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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Called husband an incompetent parent

210 replies

happysundayiguess · 06/11/2022 13:23

He's stormed out saying he clearly can't do anything right so what's the point trying

Back story, heavily pregnant and feeling every bit of it. Husband went to collect our click and collect order this morning, 3 year old didn't want to go with him, fine. The plan is to go to the beach for a walk for the afternoon so he's getting out then. Spent the morning on the sofa, he was on the floor with Netflix on in the background playing with his toys.

10am Netflix comes up are you still watching, mum guilt kicks in, I say right enough tele let's go do something. Go in the kitchen, get the paints out, cut some potato stamps and we are doing that all fine, not even 5 minutes later he starts complaining he's bored and wants tele back on. I say no we've had 4 hours of tele we're going to do something else, if you don't want to do painting why don't we get something else out and make a few suggestions. He flies off the rails (which in itself is the result of too much screen time!) escalated to the point he scratched my arm and threw a bar stool over which took a chunk out of the wall. I did raise my voice at this and he then threw the paint and made a big mess with it. My husband walked in the door as this was happening and suddenly my son went from angry to hysterically sobbing that mummy made him upset because she shouted (I know I shouldn't of) my husband asked what happened and I explained that we've had hours of tele and he's kicking off because I said no more. He says give them a minute to calm down and go for a shower as I had paint on me.

I come back down from my shower and they are cuddled up on the sofa and he's got tele back on. As I walk in my husband goes right what do you say, toddler says sorry mummy, then my husband says that my son has cleaned up the paint and knows that because he was naughty he doesn't get to go to the beach anymore.

Fucking really? We don't think the logical solution here for a tantrum about screen time was to say because you've behaved in this way, there's no more screen time today and we're all going to go out to the beach. No, we take away the walk, outside in the fresh air, and give him more screen time? I turned the tele off and said you've had enough screens, we're going to the beach. Husband says I'm undermining him, I laugh because it's so ridiculous that this is how he thought he had resolved situation, he says why am I laughing? I say it's incompetent parenting to reward a tantrum about screen time with screen time and take away an outdoor activity as the punishment despite the fact that's a positive thing and is totally unrelated. He kicks off nothing he does is good enough and storms out. Left me with a kicking off child who didn't know what was going on and was just angry all over again about the tele being turned off. Took me an hour to calm him down, another big tantrum in that time and now I'm just exhausted and pissed off.

AIBU? Or is just parenting 101?

OP posts:
JustAnotherPoster00 · 07/11/2022 06:25

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CoalCraft · 07/11/2022 06:26

You were both wrong, him for allowing more screen time, you for calling him incompetent.

I could totally understand him wondering what the point of trying is. Of course it would be wrong for him to actually withdraw as a consequence of that and I hope he doesn't but I can see why, in the heat of the moment, he'd want to.

Aishah231 · 07/11/2022 06:30

BagOfBollocks · 06/11/2022 14:35

He returned from picking up the shopping to find their toddler had flown off the rails, scratched his mum's arm, threw a bar stool over which took a chunk out of the wall and then because his mum was shouting at him, he threw paint everywhere.

He calms the toddler, sends OP for a shower, supervises the tidying up, gets toddler to apologise and then storms out because his wife laughed at him and called him an incompetent parent and he feels he can never do anything right.

But yeah, he was immature to storm off 🙄

You left out that he rewarded the toddler with screen time despite being told that was the cause of the tantrum. It's basic parenting that if you say you're not allowed something and the child kicks off you have to follow through.

Plus a walk on the beach in all weather's is lovely!

ZeroFuchsGiven · 07/11/2022 06:57

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She is 36 weeks pregnant ffs. There is absolutely no need for that comment.

LondonWolf · 07/11/2022 07:52

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Really? You think a whole family should split up and a two very young children be shuttled between two homes throughout their entire childhood and not get to live all together as a family because their 36 week pregnant mother got irritated with their father and had the kind of exchange the majority of relatively new parents have at least once or twice during the difficult years that are parenting very young children?

Disneyblueeyes · 07/11/2022 08:00

It sounds like you were trying a bit too hard to be the 'good parent' and it backfired

Volterra · 07/11/2022 08:27

Main rule that DH and I agreed on in parenting was no undermining each other as my Brother was an expert at playing my parents off against each other and the end result was really not good. I do get what you are saying about being rewarded with more TV and cancelling the walk. This was retrievable as others said by taking DH aside and coming up with solution. I think you both need to learn from this and move forward.

RedAppleGirl · 07/11/2022 08:31

Reading this thread. This poor DH will be on a dating site in a few yrs, with 'No drama', in his bio.😂
Feck me, some women are highly strung and controlling, behaviour like this is why men check out.

Mayorquimby2 · 07/11/2022 16:55

4 hours tv, a temper tantrum, a chunk out of the wall and paint everywhere.

Presumably the op would have shrugged her shoulders and thought "yeah, fair cop" if her husband had walked in, surveyed the scene, laughed in her face and declared "wow, you're a shit mother ain't ya?"

5128gap · 07/11/2022 19:11

RedAppleGirl · 07/11/2022 08:31

Reading this thread. This poor DH will be on a dating site in a few yrs, with 'No drama', in his bio.😂
Feck me, some women are highly strung and controlling, behaviour like this is why men check out.

No it's not. The type of halfwit who puts no drama in his bio will usually have been chucked out, not checked out.

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