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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Don't know how to react - DH comments about big families

73 replies

Leothebear · 20/12/2022 13:43

DH and I have 2 DCs.
We stopped after 2 because my DH could not cope with the work and the pressure.

I checked in on this topic on regular basis but he always said he was done.

But

Every single time we meet friend with 3 or more kids, or every time we watch a movie/series with a big family, he always makes the same comments

How it would be so great to have such a big family
How these ones are real families
How the chaos makes life fuller
What a great and rich life they have

Comments on the same lines regarding families with pets

I always feel so deeply hurt by these comments, it feels like a wound being reopened every time and i am not sure how to approach the topic with him.
He makes me feel like our family is not enough.

I have reacted a couple of times and he replied that it was just chitchat mindless comments. But i think there must be more if he feels the need to say it every single time.

OP posts:
lennolin · 21/12/2022 04:53

mathanxiety · 21/12/2022 04:48

@musingsinmidlife - how about leaving the personal remarks out of this, eh?

@lennolin
This man has said to his wife that his family of himself, his wife, and two healthy and presumably well cared for kids isn't a real family.

He isn't throwing himself into family life with a full heart if he sees them all in that light.

It's a complete slap in the face for his wife, who probably got the family through the chaos of life with a baby and toddler, and who very likely works hard to manage family life, maybe with a paid job on top.

I don't get his point then. If he is being shitty about wanting a bigger family but then doesn't want another child by choice, makes no sense

musingsinmidlife · 21/12/2022 04:59

mathanxiety · 21/12/2022 04:48

@musingsinmidlife - how about leaving the personal remarks out of this, eh?

@lennolin
This man has said to his wife that his family of himself, his wife, and two healthy and presumably well cared for kids isn't a real family.

He isn't throwing himself into family life with a full heart if he sees them all in that light.

It's a complete slap in the face for his wife, who probably got the family through the chaos of life with a baby and toddler, and who very likely works hard to manage family life, maybe with a paid job on top.

You are the one advising people to tell their husbands and wives they are a failure and they are incompetent and they are whatever other names you call people.

Every mother who has struggled to cope with her kids - point the finger and name calls and put her down and make sure she knows what an incompetent failure she is. That she is just a loser who can’t cope. She said she wanted those kids and now she is complaining about them. What an incompetent diameter of a human.

That is your advice, to treat others badly, to denigrate and humiliate and criticize them. Husbands, never let your wife forget if she couldn’t cope that she is an incompetent failure. That is very unhealthy and wrong. Just because you do it, it doesn’t make it right or healthy or anything good.

mathanxiety · 21/12/2022 05:11

I see close reading of a text isn't your thing?

The man has denigrated his own family, says they're not a real family, that only bigger families are real.

He made a unilateral decision not to enlarge his own family, and now feels it's ok to insult the family his wife has built.

You can take your "poor menz just can't win" schtick elsewhere. I'm not interested in it.

mathanxiety · 21/12/2022 05:12

And have I really done what you've accused me of?

You've been a fly on the wall of my home?

Insane...

musingsinmidlife · 21/12/2022 05:17

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

mathanxiety · 21/12/2022 05:28

He is telling his wife the family she and he have together isn't a 'real' family. That's an insult. Not sure why you won't address that.

It's not your common or garden 'I wish we could go skiing at Christmas' or 'How I wish we had a bigger car' dreaming out loud.

He can't have the bigger family because he himself decided unilaterally that the family would only have two children. He himself closed off discussion and refused to consider having more children.

musingsinmidlife · 21/12/2022 05:37

mathanxiety · 21/12/2022 05:28

He is telling his wife the family she and he have together isn't a 'real' family. That's an insult. Not sure why you won't address that.

It's not your common or garden 'I wish we could go skiing at Christmas' or 'How I wish we had a bigger car' dreaming out loud.

He can't have the bigger family because he himself decided unilaterally that the family would only have two children. He himself closed off discussion and refused to consider having more children.

Children should be wanted and only had when both parents feel they have the time, energy, resources and capability to manage them. He is perfectly in his right, as is any parent, to say he doesn’t want more children. In many cases, it is one person who makes that call for any number of reasons. That doesn’t make him and incompetent failure. He would love to have a bigger family but realizes it would be IRRESPONSIBLE to do so when he doesn’t have the capacity to take or 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 kids.

Bigger families are different and he grew up in one and misses what he had that he can’t have now. That doesn’t make him an incompetent failure who should be name called and kicked and humiliated. If one of your kids feels overwhelmed by school so they don’t take music, they can still like and appreciate and want to play music even though they don’t have the resources to do it. You don’t need to tell your child you are incompetent, you are a failure, you are never to talk about music because you are the one who couldn’t even cope with school and decided not to take more on.

PorridgewithQuark · 21/12/2022 05:49

He's romanticising IMO.

We have 3. It's not chaotic at all. At least the kids aren't. The stress comes when they have to be driven to three different places at the same time for sports fixtures, or need picking up late at night from different towns, or have parents evening at different schools on the same night (especially back when they couldn't be left home alone and the only way to get there in time was go straight from work), or all need supplementary payments for orthodontics and soon two will be having driving lessons at the same time, or back when we needed to fit three car seats in the car so had to replace the perfectly good but lost value four year old car with a much bigger one to get the car seats in...

Anyway he's being quite cruel if it was actually his decision and you quite wanted 3 to rub not having more children in your face now. I agree that you should call him out bluntly and point this out as it's something that he keeps on doing, not a one off.

Blowyourowntrumpet · 21/12/2022 06:17

Maybe he just feels sad that he couldn't cope with more than two and by making these comments, he's blaming himself. I don't see anything wrong with it to be honest

Whatifthegrassisblue · 21/12/2022 06:25

GreenFingersWouldBeHandy · 20/12/2022 13:51

Keep calling him out on it.

"How the chaos makes life fuller" Yes, but you can't cope with it, that's why we stopped at two.

"What a great and rich life they have" Really? You said you were really stressed and tired. That's why we stopped at two.

Do you want any more?

This

mickandrorty · 21/12/2022 06:37

Sounds like he's looking back to his childhood possibly with rose tinted glasses. the chaos does not make your life fuller when you're the parent of 5 children it's exhausting, unless he is a fan of endless washing, homework, nagging people to wash, long bedtimes, cooking marathons and nonstop mess that is, it is much fuller of that! I can send you my 5 over if you like the 5th one is an absolute horror 😂

snowlolo · 21/12/2022 06:47

I always feel so deeply hurt by these comments, it feels like a wound being reopened every time and i am not sure how to approach the topic with him.
He makes me feel like our family is not enough.

If this is how you feel then this is what you should say to him every time he brings it up.

Tell him (genuinely) how much it hurts you.

Alibabasonethief · 21/12/2022 06:51

I think after having children that having none is a perfectly great way of being. I love my children but it is utterly exhausting. When someone tells me they are pregnant I gush and gush and dibt tell them how much work it is or how hard children are in the modern world. I think your DH is just doing the same. It is what people do.

Alibabasonethief · 21/12/2022 06:54

Sorry I posted too soon.

however that doesn’t mean that what he is saying isn’t hurting you unintentionally so I would definitely still ask him to stop doing it for the reasons you explained. But I don’t think he means the gushing I think he is being more honest with you when you two have your own private conversations.

babyyodaxmas · 21/12/2022 06:58

I always feel so deeply hurt by these comments, it feels like a wound being reopened every time and i am not sure how to approach the topic with him.
He makes me feel like our family is not enough

I am worried that you haven't really made your peace with your family of 4. In our relationship it is me who might be a wistful for baby number 3 and 4 that never were. I have to say I might say how wonderful it would be to have more, DH knows in an ideal world with more money and resource I would have wanted more children and accepts that.

Kokeshi123 · 21/12/2022 07:02

It's hard to know how to interpret this without knowing more about the context and tone of voice.

I mean, is he doing this in annoying way ("What a pity YOU, the wife, were not able to single handedly do all the childrearing and thus give me a huge family without my having to do a lot of work...")?

Or is it more of a wistful "Wow, must be nice for those people who are able to manage or find big families easy to do deal with...."? The same way I talk about people who run off and open a beach bar on Bali or whatever.

Is it possible that you are perhaps reading a bit too much into this because this is a sensitive subject for you?

Either way, you may just have to say directly, "I wish you would say those comments about big families silently inside your head or to other people; it's a painful topic for me and makes me feel like I've failed in some way when you say them to me."

I don't judge him for not being able to cope with more than two kids, by the way! I also couldn't cope with more than two, which is why I didn't have any more.

Merlott · 21/12/2022 07:02

So weird to think you're sitting next to him, presumbably just the two of you, he's making a hurtful comment and you're just.. silent? Building up resentment and finally posting here after the same comment and the same silence 5 times?

Do you have communication problems with anyone else in your life or just DH?

It would be much better for you long term to learn how to speak up for yourself.

I'm guessing your parents raised you not to rock the boat or something? Start rocking, this is your life and marriages are killed by resentment which is what you're building up here.

Katela18 · 21/12/2022 07:03

Leothebear · 20/12/2022 15:12

He also comes from a big family (4 siblings) and he loved it.
Before having our second kid, he kept mentioning he wanted a big family. That DC2 was for sure not the last.

And then, 6 months in he said no more and never changed his mind again.

Maybe he is grieving a life he planned and never executed?

I think maybe you are right here OP.

I would love a big family, I was 1 of 4 and am very close to my siblings.

We stopped at 2, due to awful pregnancies (one resulted in baby being 8 weeks early, long nicu stay) so not wanting to 'play with fire', plus financial pressure of more than 2, and tbh the stress, sleepness nights etc etc.

But while we know logically it's the right decision for the family, in an ideal and perfect world we would have gone on to have more.

So maybe he isn't deliberately trying tk hurt you, it could be he is ruminating over the perfect scenario but knows this wouldn't be right for him?

I'd mention it, tell him it does hurt you that he does this. You wouldn't be unreasonable to be open with him about it.

LimeCheesecake · 21/12/2022 08:28

NeedToChangeName · 20/12/2022 19:17

I love looking at houses in the country, and coment on what it might be like to live there

But,really, I'm happy in the city

Could he be like that?

It’s only like this if your dh wanted to live in the country, and last time you’d looked at houses he’d wanted to look in rural locations yet you’d insisted you wouldn’t leave the city, then now you’re tided into an expensive mortgage for a house he doesn’t really want, you keep showing him countryside houses and talking about how lovely it would be to live there, but he knows you wont move.

LynetteScavo · 21/12/2022 20:09

Having a big family does look fun though, and so does having a dog (stay with me on this) I would say all the things your DH has said about big families about having a dog. However, I wouldn't want all the effort and expense a dog takes. The difference is I can say those things because I know DH definitely doesn't want a dog. I think it would be cruel of me to say those things if he did want a dog, but I was saying we shouldn't have one.

You need to tell your DH how you feel so he stops making insensitive comments.

Fizzadora · 21/12/2022 20:27

Agree with a PP above - bet you he would have another if you agreed to do all the work.

Changechangychange · 21/12/2022 20:40

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Telling your wife and two children they they don’t count as “a real family” is also pretty assholish and abusive. I’d be incredibly hurt if DH said that to me.

mathanxiety · 22/12/2022 05:43

"Children should be wanted and only had when both parents feel they have the time, energy, resources and capability to manage them."

Did you mean to be so preachy here?

"He is perfectly in his right, as is any parent, to say he doesn’t want more children. In many cases, it is one person who makes that call for any number of reasons. That doesn’t make him and incompetent failure. He would love to have a bigger family but realizes it would be IRRESPONSIBLE to do so when he doesn’t have the capacity to take or 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 kids."

Read what I actually posted on the topic of 'incompetence, etc'.

He decided unilaterally not to have more.

This is not the way responsible parties in a marriage make decisions.

Now he is telling his wife that their family of two adults and two children is not a 'real' family, that only bigger families are 'real' families.

Again, behaviour guaranteed to drive a wedge between himself and his wife. It's hurtful and it's unreasonable, and it has been repeated more then once.

This is what is hurting her.

This is what is making her see red.

She would have had more children if he had been willing.

She was willing to go through pregnancy and childbirth and muck in with two small children and a baby (and maybe do it all again with three small children and a baby, who knows).

But he said NO because the stress of a small child and a baby was too much for him.

And now his family isn't a 'real family' because there isn't enough chaos.
Infuriating - because I'm guessing the OP conscientiously sees to it that there isn't chaos, for the sake of her husband who can't cope with it.

"Bigger families are different and he grew up in one and misses what he had that he can’t have now."

Nobody has forbidden him from being a father to more than two children.

He made that decision himself.

This isn't a case of 'what he can't have' - it's a case of what he himself decided unilaterally.

"That doesn’t make him an incompetent failure who should be name called and kicked and humiliated. If one of your kids feels overwhelmed by school so they don’t take music, they can still like and appreciate and want to play music even though they don’t have the resources to do it. You don’t need to tell your child you are incompetent, you are a failure, you are never to talk about music because you are the one who couldn’t even cope with school and decided not to take more on."

And again (sigh) READ.

I'm tired of your silly posts here.

I know how you feel about what you thought I said.

Enough already!

The husband here mentions how inadequate his family is every single time he sees families with children and families with pets.

Here are the OP's words:
"Every single time we meet friend with 3 or more kids, or every time we watch a movie/series with a big family, he always makes the same comments"

"How it would be so great to have such a big family"
"How these ones are real families"
"How the chaos makes life fuller"
"What a great and rich life they have"

"Comments on the same lines regarding families with pets"

He's telling his wife that the family they have together is a failure, that their life isn't rich or full, having previously refused to talk about a larger family because he was the one who couldn't cope with the reality of it.

He is telling his wife that HER family is a failure.
You can't decide - unilaterally - to have a small family and then turn around years later and moan in such insulting terms about the small family you decided to have.

Telling her that their family isn't meeting his need for chaos and that chaos is better is sheer gaslighting.

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