to sort this

Why wouldn’t he want to do this? Situation as it is is bonkers.

snappycamper · 24/09/2020 12:55

@silverwings

How old is the step child and why haven't you seen her for so long? Your husband needs to start making her part of the family.
This. He needs to integrate his elder child into your family?
sapnupuas · 24/09/2020 12:56

Why do you feel your children are more deserving of a Christmas with their dad than the other child?

Genuine question.

CJsGoldfish · 24/09/2020 12:59

Your children will take their cues from you so there is no need for any upset unless it suits you for them to be distressed. It's your influence that will cause that.
Making your husband choose between his children because you believe yours are more 'worthy' is really unfair.

lyralalala · 24/09/2020 13:00

Step-mothers often get a hard time on here, but sometimes it's justified.

This is one of the times

Because it's not just "this Christmas", if you're honest, it'll be the same next Christmas and the one after and the one after.

To say that your DH's dd won't miss out on anything by not seeing her father on Christmas Day, but your children will is just ridiculous. Your children are young enough to have no realisation of Daddy being elsewhere on alternate Christmases isn't just how the world works.

One of two things need to happen here.

If the problem genuinely is the ex wife, then your DH has to man up, spend the money and get into court and fight to be able to build a relationship between his three children.

If the problem is your relationship with your DSD then you all need to get into family mediation and work it out.

Either way you need to quit bullshitting that his DD wouldn't miss out by not seeing her father, but her half-siblings would, your children are not more important than their sibling.