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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

What type of an ex h had I ?

11 replies

tommytoons · 15/03/2021 13:45

I'm going through therapy due to breakdown of marriage 18 months ago .
I am Trying to process what happened/ where it went wrong /how I contributed to it falling apart so I would appreciate objective opinions and need to get a feel for what type of a man I was married to and if you can relate please.
We may , got pregnant within months and moved in together after six months .
I received a tearful phone call one night from his ex telling me that he would cheat on me too.i ignored that as I had a new baby and couldn't go down that rabbit hole so to speak.
He was studying at the time part time in the evenings after work so there was minimal bonding time with baby . He was always working or studying . I fell into role of housewife pretty quickly. I did 100% housework/ admin/ parenting.
I believed that he was doing this for our future , to climb the ladder so to speak .
We married four years later . He is a quiet man but a ferocious temper . I never experience violence but I remember in play fighting, he got nasty and really kicked me hard, he also pushed me once .
He was shouty and angry. He punched the door one night when drunk as he felt undermined by a colleague when out socialising .
He then started to shout at the children when they misbehaved or didn't do as he said straight away . I always intervened as I would not have him shouting at the kids. They gradually became afraid of him , especially my only son , whom he threatened now and again.
When pushed, he would take them away to the park for an hour . They always without fail came back crying/ fighting / unhappy. It will s almost like he was unable to parent them.
He was tight with money and called all the shots regarding purchases in our house even though I was the main earner. I work full time . He kept changing goalposts about moving house/ buying a doerupper. Always changed his mind last minute.
He was sexually pestering .
He refused for sometimes months at a time to do household jobs that I couldn't eh plumbing/ light bulbs/fixing fixtures , yet wouldn't hear of me employing anyone .
He decided Tonkin the gym. Miraculously he could be home at sox instead of half seven but left after a shower and arrived home at nine when kids were in bed .
He didn't really speak or chat to me or the kids. He
Came home/ ate/ slept/went on his phone or watched tv .
Left late in the morning ( same time as us) but didn't really help out . He could have left much earlier to be home earlier .
He used his annual leave when he wanted to. He wouldn't use them for kids appointments etc.
Always had migraines at weekends... until a social event was mentioned. Then he would be fine and able to go .
I had a panic attack once . Our gp told us that this busyness has to end and he needed to step up essentially. He lasted one day . Back tfrom form day two.
Anyway to end up, he had an affair as he felt he could do nothing right in my eyes ( not untrue- he was useless) and of course I wasn't
As sexually interested as he was. He was quite coercive .... sulky and moody when he didn't get any action/ continuous groping and touching in front of kids ... until my son started to slap my bum too every time he passed me.
He left for his gf.i would have kicked him out anyway . I remember having a weird type a f smile on my face when he said he wouldn't try therapy or family therapy . We have two children with mild sn so I felt I had to try .
If you've got this far, thanks for reading . I'm trying to make sense of it all and I'd appreciate your thoughts .
I know he's done me a favour and I'm in a lovely new relationship with promise but I do need to ensure that I never allow my boundaries to be so eroded again and that I also take Responsibility for My part in the break up . Where was I unreasonable in all of this ? He would have said I was critical and thought I was superior to him . My overriding memory of him
As a husband and father was that I knew that if I asked him
To do something I couldn't , it would either not be done, half done or done
With lots of anger/ cursing and everyone walking on eggshells around him and then
He practically expected a party if this basic job was done eg unblocking a toilet . Sorry for rambling. I'm
Trying to get it all written down .
Sorry it's so long too
Thank you .

OP posts:
marshflamingo · 15/03/2021 13:49

I never experience violence but I remember in play fighting, he got nasty and really kicked me hard, he also pushed me once .

That was violence.

I have no idea why you are berating yourself for the breakup, when it was a good thing that needed to happen. He was and is hideously abusive and no child should have to live in a home like that.

HeyDemonsItsYaGirl · 15/03/2021 13:51

You were married to an abusive man.

Extremelyilluminated · 15/03/2021 13:56

An abusive man .
A man no woman would want.

frazzledasarock · 15/03/2021 13:56

To be fair I’d feel superior to a dickhead who did nothing in the home and didn’t even bring home the higher income.

I’d not want to have sex with someone who kicked me hard and ‘play’ fought with me and pestered me for sex.

One thing I found when I was married to abusive ex, it was turning me into a horrible person also but that was so I could survive.

You’re not at fault. He’s the toxic abusive one.

Well done for getting out of the relationship.

tommytoons · 15/03/2021 14:01

We are apart now 18 months .
Ironically it seems
That he is now being controlled . Kids not allowed to his house as his gf is wfh there and doesn't want to meet children .
He won't answer calls when with her . He doesn't communicate with kids outside of allocated time .
He collects late/ drops early and does everything to avoid having them
Really. He is unemployed due to covid and refuses to take the children . I haven teaching on line and my kids are learn g from home and I told him
My mental health was shot ... he still wouldn't take them.
He will only take kids for one
Week in summer and a couple of days after Christmas . My eldest teen dd refuses to have anything to do with him . It's all a mess . Never thought I was being abused though. He could be kind and sweet at times eg if I was sick

OP posts:
tommytoons · 15/03/2021 14:17

How would you go
Forward with this man
Regarding our
Children. He can't really pay maintenance at the moment either

OP posts:
tommytoons · 15/03/2021 14:53

Anyone else who has experience please

OP posts:
honeylulu · 15/03/2021 16:30

He sounds beyond awful and good riddance! Abusive and jealous of your success.

I'm not sure what you mean by "moving forward with this man" . I'd want as little to do with him as possible. Your teen DD has opted out. How old are the other kids and how many? If all teens or almost teens you don't really need him for childcare. It's pathetic that he doesn't want to see them but it sounds like he's always been pathetic so at least he's consistent. You can't change him now. He's some other woman's problem.

Get a CMS claim sorted. Whilst he's on benefits you'll only get something like £5 a week but hey you're entitled to it and the claim will rise if he starts earning.

And as for him saying you think you're superior to him well, yes, he's right isn't he?

DayBath · 15/03/2021 19:20

Second the CMS claim idea, never try and arrange anything unofficially, always go through the proper channels so that he can't use non payment as a way to control you, if h decides not to pay the debt will always hang over him with CMS.

Honestly he sounds like an abusive narcissist. It doesn't sound like you did anything wrong, but I would always be on the lookout for similar traits in new partners and see them as a red flag. I would also be very hard line when it comes to a bad temper. One minute it's the wall that's being punched but it's only a matter of time until that becomes you.

HomeSliceKnowsBest · 15/03/2021 19:25

A cunt OP. That's the type of man he is.

MuddleMoo · 15/03/2021 19:44

CMS and has hard as it will be it sounds like it is for the best that he has so little contact with your children. Flowers

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