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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Dh says I've broken the system, I think it was already broken

182 replies

comingupmum · 19/01/2023 14:57

We had our first child 3 years ago and at the time dh worked 8am-5pm 5 days a week, he then got a new job when our oldest was 6 months old that was 8am-4pm. It was nice having him home earlier, and sometimes he could go to the driving range or the gym and still get home at what was his 'regular time' of about 5.30pm. This was fine, worked for everyone. Over time it became a bit of an inside joke I guess where if I needed him home ASAP that night I'd text him "rush day". Just if I wasn't feeling well, or had a hard day with our eldest and needed a break etc. It wasn't often. Sometimes if he wanted to go the gym that night he'd text me the same thing, "rush day?" And I'd say no go ahead etc.

Well that baby is now 3 years old and I'm 37 weeks pregnant and it's safe to say what started out as a sort of inside joke I feel he completely takes the piss out of me with. He gradually started going to the gym, range, to see friends etc every single night, sometimes just to the shops etc. He was literally never coming home at 4pm when he finished unless I specifically text him that it was a rush day. If I ever mentioned it he would say "you didn't say it was a rush day, if you say rush day I'm here and you know it" as if it made it ok. He would say "I should still be at work anyway so it's irrelevant", well you've been in this new job for years now and you finish at 4, so no, you shouldn't still be at work that was your old job. Your old job is what's irrelevant.

Throughout my pregnancy I've really lost patience with it, I shouldn't have to say "rush day" for him to finish work at 4pm and think right let's go see my family. Why is there always something he'd rather do. So I just started texting rush day everyday, surprise surprise it stopped being fine to text him that and he got pissed off, said I've taken the only free time he gets off him and I've broken a system that worked for years. I said we're about to have a newborn literally any day, I need you to be a dad and a husband and come home after work without me having to specifically request it. Rush day is done. If you want to do something after work a couple of times a week we can arrange it but I'm not only having you come home on time if I text you, that should be the norm. It's become a big thing and it's just so ridiculous and I'm pissed off about it tbh. He can go to the gym or the range once the kids are in bed, it doesn't need to be straight after work leaving me doing all the parenting even longer and sorting dinners etc. The words rush day make my blood boil now.

AIBU?!

OP posts:
diddl · 19/01/2023 15:26

What time does he get home & what does he do?

Xrays · 19/01/2023 15:26

potniatheron · 19/01/2023 15:25

He's basically saying that him coming home on time to be a husband and parent is something that should only happen occasionally and by special request.

Bollox to that attitude. YANBU.

Exactly.

Can you imagine a Mum being like this? Fucking off after work every day and waiting to be asked to come home? Why do we women put up with this shit.

hatonacat · 19/01/2023 15:27

Xrays · 19/01/2023 15:26

Exactly.

Can you imagine a Mum being like this? Fucking off after work every day and waiting to be asked to come home? Why do we women put up with this shit.

Most of us don’t.

Xrays · 19/01/2023 15:29

hatonacat · 19/01/2023 15:27

Most of us don’t.

Well yes, me included as per my previous post. And yet so many do. So many similar posts about useless men.

Watchkeys · 19/01/2023 15:31

Kitcaterpillar · 19/01/2023 15:23

Men are such a mess.

Was this meant to be funny? It's such a sweeping generalisation and so out of proportion. Quite a ridiculous comment.

OP, I think you're still trying to operate within an old system. If you were able to talk about instigating 'rush day' originally, a new conversation is needed now. It does sound like he's taking the piss and I'm not surprised it's getting on your nerves, but really what's failing at the moment is communication and understanding. From both of you.

Tell him what you want and need. Listen to what he wants and needs. Try to find a compromise. If you can't, this issue is a symptom, rather than the problem.

Winterpetal · 19/01/2023 15:33

He’s taking the piss ,where is your free time
he should let u have off that extra time half the week ,and him have it the other half ..
or god forbid ,actually come home when his job finishes to enjoy time with his family .
that’s what would hurt me ,he doesn’t seem to be in a rush to get home to you .

WhoNeedsSleepNotISaidMyBody · 19/01/2023 15:35

The actual practicality if it wouldn't actually bother me that much (especially if he was going to the gym or for a run etc, it would annoy me more if he was just at the pub with mates)

BUT the fact he doesn't WANT to come home would have me rethinking the whole marriage, new baby or not.

IAmTheWalrus85 · 19/01/2023 15:38

Watchkeys · 19/01/2023 15:31

Was this meant to be funny? It's such a sweeping generalisation and so out of proportion. Quite a ridiculous comment.

OP, I think you're still trying to operate within an old system. If you were able to talk about instigating 'rush day' originally, a new conversation is needed now. It does sound like he's taking the piss and I'm not surprised it's getting on your nerves, but really what's failing at the moment is communication and understanding. From both of you.

Tell him what you want and need. Listen to what he wants and needs. Try to find a compromise. If you can't, this issue is a symptom, rather than the problem.

I think she has tried to speak to him about what she wants and needs and to propose a compromise. That’s what her post is about.

I said we're about to have a newborn literally any day, I need you to be a dad and a husband and come home after work without me having to specifically request it. Rush day is done. If you want to do something after work a couple of times a week we can arrange it but I'm not only having you come home on time if I text you, that should be the norm.

NotInsignificant · 19/01/2023 15:39

Do you work? What happens when your child isn't there, do you have to get his permission?

YABU

Jaxhog · 19/01/2023 15:39

I'd set up an auto text to say 'rush day' every day.

Watchkeys · 19/01/2023 15:40

Jaxhog · 19/01/2023 15:39

I'd set up an auto text to say 'rush day' every day.

That would be a very grown up thing to do.

StaunchMomma · 19/01/2023 15:42

Where's YOUR free time?!!

Cheeky git.

saltinesandcoffeecups · 19/01/2023 15:47

I think that both of you need to sit down and recalibrate. Neither of broke the system…the system worked just fine (based on your comments) but now the parameters of the system have have changed.

I’d start by reframing it as ‘it was nice while it lasted but things are changing so we need to change with it’. Figure out a new system together with the goals of ‘me time’ for both of you, shared work time for both of you, and flexibility for both of you.

Kennykenkencat · 19/01/2023 15:47

RecoIIectionsMayVary · 19/01/2023 15:09

I don't agree, unless you don't get any free time. 5.30 is a good time to get home. He could take over until 7 and you still get a break and decent time together. Or you get a break at the weekend, whatever suits.

But I think parents are better parents and better partners if they have free time. But it has to be both parents that get it.

You do realise with a 3 year old you don’t have any free time.

I think that is a given

And with 2 soon to be here then there is going to be no free time for op on the horizon.

If he is choosing friends over family each night then you can at least give yourself some free time by divorce and shared care. That way you will get 3 or 4 days where you don’t have to do anything but he will lose those 3 or 4 evening per week (1 day at the weekend) that he thinks are his to do anything he wants.

ADHDeee · 19/01/2023 15:47

Kitcaterpillar · 19/01/2023 15:23

Men are such a mess.

I agree. The more time I spend on this site the more I realise men are shit. I used to think not all men, it's the minority but I think the minority are the good ones.

MrsTerryPratchett · 19/01/2023 15:48

NotInsignificant · 19/01/2023 15:39

Do you work? What happens when your child isn't there, do you have to get his permission?

YABU

My DC doesn't magically disappear. Where does yours go?

And the whole 'working' thing is a red herring. Childcare isn't easy when women do it and hard when men do. Either it's a doddle in which case it should be no issue for him to come home and do some, or it's not, in which case she needs a break just like him.

If it turns out the DC is in childcare and she doesn't use that time for housework, fair enough SIBU. Otherwise, equal time off.

MrsTerryPratchett · 19/01/2023 15:50

ADHDeee · 19/01/2023 15:47

I agree. The more time I spend on this site the more I realise men are shit. I used to think not all men, it's the minority but I think the minority are the good ones.

Do bear in mind those of us with men who share all tasks and go to the gym early so it doesn't affect everyone don't post about them.

Watchkeys · 19/01/2023 15:51

@ADHDeee

This site isn't a realistic cross section of society. Many women who have good, loving, supportive, engaged husbands won't be here, because they're too busy having a chat with him. If you're basing your life views on what you've read on MN, you probably need to get out more. And if you're basing them on your own experience, you need to meet some better men. Some men are shit, but you're not the authority who can make this statement. It says more about you than anything. After all, would you respect a man who made the ridiculous generalisation 'Women are shit'?

Bobbybobbins · 19/01/2023 15:52

Yanbu

It should be the other way round - he automatically comes home straight after work unless he has arranged to do something else (maybe once or twice a week max!)

GlumShoe · 19/01/2023 15:52

Yanbu. Where's your free time?

FormerlyPathologicallyHappy · 19/01/2023 15:53

Unless he's fit as a butchers dog is he really going to the gym?

ReneBumsWombats · 19/01/2023 15:53

I'm calling on my inner anarchist and saying fuck the system, the system's broken, the system was set up by The Man.

Merryoldgoat · 19/01/2023 15:53

YA SO NBU

SomethingLessIdentifiable · 19/01/2023 15:54

Jaxhog · 19/01/2023 15:39

I'd set up an auto text to say 'rush day' every day.

Me too

With the text to be sent precisely 3 minutes after he’s left the house every morning. Grin

AbsoluteYawns · 19/01/2023 15:56

What the hell did I just read OP.
You are NBU at all!
He has had a lovely few years of skiving. Now he has to get on with it and be a part of his, soon to be one extra, family!