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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU for telling my "friend" that my husband isn't her concern?

401 replies

Empressofall · 06/10/2023 09:35

100% believe I'm in the right here but you never know.
Context: My husband and I both work full time. Both have stressful jobs.
He has long shifts (10+ hours) but his days off can fall during the week when our child goes to daycare so he has actual time off to do as he pleases (it's just how his shifts work. No shade that our kid isnt at home with him. We still send him so we can keep his place and its fun for him) and I do not. I often bring work home and either work into the night or grab some time during baby's nap time. My "days off" are weekends where I'm 100% in charge of the house and our baby if my husband is working.
My husband is as hands on as he can be in the time that he has.
On to the issue: last night, he came home at around 7.30pm (late for him) and I'd already done grocery shop, laundry, bathtime, bedtime, cleaned the lounge etc. I was pretty tired.
I made dinner. I made breaded chicken (from frozen, like a Birds Eye packet), roasted garlic potatoes and salad. Not really a chore. But somewhat nutritious.
Husband was super grateful and ate it all up.
He then did the dishes.
I was chatting to my friend (let's call her A) about our day and she was appalled that I'd made my husband a "low effort and low quality dinner" and that "making him do the dishes after a long day at work was bitchy and unhelpful". Like... excuse me?! I also worked yesterday. And did 100% of the childcare/housework. I was exhausted. I didn't even ask him to do the dishes. He did them himself because he's an adult who knows how and when to wash dishes.
I told her this.
She told me not to be surprised when he finds someone willing to put more effort into the relationship. More context: A was involved with a married man who left his wife for her, citing that his wife didn't make enough effort. She's paranoid AF that he'll leave if she isn't 100% perfect. Their house is like a fucking show home and every meal is organic from scratch blah blah blah.
I got angry and told her that my husband isn't her concern, that if he leaves me because of a dinner then he's not much of a man. She then said ahe was only telling me "for your own good". I lost my sh1t and told her to f**k off.
Husband says I'm in the right. Another friend agrees with A that I should have put more effort into the meal and offered to do the dishes because husband worked a longer day than I did.
But the way I see it, we both worked so why is his job and work day more important than mine?

If anyone's wondering, I started work at 7am, finished at 3.30pm, did the grocery shop at 4.30pm (after commuting an hour), bathed baby at 6.40pm, put him to bed by 7.20pm and had 10mins to myself before husband came home. I started dinner as soon as he walked in.

Husband started work at 9.30am and got in at 7.30pm meaning he finished at 7pm.

Was I wrong to tell her this? Am I just lazy?
Edit: my husband never EVER expects me or even asks me to cook for him. We have VERY different tastes in food so we often just cook for ourselves because it's easier!

OP posts:
Mumof3children · 06/10/2023 15:06

Your friend is very paranoid about her own relationship and has very weird ideas about what makes a relationship last.
your relationship sounds very good, you’ve got a great balance and clearly care about each other.
Your friend is just completely bonkers.

Maray1967 · 06/10/2023 15:17

readingismycardio · 06/10/2023 09:42

Tell her to find a proper man. Marriage means being A TEAM. This is how marriage should look like.

Well said. OP, if you engage with her again, remind her of this.

BigDanDan · 06/10/2023 15:33

These women are not friend material. You and your DH sound like you’re doing fine

autumnpleasestay · 06/10/2023 15:46

You need a higher standard of friend. The one who 'got her man' through an affair? I'd dump her immediately.

Jak803 · 06/10/2023 15:57

Wow, did she rock up to your house in a steaming DeLorean, just back from 1955? What a twat!

Sunandsea26 · 06/10/2023 16:30

Absolutely not in the wrong! Totally agree with you.

CurlewKate · 06/10/2023 16:59

@fivenonrouses "A 1950s housewife didn't work"
Well, apart from all the ones that did. And did all the housework as well!

fivenonrouses · 06/10/2023 18:08

CurlewKate · 06/10/2023 16:59

@fivenonrouses "A 1950s housewife didn't work"
Well, apart from all the ones that did. And did all the housework as well!

Forgive my ignorance! I didn't know that.

Cola2023 · 06/10/2023 18:55

"I was chatting to my friend (let's call her A) about our day and she was appalled that I'd made my husband a "low effort and low quality dinner" and that "making him do the dishes after a long day at work was bitchy and unhelpful".

I haven't even finished reading but this is instant block on every platform material. This person isn't your friend.

KatyJ89 · 06/10/2023 20:08

This is absolutely insane. If any of my friends said this to me they wouldn't be my friend anymore 🤣

RaeHitsEbSire · 06/10/2023 20:14

CurlewKate · 06/10/2023 16:59

@fivenonrouses "A 1950s housewife didn't work"
Well, apart from all the ones that did. And did all the housework as well!

1950s wives often worked, but a "housewife" of any era does not work outside the home - that's the definition of a housewife.

FoxtrotOscarFoxtrotOscar · 06/10/2023 20:16

Why on earth do people share such private things with others?

Buttoutofmywedding · 06/10/2023 20:20

She's a lunatic as is the other woman wading in with an archaic and chauvinistic opinion.

All day today myself and DP juggled work, child pickups, household duties. I took a break in the middle and spent an hour in a cafe chilling out. He had a nap at one stage.

He went into our business and did a shift this evening to give me a break. He was planning on going to his hobby afterwards but then decided he has been at it too much this week. I made dinner which was not dissimilar to yours and he tidied away afterwards.

I'm now watching TV with DC and he's upstairs doing the laundry.

What I find most bizarre about your friends' attitudes are that there is always just so much to do, contributions both parties are necessary to just keep the whole show on the road.

NalafromtheLionKing · 06/10/2023 20:25

muchalover · 06/10/2023 09:40

It won't stop her husband having another affair. That's what she's really worried about. She just wants you to be as anxious as she is.

Yep. Let’s face it, her DH is much more likely to cheat on her as he has form (and a tidy house is very unlikely to help him to keep it in his pants 😆).

PandaExpress · 06/10/2023 20:37

The best thing she has to offer a man is her home cooked food and tidy house, because her personality and morals are the pits! How pathetic.

5gymbabe · 06/10/2023 22:29

Well the meal sounds fine to me and seems you have a work/childcare balance that works for you. We can all have knackering days regardless of who has worked the longer hours. I too would've likely told her to fluff off

fivenonrouses · 06/10/2023 22:31

OP, I made roasted garlic potatoes and a salad because your post triggered my pregnancy cravings!

JST88 · 06/10/2023 22:53

Tell your friend, ‘you lose em how you get em’. She is with a man who’s willing to step out on a marriage and you’re with a man willing to do the dishes. You win.

Also, it’s not the 1940s 😂 women now work too

jenstew100 · 07/10/2023 01:13

You’re friend sounds like a bitch!

Sahmlike · 07/10/2023 06:45

It does happen a lot in Indian community. I would be surprised if you were English and it happened to you. Even friends will become assholes including family. All thinks that taking care of a baby is a wink of an eye job. But it's not. I worked five different jobs in the last ten years and every promotion is more challenging than before. Now being a mom of a toddler and a five months old, this is the hardest job ever. Going to work is a relaxation away from kids. Looks like you and your husband are in a very good place and understanding in your marriage. And don't give a f**k to others.

Loverofoxbowlakes · 07/10/2023 07:05

"When a man marries his mistress he creates a vacancy...."

You do you op, your friend is projecting her anxiety over the precarious state of her own relationship.

Cardboard chicken FTW!

Snkt · 07/10/2023 07:25

I would tell her to f**k off big time and could never be friends with her. Her thought process is what’s appalling, not the dinner you made

Hart92 · 07/10/2023 08:02

It's none of her business what works for your family. Each family has their own way of doing things depending on their circumstances.

In our house DH does all the cooking but I do all the cleaning. He will help out if I asked or we have a lot to do. But I'm in charge of running the house mostly. He works 5 days I work 4 and on my day off I have our 2 year old.

We communicate about things and no one is resentful. At the end of the day, even if he was resentful there's having a conversation about it and twerking things first.

Sounds to me like the man who left his husband for her had shit morals and I'd be glad.

Stacybrown · 07/10/2023 08:55

A’s husband will probably leave her because that is the type of person he is. The cooking will not make any difference!
If the couple is fine with the set up then it’s no one else’s problem and if at any point either of you are unhappy then hopefully you can have open communication and find a resolution.
Your friends are ridiculous women.

SpatulaSpatula · 07/10/2023 09:12

My boyfriend would weep with relief if I stopped cooking so many meals from scratch. You've definitely got things right here. Though it sounds like you need to figure out how to get a bit of a break some time! If he's having actual time to himself, I reckon he owes you a few days here and there to chill, and it sounds like he's reasonable enough to be amenable to that!

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