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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To fantasise about being hospitalised because of workaholic husband

159 replies

WatermelonSocks · 24/04/2021 11:02

NC for this.

I’ve been married for 12 years and have two DC. After having my second DC I decided that I would like to be SAHM. It was a joint decision and both of us were happy about it. My husband has always been a hardworking person but after I left my work he turned to an absolute workaholic. He owns a business and expanded it after having out DC2 and it’s been going so well but he always says that if he’s not present there, he’ll lose customers and work won’t be done as it should be. His workers are a bit shit tbh but still, no big damage will happen if you let things go for one day a week!

Weekends, school holidays, bank holidays you name it, he’s working from 8am to 7/8pm. I can count on one hand the number of days he’s been off since last year. And that’s after us nearly “begging” him for it. Most of those days were spent lying down as: 1- No wonder he’s knackered, and I feel rubbish to ask him to do any job around the house, and 2- He takes the days off when the weather is absolutely shitty. He gets busier at work when the weather is nice, and this means we never spend family time outside together enjoying the sunshine.

Financially, we have no problem whatsoever and I believe he CAN afford to take at least one day off a week for us. I’m so sick and tired of being the super mum who manages and does every bloody thing in the house and for the children. That’s definitely not the idea I had about being a SAHM.

My DC1 is now at that stage when he went from being a sweet child to a pre teen challenging most of what I say. My DC2 has always been very very hardwork and is an extremely demanding child. I’m tired, exhausted and lockdown has been a terrible time for me and the children alone all day long at home.

When I talk to him about it, he says that he’s sorry that I’m feeling this way and that he “understands” and will take a day off soon, but that just never happens. He’s very absent in our lives and I feel like I’m unofficially a single mother. Sex life is not great either because I have lost my libido. I always make excuses to avoid sleeping with him as I just don’t feel it. This upsets him the most and it’s making things worse.

I love him and I’m sure he loves me and I appreciate everything he does to give us a good life, but I’m fed up. My family lives abroad and my friends are all working and I feel so alone. Since lockdown I’ve been fantasising about being hospitalised for weeks just to have a break and let him spend time with the kids. I’m genuinely jealous of people who go to hospital for serious illnesses and I can’t tell you how much I really want to be in their shoes. This at least means that he has to be at home and look after the children for once whilst I don’t have to parent, clean the house, cook, take the kids out, monitor the homework, entertain DC2 ...etc

Please tell me if you ever been in my situation, what did you do?

OP posts:
GreenTreeLeaves · 24/04/2021 12:20

Perhaps I'm being harsh, or unsympathetic...but I think YABU. You say you don't want to leave him, that you're used to the lifestyle he provides and don't want to give that up ... so what are you complaining about?

Single parents do all the activities you do with your children, and work.

LadyOfLittleLeisure · 24/04/2021 12:20

@Hopdathelf

So you wanted to stay at home meaning your husband is essentially working for two, and you’re complaining that he’s working too much? He probably feels an enormous pressure to provide for the family and the risk that having only one income brings even if it is considerable. YABU
I think this is totally unfair

I have the being hospitalised fantasy whenever things become overwhelming. It's not rational but apparently quite common. Definitely time to spell out exactly how you feel to him.

provencegal · 24/04/2021 12:22

Op I can tell you by your posts (joking around grin light hearted) that you are being too gentle around this issue.

Be much much firmer.

‘We can’t go on like this any longer I am burnt out, exhausted and genuinely feel envy that others are vein admitted to hospital with serious illness seems to preferential my life. I need you to fully commit to 1.5 days off a week every week without fail. One of those afternoons will be my afternoon off and you will spend some time with the children’

Secondly - you must seriously consider retraining
Or working even very very part time with dc in nursery for some part of the week. If your marriage does fail you will be left in a very vulnerable position, and may become over time unemployable initially. Once you have regained your strength, please think about it.

A blank piece of paper make a list of what your life would like and how to get there. Direction and focus is needed.

Tambora · 24/04/2021 12:25

This isn't just about you, is it? It's about your children too.

cansu · 24/04/2021 12:28

I think maybe part of the problem is that you are bored. If you have no adult company then that becomes very tedious. If you worked, you would have other people around. That said, someone who takes no time off at all and then expects the relationship to be good is kidding themselves. The other side of this though is that you want the lifestyle that his work provides. You don't want to divorce as you have a nice lifestyle and don't need to work. I personally think that depending 100% on a partner for all your financial needs is a bad idea. It leads to an imbalance of power in a relationship. You don't want to rock the boat as he holds all the cards ultimately. It is fairly clear that if you were to split you would struggle financially. He is well aware of this as are you.

guesttest2 · 24/04/2021 12:30

My husband is a workaholic, people use that term lightly but my husband genuinely is completely obsessed with spending every free minute building and maintaining his business. I love him & respect him but my goodness it has caused some arguments over the years! How I have dealt with it is to build a fulfilling life with friends and buying in help (gardener, cleaner, child minder) and insisting we have one week holiday together abroad so he's not able to "nip back to work" My husband is a good man and provider and I have accepted that he will not change. I don't think people fully recognise the commitment it takes to run a successful business and I think we have give credit to those who do. It's not always easy because I have felt unimportant and sidelined in the past but I've recognised that it isn't about me or any lack of love on his part, work just plays a huge role in who he is and how he defines himself.

blacksax · 24/04/2021 12:32

@Hopdathelf

So you wanted to stay at home meaning your husband is essentially working for two, and you’re complaining that he’s working too much? He probably feels an enormous pressure to provide for the family and the risk that having only one income brings even if it is considerable. YABU
Lots of people are SAHP with a partner who works full-time to support their family. Many of them work very long hours.

Not all that many of them become such an extreme workaholic that they work seven days a week for years and never spend any time with their family at all.

This man has effectively abandoned his family to his obsession.

Floweree · 24/04/2021 12:34

I’m genuinely jealous of people who go to hospital for serious illnesses and I can’t tell you how much I really want to be in their shoes.

Fucking hell, what a disgusting thing to say.

If he didn't used to be a workaholic perhaps he either feels he can now as you're about anyway, or is feeling the pressure of being the sole earner. It sounds like this set up isn't working for anyone, talk to him. Get a job.

Miasicarisatia · 24/04/2021 12:34

he's the big I Am at work providing for his family
I agree his priority is keeping his arse wedged firmly in the 'Mr important' seat🙄

provencegal · 24/04/2021 12:39

Your children deserve better.
If nothing else fight for their right to see their father, to know their father.

Perhaps remind him that we reap what we sow. He will have zero relationship with either child if he does not stop now.

They will grow into adults feeling utterly neglected by him.

wizzywig · 24/04/2021 12:39

He finds work more exciting and fulfilling than marriage and family. He uses the next deadline, doing it for the family as a way to justify his behaviour, to make you seem unreasonable

provencegal · 24/04/2021 12:39

I agree with wizzy

PitchImperfect · 24/04/2021 12:40

I felt like this too, then I actually was hospitalised but only for less than 48 hours. I enjoyed the break, but didn't sleep at all & then had several weeks recovery time once home which mostly consisted of me still trying to look after the kids while DH was working. He did take the first couple of days off but then had to get back to it. Being a SAHM post-op is even harder... I wouldn't recommend it as a solution, tbh!

Don't ask me what the solution is though, but if you figure out a way of making a workaholic DH realise how much his attitude affects the rest of the family, please let me know!

Digestive28 · 24/04/2021 12:43

Me DH works for someone like this. He is not a shit worker but his boss cannot comprehend that he wants to leave on time so he can see his family. There is a humility in not being a martyr to your job. Good luck if you solve it know the positive impact will be on his staff as well as your family

Chamomileteaplease · 24/04/2021 12:44

Thinking about what I think is a relationship tactic - try during your chat to ask him to verbalise how he thinks you are feeling about your life, about how he works so much etc.

Getting him to say out loud, himself, how his wife is feeling may cause a shift in his thinking. One can only hope!

Don't let him off the hook, keep talking together. Hopefully this thread has helped you to arrange your thoughts Smile.

MarshaBradyo · 24/04/2021 12:47

My youngest Is two. He offered to pay for nursery a few days a week to give me a break. I just feel that he’s too young for now. I spent 3 years with my eldest at home and it was an amazing experience. My second however, is really hard work.

Take this up. You’re not having the same amazing experience and you will benefit from the break.

ArcheryAnnie · 24/04/2021 12:49

You asked what other women here did. I, too, was unofficially a single mother, so I became officially a single mother and kicked him out. My workload halved because I wasn't picking up after him as well as my small DS. And I was much happier at home, because it was mine and not a bloody hotel.

Love51 · 24/04/2021 12:51

You say your 3 year old is harder than your eldest at the same age. Of course children are different, and you may have rose tinted glasses. But also you weren't raising him in a pandemic when everything was shut. Possibly you were allowed to meet friends and family, not just go to the park alone. Toddler groups, swimming, etc. Don't underestimate how hard the past year has been.
I couldn't cope with a partner working 7 days a week. I'd find negotiating about it hard too. You can't force someone to find balance.

81Byerley · 24/04/2021 12:52

My ex husband was a workaholic. How did he end up? He had a massive stroke and is now disabled, can't speak, and the world has carried on without the business he worked so hard for. Nothing I, or his subsequent two wives said could change him.

grapewine · 24/04/2021 12:56

You clearly need to talk to your husband, but this

I’m genuinely jealous of people who go to hospital for serious illnesses and I can’t tell you how much I really want to be in their shoes.

is just a disgusting thing to say. You clearly have no idea.

Give your head a wobble, send your child to nursery, and get a job.

IceCreamAndCandyfloss · 24/04/2021 12:57

@Hopdathelf

So you wanted to stay at home meaning your husband is essentially working for two, and you’re complaining that he’s working too much? He probably feels an enormous pressure to provide for the family and the risk that having only one income brings even if it is considerable. YABU
Exactly.

You didn’t want to work and are now upset he is working more to make up for that fact. He has four people to support. That’s a huge amount of responsibility. No wonder he took the actions he did. There was a whole salary to make up and an extra person to provide for.

I’d be very cross if DH was moaning about work hours whilst he had opted out of sharing the work load and finances.

grapewine · 24/04/2021 12:58

My job won’t let me afford the life I’m having now with my children.

Right, but then you have a choice to make.

FireUnderpants · 24/04/2021 12:58

You have my sympathy OP, my DH is a similar workaholic.
My snapping point was last year. Our August holiday abroad was cancelled so I decided to book a UK break, he then decided he was too busy to have two weeks off like originally planned, but he was able to give himself a Friday and Monday off. Instead of a fortnight we had a weekend. The whole way London to Cornwall he was on the phone.

I've realised he's happier at work. I don't include him in family things. I can't even dream of a break from the 3 DC. DS is diabetic, dh has no idea how to use his insulin pump, dose for food or treat low blood sugar so it isn't safe to leave him with him.

MarshaBradyo · 24/04/2021 13:01

I’m genuinely jealous of people who go to hospital for serious illnesses and I can’t tell you how much I really want to be in their shoes.

I don’t get how you can wish for this when a paid for nursery break is right there.

Stop being upset about no break and get one.

PicknM1x848 · 24/04/2021 13:02

Look on the Government website
Employees are entitled to a certain amount of paid holiday & some employers provide more than the minimum amount of paid holiday
If he is self employed, he should build this into his work schedule

Why did he have children, if he didn't want to spend any time with his family ?

I agree for your own sanity, that you need time out of the home for yourself, for volunteering, employment (not with your DH) or hobby or a combination of these

He can pay for cleaner, nursery, hobby

You both need to make changes