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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

DH lost laptop and now assignment will be late

417 replies

FuckingFabulous · 08/02/2021 09:22

Ok, before I start, he's not horrible and I don't need to LTB. He has ADHD, but at the moment I'm too cross to consider that relevant, even though it definitely is.

I have an assignment due at midday on Wednesday for my degree. I already had a weeks extension because I'm a carer for DD and her condition has been worsening lately. I've been called by the hospital this morning and been given a last minute appointment for our DD, so she is going into hospital tomorrow for tests and I'm accompanying her. I intended to shut myself away with my notes and drafts today, get it all typed up, edit and send. DH knows this was my plan anyway, but I would probably have proofread on Tuesday and then sent. Due to the high needs of DD, this one day "off" to type everything from my notes works well for me.

Anyway. I've gone to get my laptop. It's not there. DH was the last person to use it to update his CV about a fortnight ago. I asked DH for it but he said he wasn't sure where he had put it and he didn't know if he'd be able to find it. He then went into a massive speech about how we both need to organise and sort our bedroom today and that he can't be expected to do it on his own, that the laptop is likely to be in any one of the stacks of stuff in there.

He only can't find it because over the last week he has taken it upon himself to create piles and piles of shit everywhere in our bedroom (clothes he was sorting, tools he was sorting, paperwork he was sorting, stuff for the loft he was sorting) and as much as it pisses me off, I've not helped him because he did half a job like always and expected me to project manage and do most of it myself. I took a stand and told him that this is not my problem to sort, it's his, and then did nothing except remind him that it's not going to sort itself (while inwardly seething about it and pep talking myself into ignoring all the stuff).

He's definitely not the type to hide my laptop so I have to help him sort the mess he's created, he's more likely to have simply bundled it into his piles of random stuff and didn't pay attention to where.

But I'm fuming. Absolutely fucking fuming. I've gone upstairs and DH is just sitting on the edge of the bed staring at all his stacks, obviously overwhelmed by the huge amount of work he's created for me himself and waiting for me to come and sort it all out!! I feel he's been totally inconsiderate, both of my course and of my belongings, and I'm feeling very upset, very unsupported and very fucking angry!! I've just had to ask my tutor for another extension, which makes me look bad and makes me feel like a piss taker. I am so angry. I've told DH that I am feeling this way and that he can get on with finding my laptop and he's still not moved but is now giving me the silent treatment.

AIBU to expect him to damn well find it?! And to apologise for this extra stress he's created?

OP posts:
Sheepies · 08/02/2021 20:30

Glad you found it OP. My DB was the same growing up, we had a box in the dining room and anything he borrowed he would put back in there. He could deal with having one place to put stuff, and we were a lot less stressed turning the house upside down regularly!

RavingAnnie · 08/02/2021 20:32

Yay! Glad you found the laptop!

Perhaps have a rule that he's not allowed to borrow your laptop at all. Sounds harsh but if it's that vital for your course maybe it needs to be off limits so this doesn't happen again. There's no way he can guarantee that he won't place it somewhere random again (without thinking) at a vital moment for you so you have this stress again.

I have ADHD btw. I wouldn't want responsibility for something so important to someone else. He should have his own laptop that he can then leave where he wants.

One further thought - I found this book amazing for ADHD friendly organisation tips. The best book I've read and has really helped me at home:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1592335128/ref=cmswwrcppawdbimmmt1V0JPA9QCXBY9WEBT917H

And he really has to stop the major organisation all at once. I have done this soooo many times and have realised I have to do small bits at a time. Otherwise I end up with EVERYTHING out everywhere and then lose all momentum and get really overwhelmed and don't know what to do with anything. And then it sits there for weeks and weeks. No massive sort outs needs to be the rule.

And if you need to do one, do a planned one together. I find it much easier to sort the garage for example if my husband is able to help keep me on track and focussed on the task and not get sidetracked and also he helps when I get stuck and don't know what to do with something. Which can lead to buffering.

Anyway waffling again. So will go now. Hope some of that helps!

MrsTerryPratchett · 08/02/2021 20:39

I have ADHD and so does DD. Poor DH. Even the dog is an anxious rescue so he's surrounded with scatterbrains.

I would NEVER borrow something precious of DH's and put it in a random box. Absentmindedly on the side? Yes. In a box? No.

I have places for things, that works. But I'm always losing things. Except for DH's things. I don't lose them for him. And if I did that habitually, I'd stop borrowing them. You have to manage your traits. You can't expect others to do that for you.

DH puts up with a lot. He actually refers to my attempts to find things as 'Terry Looking'. It involves me randomly looking, shouting "DH where's the... never mind" as I almost immediately find it as soon as I ask him. I actually say, "I really looked this time not just Terry Looked" if I need his help.

He needs to manage his traits. The rest of us do.

FuckingWaffleDoggy · 08/02/2021 20:53

Some of these posts make me really sad for the future. My 8 year old has adhd and I can see this being him in 20 years time. Hopefully the world is a better place with more acceptance and understanding by then.

Glad you have it back OP and here's to a good grade BrewDaffodil

Wolfcub · 08/02/2021 20:56

Really glad you found the laptop op and I hope the essay and dd's hospital stay goes well. I also hope that skip gets filled and you get your bedroom back. I'm really sorry to read the absolutely shitty comments from some posters, personally I think you're amazing and many would have collapsed by now juggling what you are juggling.

Oblomov21 · 08/02/2021 21:16

It's not his ADHD I have a problem with. Many of my friends children have ADHD. It's his lack of respect for you. And that is a totally separate issue.

JollyGreenGiantess · 09/02/2021 00:27

@JackieWeaverIsTheAuthority

I mean, she could see the crap was building, And let it happen. You don’t just get to deflect all responsibility when you could have done something to prevent it.
You read the part about her seriously ill, high care needs little girl? You think that may have played a part in why she couldn’t physically drape herself across the door and stop the piles from developing?
MissMarpleDarling · 09/02/2021 00:39

He needs to sort his stuff out and find it. You are not his mother ffs.

ThatchersCold · 09/02/2021 01:21

You sound really lovely OP. I can sense how much you love your DH and how accepting you are of his ADHD despite the frustrations it causes. I have ASD and my last and current partners have both been the same, they know I have my quirks and I get they must be annoying as hell but they have both managed to learn to live with them and navigate around them, and still love me regardless, because that’s not the sum total of who I am.

Hope your DD is ok and good luck with the degree.

MumInBrussels · 09/02/2021 05:06

I'm so glad you found it! Hope you got your essay done and managed to get some sleep , too. And I hope everything goes ok for your daughter in hospital.

I don't know much about ADHD, but when things calm down a bit, maybe it would be worth sitting down with your husband and coming up with a plan of things you both could do that would help him cope better with the things he finds challenging. He can do the thinking and deciding what will help, you're there to keep the thinking as focused as possible and write down the list of stuff that needs to be done. The vast majority of stuff on this list should be actions he needs to take, not things you need to do - he's a grown up, he needs to manage his issues himself, albeit with support from you. It's not ok for him to blame you for things going wrong and him being unable to deal with it, like he did when he was having a strop earlier, he's not a child lashing out at mummy because he's disappointed or feeling guilty. He needs, with your help, to come up with a plan for stopping things from getting to this point again - a sort of structure for his life that supports him and helps him so his best, the way the army made one for him, but that doesn't involve you in the role of drill sergeant (or whatever the term is, I'm v much not a military person, sorry!)

I'd tell him now that you'd like to do this, while he still remembers how bad today was, although you've obviously both got a lot more immediate issues to deal with. I hope today goes ok!

Sunflowergirl1 · 09/02/2021 05:54

I haven't read the whole thread...but why are you not using OneDrive? You could then recover it by going in through web access?

FuckingFabulous · 09/02/2021 07:38

@Sunflowergirl1

I haven't read the whole thread...but why are you not using OneDrive? You could then recover it by going in through web access?
Because I hadn't even typed it? It was all in written draft and notes which I do when I've got a bit of time in the evenings. It works better for me. I needed the laptop to type up my draft and send it.
OP posts:
Godimabitch · 09/02/2021 08:10

OP you're letting his ADHD excuse too much bad behaviour. And honestly, it's clearly not helping either of you.
ADHD makes it harder to organise yourself, not impossible, just harder. If one of your kids found maths harder than the other would you just allow them to put the wrong answers? Or would you make them work harder to get it right?

There is no logic behind putting your laptop in a box of books in the loft, none, he should have seen your laptop stopped what he was doing and put it away where it belongs. It was easier to put it in a box that was near him at the time.

I have autism, it makes life hard, but I alone am responsible for that difficulty. I've never asked my husband for any kind of leeway for my behaviour, I expect to be held to the same standards as any other person, anything else would be insulting.

Your husband is capable of managing his own difficulties, if it was important enough, which includes getting medication if that's what it takes. He cant expect to be this chaotic, destructive presence in your lives and just say "well now you've been nasty to me I've lost all motivation to fix my own mistake"

FuckingFabulous · 09/02/2021 08:20

Ok, I think people are misinterpreting here. He didn't go into the loft to find a random box to put my laptop in. That would definitely not make sense. He had lots of boxes down from the loft and lots of things he was chaotically "sorting". I personally had sorted a box of books and I'd put it to one side to list on eBay- and because it has my previous module set texts in it, he thought it made sense to put my laptop with what he assumed were my books. Then, in the continuing chaos he created, forgot he had done that and put that box of books into the attic with a few other boxes he took up there. He didn't just think the attic was the perfect place for my laptop.

OP posts:
Misandrylovescompany · 09/02/2021 08:29

You’re welcome, OP.

FirewomanSam · 09/02/2021 09:18

I’m so glad you found it OP! Good luck with your essay. Sounds like you have SO much on your plate right now and hats off to you. I’m studying myself and don’t have half the crap going on that you do, but still finding it so so hard to focus and concentrate with everything going on in the world!

Your post reminded me a lot of some very frustrating experiences with my ex. He didn’t have ADHD as far as I know, he was just a bit of a useless twat, but he would regularly declare that we needed to have a ‘massive clear out and tidy up’, pull loads of stuff out of the cupboards and make a huge mess, then mysteriously slink off and leave me to clear it up. I’d then find him sat alphabetising his CDs or polishing all the glasses in the kitchen in a very leisurely fashion, claiming that this was him ‘helping’ while I did all the actual tidying and sorting. Reading your thread brought it all back!

worried3012 · 09/02/2021 09:33

More importantly OP did you get your assignment done?

BlokeHereInPeace · 09/02/2021 09:51

So much ignorance here - he's a grown up, he needs to manage his issues himself - as if it were that simple. If the oven rule works, introduce some others that you have to follow too - 'FF's keys must be on the hook before I go to work' sort of rules. But yes he does need to revisit the meds, that is only fair to you, OP.

FuckingFabulous · 09/02/2021 09:59

Mostly. I've got until Friday now, but I intend to submit at my original deadline of tomorrow if I can.

My DD's appointment has just been cancelled, so I'm pretty enraged about that. They call us for a last minute, we get prepared, then just as I'm getting her in the car, the plans change again! Now I have a very distressed DD 😔

OP posts:
DeeCeeCherry · 09/02/2021 10:11

Yanbu, I think the people saying just go and do it yourself are missing the point that he seems to always be getting you to sort out his mess ups. But I'd be more pissed off that he wasnt trying to find it, than the initial losing it. However don't cut off your nose to spite your face if you think you can find it quicker than him

^^This

Never ceases to amaze me how quickly the default is to make a problem caused by a man, a woman's fault and/or responsibility to resolve.

Yes OP can and would be best off finding laptop herself, but lecturing her for posting about her upset(!) + completely missing the point that there's loads of stuff lying around because he's put it there, shows how deep the male-focused conditioning is. It wouldn't look like loads of stuff if it had been left stored away, would it?🙄

youvegottenminuteslynn · 09/02/2021 10:55

@DeeCeeCherry

Yanbu, I think the people saying just go and do it yourself are missing the point that he seems to always be getting you to sort out his mess ups. But I'd be more pissed off that he wasnt trying to find it, than the initial losing it. However don't cut off your nose to spite your face if you think you can find it quicker than him

^^This

Never ceases to amaze me how quickly the default is to make a problem caused by a man, a woman's fault and/or responsibility to resolve.

Yes OP can and would be best off finding laptop herself, but lecturing her for posting about her upset(!) + completely missing the point that there's loads of stuff lying around because he's put it there, shows how deep the male-focused conditioning is. It wouldn't look like loads of stuff if it had been left stored away, would it?🙄

This x 1000000!
CharityDingle · 09/02/2021 11:13

Sorry to hear your DD has had her appointment cancelled.

BlackeyedSusan · 09/02/2021 11:29

Glad you found the lap top, eventually, sorry about the appointemnt.

LittleOwl153 · 09/02/2021 12:39

Glad everything has been found. Sorry to hear about the appointment. I understand how frustrating that is with an SEN kid.

A suggestion. Get a filing cabinet or other lockable piece of furniture to store things like your work/laptop in and anything else importnant enough you need to lay your hands on it quickly or know where it is when you need it. Use a combination lock perhaps so he can't move the keys. Do not tell him the combination!
Whilst I appreciate that means you taking responsibility for him moving stuff it will take some ofnthe stresses of the impact of such things on you. It sounds as though you have enough to handle as it is!!

diddl · 09/02/2021 12:52

"Never ceases to amaze me how quickly the default is to make a problem caused by a man, a woman's fault and/or responsibility to resolve."

Yup-he just needs to be leaving your stuff alone!

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