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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think he is a prick or am I being petulant.

267 replies

deeplydisappointed · 01/09/2022 22:07

Granted , I'm exhausted and hormones are fucked so I didn't say much on our two hour journey in the car.
We have arrived at our destination , a pretty town renowned for its food and atmosphere and are staying ina. Stunning hotel.
We have business to attend to in this town tomorrow.
My partner and I are together for the last two years. We don't live together but spend every weekend together.
We both have kids and full time work etc.
For the last year, he has been coming to mine as he essentially lost his home to divorce and rents are so astronomical that firstly a house cannot be got and secondly , he couldn't afford one for himself and his kids, on top of maintenance etc.
He lives with family for now.
So he has come to mine every weekend.
This is not a problem. I loathe to leave my home at weekends when my kids are at their dads and my partner and we split costs well.
I do crave a weekend away or a holiday but for many reasons that I won't go into, it's not possible. He is presently unwell.

So we are here and when we get here, despite staying in a stunning room in a stunning town, he lays on the bed and flicks on the tv. I also lay on the bed. I'm wrecked and again very unbalanced hormonally.
He passed some comments when I got excited about being here , to the effect of ... it's only a bed/ hotel room.

We're not even paying for it .. company card!

I felt he was a fun sponge and said it.
I said a few hours ago that i wasn't hungry right then when he asked about dinner plans.
Then after nine, I asked what we'd do for dinner.
He announced that the bar was closed( for food)
He knew this, I didn't .
He doesn't have a great appetite right now.
We had an argument.
He suggested I take his car and drive up town to get food for myself.
I feel like finishing with him.
The thoughtlessness, the selfishness and the pure self absorption.
I just want to go home but we have to stay for this event tomorrow .
AIBU ?

OP posts:
WanOvaryKenobi · 02/09/2022 12:16

Sounds like the bigger problem is that he's a bit of a loser.

AchatAVendre · 02/09/2022 12:21

giveovernate · 02/09/2022 11:07

@AchatAVendre have you read the OPs posts?

Oh god, its the "Have you read" post.

Yes, I have read all of the posts 4 times, taken detailed notes and am currently writing up a paper on them.

To be fair, this type of user can be quite hard to spot as they are very insidious and people tend to assume the best of other people. If you haven't experienced it before, then its easy to feel sorry for them. tbh though I'm not so desperate for a man that I would be running around hosting them, nursing them, booking dinner for them and staying silent so as not to disturb their tv watching.

The OP goes on to write:

We are finished our work. We were due to spend the weekend at a friends house on our own.
He is not speaking to me and says he has nothing to say to me.
I asked if he wanted to go back to his family's home as I didn't want to be stonewalled for the weekend and he said he did so he has driven me home and left without a word said. He has form for this.

So in other words, if the OP doesn't run about fixing this, he will do nothing and the relationship is finished. Its passive, controlling behaviour.

He knows I love romance but even to take the lead and be proactive on anything would satisfy me. He's not romantic whatsoever.
If I dont organise stuff, it's not done and that includes all his medical correspondence and work stuff since his illness.
Neglected my self and my own needs for his and then snapped when a relatively simple thing happened that demonstrates how much of a fool I've been and how taken for granted I am.

He isn't marriage or even relationship material OP. This man is basically homeless, with no permanent base of his own. He's probably on the look out for some woman he can move in with if she is passive enough not to object and then provide free housekeeping services. I think you are waking up now to what a user he is and that can be a bit of a shock and cause someone to snap. He doesn't even care enough to try and fix it. I just wouldn't bother any more OP. He's not worth it.

Its like the 1930s on here today.

rogueone · 02/09/2022 12:22

Well i would have been very disappointed too. Going away for a weekend whether work related or not should have been exciting for you both. I would have expected to have plans and headed out to a restaurant or something. The idea of simply arriving in a hotel room and hanging out there with a bloke who was happy sat watching TV would have pissed me off. Especially given that he arrives at your home every weekend and does the same thing. Even after 20yrs my OH and i throw ourselves into any break we can get from the DC and have a blast. I wouldn't be staying with someone who sucks the joy out of everything

deeplydisappointed · 02/09/2022 12:35

To hear him singing away in the shower without a care when he thought I couldnt hear and for him then to come out and ignore me completely after telling me we were going home , hurt me very much.
Too true, if I dont run after him , it's over in his eyes.
This is how he communicates in argument and we had a really big chat about this where I told him how important it was for us to thrash out mistakes and disagreements but here we go again.
One thing I hate is being deliberately ignored and stonewalled. He knows this.
I think I'm done.

OP posts:
Aprilx · 02/09/2022 12:51

deeplydisappointed · 02/09/2022 07:26

Thanks everybody.
He's refusing to speak to me because I left the room and him for two hours.
Just want to go home now.

I don’t blame him! You sulked on the drive over, declined his attempt to make dinner plans, decide you want to eat at a time when any grown up knows food service is likely to have finished and then go off for a two hour strop.

I honestly cannot believe you are asking if it him that is being a prick.

Aprilx · 02/09/2022 12:53

rogueone · 02/09/2022 12:22

Well i would have been very disappointed too. Going away for a weekend whether work related or not should have been exciting for you both. I would have expected to have plans and headed out to a restaurant or something. The idea of simply arriving in a hotel room and hanging out there with a bloke who was happy sat watching TV would have pissed me off. Especially given that he arrives at your home every weekend and does the same thing. Even after 20yrs my OH and i throw ourselves into any break we can get from the DC and have a blast. I wouldn't be staying with someone who sucks the joy out of everything

Did you miss the bit where he has a chronic illness and also tried to make dinner plans?

deeplydisappointed · 02/09/2022 12:56

I did not sulk. I was sleepy and I did not go off on a strop. I got food and stayed away from the room and him because I couldn't bear to be lying next to him watching footie On yet another weekend just in a different room.
I suggested we go for lunch yesterday to a place we both enjoyed before. It was a ten mile trip. Nope. Conversation closed.

It has dawned on me that he is a joy sucker and it's his way or no way. There is no room for me to be unwell, low mood, sick or sore.

I think these responses serve to help me realise that I have put his needs above my own for so long and when I needed care and consideration, he didn't show up for me.
I think that's the bottom line.

OP posts:
finalpunt · 02/09/2022 12:59

@deeplydisappointed If you are done then you are done but I have read the whole thread honestly neither of you are acting like you are in a loving committed relationship.

Honestly when I read your posts it reminded me of me and dh in our earlier years, I was all about the romance and great expectations and then got more disappointed each time I felt like he had let me down or ruined something. Looking back it was in part my own fault.

I can just imagine me having got myself moody because he is ruining what I thought was going to be something and then stropping off on my own, disappointed and feeling sorry for myself. Him then in a mood with me because I had buggered off and left him.

DH is not bothered about eating out - he doesn't do food shopping or meal prep or cooking at all really so to him every night is like going out for dinner. I love going out, I love trying new food, taking ages over the menu - someone else cooking.

I think everyone is in a bit of a rut post covid as we all seemed to accept that staying in was the new going out, has taken us a while to get back into a bit - and I did go for meals a few times during pandemic when we could.

But I don't think you are really specific and clear either, some of this may be due to your hormones or just being fed up of life.

What is it you want? If it is to go out more then you need to explain very clearly. You say though that you don't really like going out when the kids aren't there. You contradict yourself throughout and that is probably because you feel conflicted.

Just be specific. Both of you need to have a grown up conversation about where this is heading and what you both really want and go from there or you are both of you are wasting time.

deeplydisappointed · 02/09/2022 13:03

Sorry @finalpunt I didn't really mean to come across as conflicted or conflicting.
I'm trying to work this out in my head as I don't want to talk to anyone irl about this today.
I feel I cared for and taken for granted the more I think about it.
I'm mad with myself as I've put him first before me and I now feel exhausted, sick and sore.
Five people that I am really close to have advised me repeatedly lately to start looking after myself.
I can now see the pattern and the reasons why

OP posts:
deeplydisappointed · 02/09/2022 13:04
  • don't feel cared for,that should read
OP posts:
CheapBeersFilledwithCrocodileTears · 02/09/2022 13:30

Honestly, OP, you don’t look great here. I have both complete hormonal withdrawal (adrenal damage so I’m going through not just menopause, no estrogen, no progesterone, but also lost all the hormones your adrenal glands “tell” your body to make) AND I’ve had viral meningitis about four times (it’s caused by a medication I take). So let me lay it out for you. First, a paragraph you’ll hate, and then one you’ll like.

First of all, you don’t come out covered in glory. You sound a bit self-centered; sorry. But the second someone SAYS, “Me, I like romance,” I think their partner will be set up to fail. Because it should normally be an unnecessary thing to say; EVERYONE likes to be loved and appreciated. People who say that stuff always seem to demand the kind of “gestures” that have fuck all to do with healthy relationships. And I doubt your “hormonal imbalance” or being “fucked up hormonally” has anything to do with this. I’m going through it in my 30s, so no one has any patience with me acting a complete stroppy bitch and then saying, “Oh, it’s just menopause,” even if menopause has a list of symptoms. And people who are still raising young children when menopause hits CAN’T act like that; what are you going to do? Be sullen and quiet with your seven year old? Go off in a strop and leave a six year old alone? And yes, there are actual medical menopause symptoms - brain fog, insomnia, hot flashes - and then there are things we HAVE to control because we’re bloody adults and we control our moods and they don’t control us. Of course it’s difficult, and menopause may make it more difficult, but we don’t have a choice, because we’re adults, and we’re expected to treat others well. Menopause certainly doesn’t give anyone carte blanche to treat others like shite, or to be a bitch, and people won’t put up with it for long. They won’t care that your excuse is “hormones.” They just won’t.

NOW. With all of that said, no, your partner is not still recovering from viral meningitis. It’s not the dangerous type of meningitis. Viral, or aseptic, meningitis can’t kill you at all (it’s the other type, bacterial meningitis, that’s such a worry). “Viral” meningitis just gives you the worst headache you’ve ever had in your entire life, so bad you think it must be a stroke or a brain bleed, and you think it must kill you, and you probably vomit for a while, which hurts even more, and then eventually after a few days, when the inflammation in your meninges goes down, so does the headache. But then you keep having headaches and feel like shite for about another month. Maybe two months, absolutely maximum. And even in those two months, it’s not every day. They’re headaches that come and go. After that… you’re fine. It’s not like chronic fatigue. You don’t feel it for six months. And if you do, then maybe you’ve picked up post-viral chronic fatigue, and should see the neurology consultant again. So if he’s like this after six months… maybe something changed in him, maybe he was always like this and being locked down kept you from seeing it for a while… I don’t know. But it’s not because he has an illness IF it’s only one case of viral meningitis six months ago. And if he’s not complaining of headaches, then this REALLY has nothing to do with the viral meningitis.

Just break up and get it over with. It all sounds toxic; if you assume he intentionally withheld the restaurant closing time from you, and you’re using words like stonewalling, it’s time to fucking end it. Though it sounds like you need to sort some things out (if you really feel you cannot control your emotions, see a counselor) before seeing anyone else.

Backtobacknow · 02/09/2022 13:42

AchatAVendre · 02/09/2022 12:21

Oh god, its the "Have you read" post.

Yes, I have read all of the posts 4 times, taken detailed notes and am currently writing up a paper on them.

To be fair, this type of user can be quite hard to spot as they are very insidious and people tend to assume the best of other people. If you haven't experienced it before, then its easy to feel sorry for them. tbh though I'm not so desperate for a man that I would be running around hosting them, nursing them, booking dinner for them and staying silent so as not to disturb their tv watching.

The OP goes on to write:

We are finished our work. We were due to spend the weekend at a friends house on our own.
He is not speaking to me and says he has nothing to say to me.
I asked if he wanted to go back to his family's home as I didn't want to be stonewalled for the weekend and he said he did so he has driven me home and left without a word said. He has form for this.

So in other words, if the OP doesn't run about fixing this, he will do nothing and the relationship is finished. Its passive, controlling behaviour.

He knows I love romance but even to take the lead and be proactive on anything would satisfy me. He's not romantic whatsoever.
If I dont organise stuff, it's not done and that includes all his medical correspondence and work stuff since his illness.
Neglected my self and my own needs for his and then snapped when a relatively simple thing happened that demonstrates how much of a fool I've been and how taken for granted I am.

He isn't marriage or even relationship material OP. This man is basically homeless, with no permanent base of his own. He's probably on the look out for some woman he can move in with if she is passive enough not to object and then provide free housekeeping services. I think you are waking up now to what a user he is and that can be a bit of a shock and cause someone to snap. He doesn't even care enough to try and fix it. I just wouldn't bother any more OP. He's not worth it.

Its like the 1930s on here today.

Yes, I have read all of the posts 4 times, taken detailed notes and am currently writing up a paper on them.

Well then sadly you lack comprehension skills, maybe some additional help with that is required?

Your "complaint" was that he hadn't organised dinner, he had sat in silence with OP for two hours in the car, because she is exhausted and her hormones are fucked. She then declined his offer of arranging dinner and at 9pm decides she wants food, but it is too late for the hotel...... no shit sherlock! Of course it's too late for hotel food, which is not the DHs issue.

All this "hormonal" bollocks, it is not an excuse for bad behaviour.

Of course, OP can choose to end the relationship, it seems pretty dead anyway!

finalpunt · 02/09/2022 13:45

deeplydisappointed · 02/09/2022 13:03

Sorry @finalpunt I didn't really mean to come across as conflicted or conflicting.
I'm trying to work this out in my head as I don't want to talk to anyone irl about this today.
I feel I cared for and taken for granted the more I think about it.
I'm mad with myself as I've put him first before me and I now feel exhausted, sick and sore.
Five people that I am really close to have advised me repeatedly lately to start looking after myself.
I can now see the pattern and the reasons why

I get it, I have been where you are and it is hard irl because then more bitterness seeps in because your friends and family will hear your version of event and not be completely unbiased even if they say they are.

A penny drop for me was realising that the only person responsible for looking after me and my happiness is me.

Also it is never 50/50 in any relationship, there are times it will be 90/10, 20/80,60/40 and sometimes you will be the higher number and sometimes the lower.

It is up to you what you do about this relationship but if you do continue I think you really need to be clear that you are responsible for you and your happiness, if you want him to do something be specific about your expectations and then if it goes badly, there is no bitterness or resentment it is clear cut and easier to move on if you have to.

AchatAVendre · 02/09/2022 14:09

Backtobacknow · 02/09/2022 13:42

Yes, I have read all of the posts 4 times, taken detailed notes and am currently writing up a paper on them.

Well then sadly you lack comprehension skills, maybe some additional help with that is required?

Your "complaint" was that he hadn't organised dinner, he had sat in silence with OP for two hours in the car, because she is exhausted and her hormones are fucked. She then declined his offer of arranging dinner and at 9pm decides she wants food, but it is too late for the hotel...... no shit sherlock! Of course it's too late for hotel food, which is not the DHs issue.

All this "hormonal" bollocks, it is not an excuse for bad behaviour.

Of course, OP can choose to end the relationship, it seems pretty dead anyway!

I rather think its your trait of trying to deliberately upset people (on an internet discussion site of all things) and being able to take mild sarcasm - maybe you should get some counselling to help you develop a much needed sense of humour, along with a sense of perspective at the same time?

Its only basic manners that if someone has repeatedly had you over to theirs for dinner, weekend after weekend, to then take responsibility for dinner the next time you are away somewhere else. That should be obvious to anyone who has been brought up reasonably well.

Reading between the lines, the OP is fed up of having to organise dinner and thought he would have the gumption to take charge without being told.

I do feel sorry for people who run around after all of these men. I would say that there wouldn't be much competition for a homeless, lazy, tv-arse-sitting bore, but it seems that the OP could actually farm him off onto someone else quite easily, judging by some of the replies on here Grin

mountainsunsets · 02/09/2022 14:15

You keep suggesting meals out when you know he doesn't like meals out. Why not pick an activity you both enjoy instead of setting him up to fail all the time?

billy1966 · 02/09/2022 14:43

@AchatAVendre

Completely agree.

OP,
I think you need to listen to the 5 people in your life that can see that you are worn out.

You have been used as a carer to get a selfish sulky man through his illness.

God help you.

Don't forget his shower singing and then turning his sulky mood on you.
That is the real him.

A sulky petulant twat.

He's just another selfish prick that happened to be ill and the world has to stop.

Who's looking after you?

No one.

And he NEVER will.

Have a peaceful relaxing weekend, resting up.

Do not contact him and do not allow him into your house again.

Let someone else house him.

Don't allow him to use you anymore.

You deserve so much better.

Andromachehadabadday · 02/09/2022 14:59

deeplydisappointed · 02/09/2022 11:45

I've read all the replies and thank you all.
I am constantly hosting him for weekends.
He is generous and cleans up after meals.
I am tired. I still have a home to run on my
Own.

I have basically nursed him back to relatively good health and he has started to take me for granted but I've allowed this.
I cared for him because I love him and wanted him to get better.
I thought that when he got better, we would revert to our norm.

We are now at a stage where, despite well on the road home to full recovery , he remains as apathetic and disinterested in life.
Our weekends revolve around food,tv, sleep, visiting family and friends now and again and sex.

Every single plan we made over the last six months was shelved so hardly any socialising, flights, concerts, sports events; occasions we previously enjoyed very much.

I am bloody exhausted from caring for him and My kids and work and that's not being ' all about me' .
He too has his issues but this thread is about me being petulant or him being selfish and expectant in this situation.
I wanted a break, some romance, him to take the lead but once again, I've been let down.

As a pp asked.. who is looking after me?
Answer is nobody , including
Me.

Op, at what point did you tell him this was meant to be a romantic break, rather than a work trip?

for how many months between ‘hunkering down’ together during the pandemic and him getting sick? Because I think you have imagined this man is completely different to who he is.

at most you had a few months where you went out all the time etc.

Now you have decided it’s not for you. And are making huge deals out of something small. Most people who have said ‘I am not hungry now but let’s plan for later’, but you didn’t. You just said you didn’t want to eat when he tried to make plans.

and honestly, if dp said to me ‘oh I think I will want to eat about 9pm’ I would tell him that’s fine but I won’t eat that late. I never sleep properly. Not everyone does want to be going out at 9 to find somewhere to eat.

I think this is simply not for you. In relationships we all have periods where we are the one doing the looking after. It’s not unusual if someone has been very ill. But if it’s not for you anymore. Walk away

Mintyt · 02/09/2022 16:31

I think you need to say. It's over thank you and good night, think of it as a lucky escape you are worth more

Backtobacknow · 02/09/2022 16:39

AchatAVendre · 02/09/2022 14:09

I rather think its your trait of trying to deliberately upset people (on an internet discussion site of all things) and being able to take mild sarcasm - maybe you should get some counselling to help you develop a much needed sense of humour, along with a sense of perspective at the same time?

Its only basic manners that if someone has repeatedly had you over to theirs for dinner, weekend after weekend, to then take responsibility for dinner the next time you are away somewhere else. That should be obvious to anyone who has been brought up reasonably well.

Reading between the lines, the OP is fed up of having to organise dinner and thought he would have the gumption to take charge without being told.

I do feel sorry for people who run around after all of these men. I would say that there wouldn't be much competition for a homeless, lazy, tv-arse-sitting bore, but it seems that the OP could actually farm him off onto someone else quite easily, judging by some of the replies on here Grin

oh god its the "reading between the lines"

If OP is so sure that she can upgrade and offload him, they she should do so, if that's what she wants. I do feel sorry for people who cannot establish a relationship they are happy with.

Don't forget the OP is the one running round after him, but

Yes we do lots together normally.
We are the very best of friends and lovers.
We spend time with our families , our friends , walk, swim, gigs, games and see different places.
However this past few months have been terribly taxing on us due to his illness.
We are not a fwb. We are partners but it doesn't feel like this tonight.

So quite conflicting

TheNestedIf · 02/09/2022 18:50

RNLD1981 · 02/09/2022 03:50

What an unpleasant thing to say

Yes. It is. And I absolutely meant it to be.

To be clear, ill people are not necessarily millstones, and millstones are not always ill. However, being ill and being a millstone are not mutually exclusive.

I say that as the person in my last relationship who became the ill one and who had a millstone. When I became ill, I knew the (healthy) ex wouldn't pick up the slack, as he wasn't even pulling his emotional weight past the "honeymoon period". I was an idiot to put up with it for as long as I did. Since we have split, I have far more energy now I'm not doing the relationship heavy lifting for two.

AchatAVendre · 02/09/2022 18:56

Backtobacknow · 02/09/2022 16:39

oh god its the "reading between the lines"

If OP is so sure that she can upgrade and offload him, they she should do so, if that's what she wants. I do feel sorry for people who cannot establish a relationship they are happy with.

Don't forget the OP is the one running round after him, but

Yes we do lots together normally.
We are the very best of friends and lovers.
We spend time with our families , our friends , walk, swim, gigs, games and see different places.
However this past few months have been terribly taxing on us due to his illness.
We are not a fwb. We are partners but it doesn't feel like this tonight.

So quite conflicting

Theres no pleasing you backtobacknow is there? You keep trying picking up on phrases I've used, and making up bizarre little suggestions such as that I need help with my reading comprehension - Now you're all faux-offended by the merest suggestion of nuance. Darest I utter another phrase lest it not contain the requisite syllabic quality? Gulp.

How bizarre that in this century there are still people who feel sorry for people who cannot establish a relationship they are happy with. There are more things in life. Such as career, hobbies, sport, travelling, children, and so on. And then of course there are many other types of relationships in life than one with a partner. The OP has only mentioned one of what might be many relationships in her life. Equally, this man might be preventing her from meeting someone a bit more...interesting....active...fulfilling...better mannered, etc..

I must admit I feel sorry for people who are so lacking in self confidence that they will put up with any old treatment or anyone just so as to avoid being single or bitter remarks from people who have nothing else in their life. Thankfully, the OP seems to more aware than that.

FWIW I'm married but I don't base my entire self worth on marriage. I personally wouldn't put up with the several of the behaviours this man has displayed as he doesn't appear to be good relationship material at all.

Lunificent · 02/09/2022 19:07

Get rid.

deeplydisappointed · 02/09/2022 19:30

He's gone but feels it's all on me.
Has blocked me on everything.
Refused to talk.

OP posts:
billy1966 · 02/09/2022 19:39

So now you know EXACTLY what he is like.

After months of taking great care of him every weekend at yours, the tiniest bit up upset from you and he is a sulky petulant prick.

All the months of care.

Boy were you used.

He's trying to punish you OP.

Be glad he has you blocked.

Be glad he is gone.

He's a user and boy has he used you.

You deserve better than him.

deeplydisappointed · 02/09/2022 19:52

Really feels awful@billy1966

OP posts:
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