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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

DH thinks he’s done nothing wrong and calls me crazy

207 replies

cantstopeating1 · 22/09/2023 23:16

Latest fight: Wednesday morning told him I will make something nice for our dinner and what time will he be home he replied 7pm. I was trying to make things better as for a few years it’s just been me focusing on kids, home and I’ve gone back to work 2 weeks ago. He’s been focused on work. Come 7pm no sign, waited till 8 nothing, sent a text no reply. Called no answer. He came home at 12am! Next day I didn’t speak to him properly (he worked from home). Today he came home in a huff and puff as I “didn’t cook dinner for him yesterday”. Argument got heated (kids: 8 and 4 were in bed so not around). I told him I’m fed up how he treats me, he disrespects me often, takes no interest in the kids life or my life. Never asks me how I am etc, I do everything, the cleaning, cooking, childcare, life admin everything, he called me crazy and a few other things.

no I can’t leave as he pays the mortgage, I have a very low paid job (teaching). He works in a very high paying job, I have no savings so leaving would be very selfish as would destroy my kids life currently and future. He wouldn’t fight me for custody he would just let us leave, I’ve looked into the financials. He would dispute and court case would drag on for years (he’s a lawyer) I have jo family support and when I called a Womens shelter they were not very helpful at all. Basically told me the shelter is a short term solution and as I’m working I should be able to rent a place. Council was not helpful either.

OP posts:
Redlarge · 23/09/2023 07:43

RedHelenB · 23/09/2023 06:58

My advice, stay. And accept the life you have . You've made it clear that material things are the most important to you, so be happy with your children, holidays and massive house. But you won't change your husband, complaining about him and resenting him not being the partner you want will just make you more miserable.

You will lose all self worth and your mental health will suffer.

determinedtomakethiswork · 23/09/2023 07:45

Two things sprung to mind. One is that he's having an affair, and that's why he just stays out at random times. The other is that you are suffering financial abuse. You say you have been poor before. You're actually poor now. You don't have any money. He has all the money and yes he might let you share his food and electricity but you don't have your own money for that. It's outrageous that you spent that time on looking after the children and he kept his money to himself.

BibbleandSqwauk · 23/09/2023 07:45

OP I'm a teacher single parent. Ex fucked off with ow so I didn't have much choice but to make it work. It's possible of course but there are a number of options as I see it:

  1. As a pp said, you stay but build your own life outside of him. Accept that he is like he is and give up the resentment. Dinner for him is in a slow cooker or quick cook ready meal if he's going to be crap with time. If you can, work toward joint access to the family money and / or make sure spending on the kids comes from his money as well as yours.
  2. You plan to leave in the longer term. Get good childcare in place, research what help might be available financially and do your homework on divorce law. Forget about inheritance etc, even if he did put something in writing now, he could instantly change it so it's pointless.
  3. You get your ducks in a row now, gather paperwork, evidence of his salary etc, research property (or is he decent enough that he'd let you and the kids stay and he gets a bachelor pad?)
  4. Actually tell him you've reached this point. Ask for specific measurable changes or counselling. Try and change things so you can stay AND be happy.
Scottishskifun · 23/09/2023 07:45

You should not be in your overdraft and things maxed out while he lives the life of Riley.

Fully understand the playing of the long game but sort out the finances and get a joint account. Play to his ego etc sit down with bills and I would also state your financially linked if you have a poor credit rating it will effect his......

bonzaitree · 23/09/2023 07:46

Sounds like you want to stay for the money until the kids are both 18.

it’s a decision lots of people make. Whether it’s a good one or not is questionable. But you do you.

wizzywig · 23/09/2023 07:48

If you're worried only about the children's lifestyle, why don't you leave the children with him?

Strugglingtodomybest · 23/09/2023 07:49

OP, don't let him wear you down, you are not crazy in the least. A woman's shelter may not be the best option, but if you talk to a women's domestic abuse charity they may be able to help.

If you're short on cash for advice, try this website: https://divorce.wikivorce.com/

"Wikivorce is a volunteer run social enterprise, each year we provide free advice and support to over 50,000 people - which means we help people in 1 out of every 3 divorces in the UK. Wikivorce.com is the largest online divorce support community in the world with over 150,000 registered members."

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The UK's largest and most visited divorce and family law website. We provide, in once place, all the information and resources you will need to get through divorce.

https://divorce.wikivorce.com

Tiredmum100 · 23/09/2023 07:50

DreamTheMoors · 23/09/2023 03:20

@cantstopeating1

If you think your kids are oblivious to the troubles in your marriage, you’re kidding yourself.
I was three years old and I remember the horrible way my dad treated my mum and the awful things he said to her - in front of me, because he thought I was too little to understand. He forgot that I’d grow up and remember those abhorrent words.
I lost respect for my mum for staying in an abusive marriage when she was a teacher and could’ve managed without my dad.
I call it the “doormat syndrome.”
Your kids will remember.

Your poor mum. You lost respect for her because she struggled to leave an abusive relationship. Many people in 'good' positions/jobs are abused. That's what makes it so hard. "Oh, don't be so silly, x is not being abused. She's a teacher!" Like the poor teacher murdered alongside her child by her husband recently. I'm a nurse and spent 6 years in an abusive relationship. I wasn't a doormat, but it takes time to realise you're being abused, time to make the decision to leave and time to get your finances sorted.

Universitynewbie · 23/09/2023 07:51

fortheloveofjamdoughnuts · 23/09/2023 00:24

It shouldn't be.....

It isn't

Universitynewbie · 23/09/2023 07:53

Throwncrumbs · 23/09/2023 05:01

A starting salary of £30k , but op says she only works two days, so she only gets a % of that . It’s not hard to understand.

Well she could start working full time, it isn't hard to understand that.
She would also get high maintenance from the father and benefits as well.

disappearingfish · 23/09/2023 07:55

bonzaitree · 23/09/2023 07:46

Sounds like you want to stay for the money until the kids are both 18.

it’s a decision lots of people make. Whether it’s a good one or not is questionable. But you do you.

Not helpful. OP is mere hours/days into realising how bad her marriage is. She doesn't need people to tell her to leave her children or that she's overly materialistic.

The number of people saying "but you'll get maintenance" is dwarfed by the number of threads by women who's exH's have successfully dodged maintenance payments for years. Her H is a lawyer which is hard to go up against.

Castleview6 · 23/09/2023 07:59

You seem to be staying to keep your lifestyle, money and children’s inheritance (this seems bizarre that you’re thinking of this when they are so little). You could leave if you hate it this much but you are choosing not to.

as for children not knowing … you’re fooling yourself here. They always do and this will impact them. But you obviously think a fancy house and a couple of expensive holidays a year make up for it.

ClassicStripe · 23/09/2023 07:59

This reply has been deleted

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Catopia · 23/09/2023 08:01

Were you thinking about leaving before the last 2 weeks when you went back to work? How long had you been a SAHM for? 8 years?

You are both in an adjustment period. You no longer have the energy or time to do all the stuff you were doing as a SAHM, tired from work and probably from peopling with people other than your own children if you've been a SAHM for a long time prior. You are probably also because of this suddenly less inclined to enable his behaviour. However, not speaking to him for a day doesn't sound like you've managed the situation 110% well either.

He's in an adjustment period with you going back to work as well. He's come to expect that you are managing the kids and the house and he has been able to focus solely on work. Yes, he is being a tool, but it may be that he's not fully got the memo that the set up of your lives has got to change if you are both working. It may help to sit down and have a(nother) conversation about for this to work you need him to take a greater share of the domestic responsibilities, and can no longer rely on you to be able to do everything.

You do need to talk about him coming home at 12am - in a calm way when you can both be adult about it - and get a sense of what happened. Was it an emergency at work - and why couldn't he have at least texted to communicate he would not be home? Was it an emergency on his case, or someone else's? If someone else's, did he really have to be there especially when you'd communicated that you had plans, or did he volunteer to stay and help when others who were objectively in the same situation as him said "sorry I have plans/need to be home for my kids" and left others to deal with it? Could he have dealt with his part of it from home by being there and present but keeping his work phone on if they actually needed him? He's clearly tired and stressed out from work, but he may need to put in some more boundaries at work which may be a process over several months if people at work have come to expect that he will step in at help with the out of hours crises.

--> I have been that person that they all expect to do the out of hours stuff. I have unpredictable and sometimes chaotic work hours as well, and have to deal with real emergencies that sometimes screw up evening plans, and sometimes have me working to the small hours. However, the difference is that I communicate about where I am and when I'm likely to be home, or pick a time to leave there and get home and pick it up again. I do however try to decline getting too involved in other people's case emergencies if I have actual plans, or give them a clear cut off time after which I can no longer assist them and they are going to have to take the reigns back. Setting that boundary is really hard when everyone has come to depend on you - you feel guilty about leaving your colleagues in the s* and it's not fun.

If he's WFH, why can't he pull dinner together, or can one or both of you shove everything in a slow cooker first thing in the morning, so that dinner is done when you both finish work? In the winter, the 7am throw things at the slow cooker is our go-to when I'm WFH, and we make enough for at least 2 meals. Honestly, the best thing we bought for co-habitation bliss. And/or at the weekend one of you make a big pasta bake or shepherds pie or whatever so that there is dinner for a couple of nights ready to go.

A shift to being a bit more organised about meal prep will take the pressure of you, reduce this sort of argument, and also give both of you some time to spend together to decide if you do actually still want to be together.

I suspect from what you've written that he's oblivious that you are considering leaving him and possibly oblivious that he actually needs to change the way he has been living for the last few years for the sake of all of you if that isn't what he wants.

ScarlettSunset · 23/09/2023 08:01

MrsTwartle · 23/09/2023 07:26

No matter what you decide to do (and staying for the lifestyle/money is setting a hell of a low bar for yourself and your children) it doesn’t sound like a stable situation at all.
Your H has zero respect for you. It might be him that decides the relationship is over, so if I were you at the very least I’d talk to a solicitor and get ducks in a row asap, even if you don’t act straight away.
I know a few people who’ve almost felt trapped by a privileged lifestyle, and still have children who’ve grown up unhappy and resenting both parents for prioritising this over anyone’s happiness. Children know if their parents are unhappy, even when they think it’s well hidden.

I think it is an important point that he also could decide to end the marriage, and then the OP would have no choice about it anyway. The change in lifestyle could be forced on her on the whim of a man who has already shown he really doesn't care too much for anyone but himself.

OP, at the very least get advice about the likely outcome of leaving. Even if you decide not to do it right now or even at any point, you won't be totally in the dark about what lies ahead if he decides to make a change himself

Erdinger · 23/09/2023 08:10

It seems like you’ve made a decision based on finances to stay, that’s your choice. Increase your earning capacity as much as you can , pay off debts , top up your pension . His salary can help pay towards a cleaner. Focus on your career and children.

NalafromtheLionKing · 23/09/2023 08:11

I’m going to go against the grain and say I would try to salvage the marriage (all marriages go through rough patches).

If you’re wealthy, why are you doing the cleaning rather than getting a cleaner? If my DH is out, I just make dinner for four (doesn’t need to be be anything too complicated, just re-heatable) and leave his to cool on the side and then he just heats it up when he gets in.

Personally, if I had the situation of him coming back at midnight, then I would just do the above and drop him a text to let him know his dinner is on the side and just needs heating up when I went to bed at my usual time. This is assuming that I was sure he had been working rather than cheating on me, which would be a very different situation. No need for any drama or people not speaking to each other!

Custardslices · 23/09/2023 08:16

I don't see the problem. You've come on MN for advice but bottom line is you want to stay no matter what for his money and your children's inheritance ( not a guarante they will get anything)

He will not all of a sudden say yes joint account idea is wonderful....

So grin and bear it for next 20 years, make the most of it.

I hope these late nights isn't OW and he ends up leaving anyway. I would for sure leave if my partner was using me for a meal ticket.

CharlotteBog · 23/09/2023 08:16

Plenty of single parents teach full time.

"Do you? And what if they do?
op’s point is her children’s lives would be worse if she left him. How is having no money and no time for her children better?"

No I am not a teacher, but I do work full time and am a lone parent.
As a teacher she will not have no money, and a divorce settlement would also ensure she could be financially secure.
I have had "no time for my children" during the many weeks of school holiday. It's better because me and my children are not living with an abusive man.

NameandShame · 23/09/2023 08:17

cantstopeating1 · 22/09/2023 23:37

@Gazelda the 8 year old loves her school. If we separate I can’t afford to live here. We will have to move to my hometown. The kids would hate their life. They have such a lovely life right now. They go on at least 2 holidays a year, they get spoilt rotten by my Inlaws and all they’re cousins and friends are here. They will hate me when they’re older. What can I offer them? A crappy life where we will be poor and penniless.

If you want the truth instead of the usual Mumsnet bollocks yes they will hate you for it for years. They will probably want to stay with their dad. He’s of a mind to be a shit, he will take you to court with absolutely no intention of fulfilling that, but just for shits and giggles to cost you money and emotionally wrench you.. the courts in their wisdom will listen to this shite and facilitate his abuse of you.

once you have entitling you to 70%, you then have to get him to give it to you. That took me 7 1/2 years.

Mariposista · 23/09/2023 08:23

It is doable OP. Tough but doable. Your kids would have to adapt, not be ‘spoilt rotten’, perhaps go to a lower class school (they’d get used to it). There’s more to life than money.

Lifecanbebeautiful12 · 23/09/2023 08:40

How is your relationship with your in laws? If they are very wealthy would they consider supporting you and the kids to stay in the same area? If they’re close with your kids I’m sure they wouldn’t want them to move back to your hometown away from them. Maybe you could wait 6 months, save some money yourself and then speak with them? I believe you’d also get at least 50% of the house/his savings as they are marital assets? And maintenance from him. I hope you find a way, it sounds miserable, but I understand not wanting to change your children's lifestyle.

Daffodil18 · 23/09/2023 08:44

I think other posters aren’t really getting the point. You and your children have an extremely comfortable nice life that a teachers salary just wouldn’t come near. Yes you could get half of assets but as you say, he’s a lawyer and will know all the best tricks in the book. I don’t think I would want to leave for my children either. I think the first step is counselling. It cannot hurt to try. If that doesn’t work then I would definitely play the long game and try to get access to as much money as possible in getting him to pay for bills and mortgage whilst you save up your wage. You can then emotionally check out and let him live whatever life he wants and just see him as a housemate.

DisquietintheRanks · 23/09/2023 08:53

Sounds like he's financially abusive as well as uncaring, so sorry @cantstopeating1. What you do next is up to you but please don't let him gaslight you into thinking you deserve to be treated like this.

One thing I will say about ending a relationship- it can be a slow process. You can start emotionally disengaging from him and building up some savings long before you make a final decision. How's your social life independent of him? Have you got a network of friends. Stay or go these things are important, and the less emotional energy you spend on him, the more you'll have to invest in yourself and other people. Deciding to leave is hard if it leaves you alone and isolated.

Brefugee · 23/09/2023 08:53

cantstopeating1 · 23/09/2023 00:03

@Isheabastard thank you for understanding! Yes thanks that’s what I was trying to get it but couldn’t find the words - I do need to play the long game. I was trying to ask how to do this. Leaving right now would be very stupid thing to do. He could easily swindle me out if any money. Without getting into too much details that’s literally his everyday job! I couldn’t win any fight with him. I know what he’s like.

the poster who said my kids will grow up thinking it’s okay to treat people like he does - I’ll stress again they have literally no idea! Do you think I let them stay up till 12am whilst waiting for their dad?

I do need to play the long game. I need to ensure my kids inheritance is all safe too.

kids aren't blind, deaf, dumb or stupid and they pick up a whole lot more than many people realise.

I'm sorry you're in this situation but you can leave. You don't want to because it will be difficult. But what is more difficult? the change you know you must make or the status quo which is utterly shit for you?

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