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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Partner went behind my back and bought a pet spider!

183 replies

reginaphalange321 · 28/03/2024 13:08

Just that!

my DP and I have been together around 2 years and still live separately although he does stay at my house most of the week. DP went behind my back and bought 2 spiders to keep as pets and the problem is myself and my 16 year old DD are terrified of spiders. The spiders are very small at the moment but one of them will grow to around 20cm and the other one is a jumping spider. We are taking about moving in together which would mean he would sell his property and move into mine as it’s closer to DD school and is a bigger house and has an extra bedroom. I asked my DP before he bought the spiders not to and he promised me he wouldn’t and even told me he phoned up and cancelled the order when in-fact he hadn't. at this point we were talking about moving in together as was only in January so he said he would get rid of them when this time came around. The problem is now that we are planning on moving in together and he thinks I am being unreasonable asking him to get rid of them and says he will keep them in a garden shed. AIBU asking him to get rid of them?

OP posts:
Dextersenergy · 28/03/2024 18:06

They could be cats or dogs, the answer is the same - don't let him move in with you. This is his first test to see how much of a doormat you are.

forrestgreen · 28/03/2024 18:08

'We can arrange to move in together when the spiders have actually found a new home. '

Don't do anything until they've gone. He's trying to bully you into this. And he's lied so look out for 🚩

KaitlynFairchild · 28/03/2024 18:15

I would end the relationship over this. Going against your wishes is bad enough, but far worse is that he is planning to bring these creatures into the home/garden of your daughter, who has no power to turn him away (that lies with you) and would be forced either to live with spiders or to make herself homeless. This is what I would not tolerate - the ill-treatment of my child.

GlennCloseButNoCigar · 28/03/2024 18:22

KreedKafer · 28/03/2024 13:20

The fact that he says he’ll keep them in the garden shed suggests to me that he doesn’t actually give a shit about the spiders and just did this to deliberately spite you / annoy you / bully you. Don’t move in with him.

I absolutely ADORE rats. I used to have them as pets and would dearly love to have some again, but my DP has a major rat phobia and of course I would never expect him to live with them.

Coming here to say exactly this! I love rats/mice/hamsters etc. But one of my children are absolutely petrified of them, never would I ever lie to them and force them to have one in or around their home.

The lying and disregard would be the end of the relationship for me. He clearly doesn’t care at all!

willWillSmithsmith · 28/03/2024 19:15

I would get rid of him along with his spiders. He’s riding roughshod over you already and you haven’t even moved in together. This will just be the thin edge of the wedge.

SpringingAlong · 29/03/2024 05:02

Blimey that's awful. I would dump him immediately. I usually laugh at the LTB comments, but I'd run a mile from this guy.

Josette77 · 29/03/2024 05:20

I love spiders but he's a liar. That's the bigger issue.

And leaving them in the shed is horrifically cruel. I'd leave him for suggesting that.

TealPoet · 29/03/2024 06:20

If it were about the spiders I’d say you were being slightly unreasonable - you and dd wouldn’t need to have much to do with them and might even grow to like them.

But the issue is him lying to you. Do you want to move someone into your life and your daughter’s life who can’t be trusted?

PoochiesPinkEars · 29/03/2024 06:27

YABU to think getting rid of the spiders even matters anymore.
He has no regard for the effect his preferences would have on your DD and he lied, and he's still making it out to be no big deal.
I wouldn't trust his shed promises and anyway would want all people whose home it is too be able to use the shed.
You set a boundary he stepped right over it... This is not someone you should install in your home!!!!

Angelsrose · 29/03/2024 07:06

Who on earth gets a pet spider especially when he knows you're afraid of them? Get rid of him and the spiders. Totally ludicrous behaviour from your "partner".

hottchocolate · 29/03/2024 07:11

It's a no from me. He's being unreasonable in getting them when he knows you have a phobia and he's trying to gaslight you by saying you're now unreasonable to expect him to get rid. The lying. The spiders. Tell him to go live with his spiders for company.

PapaIndigoTangoAlpha · 29/03/2024 07:14

Yeah he'd not be moving in.

RawBloomers · 29/03/2024 07:21

Mummame2222 · 28/03/2024 13:42

OP doesn’t get to pull rank in the relationship over a pet she doesn’t need to have any contact with.

OP gets to choose who and what she wants to have move into her house. She gets to choose what gets kept in her garden shed.

That’s one of the great things about being an autonomous adult with the financial wherewithal to support yourself - you do in fact get to choose.

RawBloomers · 29/03/2024 07:25

OP he’s testing your boundaries. Seeing how much he can get away with. At least you get the massive red flag before he’s moved in. Cancel the move. If he’s good in bed you could keep to a FWB arrangement if that works for you. But this isn’t a guy to take things any further with.

Astariel · 29/03/2024 07:30

He’s made a clear statement there really. So listen to it. You won’t be moving in together.

He didn’t have to choose to get a new pet at all, and certainly not one he knew you have a phobia of. But he did.

So you can choose not to live with him.

LoveSeptember · 29/03/2024 07:37

Riva5784 · 28/03/2024 13:15

The deal breaker isn't the spiders themselves, it's the fact that he lied to you. Do not move in with him.

Exactly this, he's repeatedly lied to bulldoze over your boundaries and now he's making our you are the one being unreasonable, to get his own way. I couldn't be in a relationship with this man.

Codlingmoths · 29/03/2024 07:42

You say: i have been thinking and I don’t think we are compatible. If you ever so much as brought a spider onto my property we’d be over and you’d be moving out the same day, and from the way you’ve lied about this so far you would do exactly that. I’ll save you the trouble of having to find somewhere to live at short notice by not moving you in at all.

Mummame2222 · 29/03/2024 08:40

RawBloomers · 29/03/2024 07:21

OP gets to choose who and what she wants to have move into her house. She gets to choose what gets kept in her garden shed.

That’s one of the great things about being an autonomous adult with the financial wherewithal to support yourself - you do in fact get to choose.

She doesn’t live there yet. Based on what you’ve written you agree it’s ok he got the spider? As it’s his house. Or do men not get autonomous decisions about what they do and who lives in their home?

JFDIYOLO · 29/03/2024 08:48

Are you ok, OP? You have received almost 💯% Mumsnet agreement on your question, which must be hard.

But please think of your daughter and your own futures.

“DP went behind my back and bought 2 spiders to keep as pets and the problem is myself and my 16 year old DD are terrified of spiders.”

Tell yourself - this man has deliberately done the one thing that he knows most terrifies both the woman he supposedly loves, AND my child. This is a controller.

“he would sell his property and move into mine”

Tell yourself - we are about to make a drastic move that will be very difficult to reverse when he is living in our home.

“He promised me he wouldn’t and even told me he phoned up and cancelled the order when in-fact he hadn't.”

Tell yourself - he has lied to me twice already over this, and broken a promise, too. He did the thing he promised he wouldn't, and he did not do the thing he claimed he had. This is a manipulative liar at work.

“He said he would get rid of them … he thinks I am being unreasonable asking him to get rid of them and says he will keep them in a garden shed.”

Tell yourself - and the pattern repeats. Said he would do something, did not do it, now he's making me out to be the unreasonable one. This is called gaslighting. And DARVO - Deny, Accuse, Reversing Victim and Offender. Both well known controller tactics.

Lies, broken promises, frightening you and your daughter, gaslighting, controlling and DARVO.

This is a forecast of how shit your life together is going to be. This is his true character and pattern of behaviour.

Mookie81 · 29/03/2024 10:01

Mummame2222 · 29/03/2024 08:40

She doesn’t live there yet. Based on what you’ve written you agree it’s ok he got the spider? As it’s his house. Or do men not get autonomous decisions about what they do and who lives in their home?

It's her house he's planning to move into, there are some numpties on this thread who can't read basic information.

Mummame2222 · 29/03/2024 10:03

Mookie81 · 29/03/2024 10:01

It's her house he's planning to move into, there are some numpties on this thread who can't read basic information.

Edited

Nice edit 😂 Yes but for now he’s brought a spider for his house.

Astariel · 29/03/2024 10:10

Mummame2222 · 29/03/2024 08:40

She doesn’t live there yet. Based on what you’ve written you agree it’s ok he got the spider? As it’s his house. Or do men not get autonomous decisions about what they do and who lives in their home?

Are you intentionally missing the point that he is actively planning to move into her house - with the spider?

He can decide what lives in his house. But if he’s planning to live in the OP’s house, then he needs to think about what her views are on pets.

He’s bought the spider now so he will have to stay in his house for the foreseeable future. And accept his girlfriend doesn’t want to visit him. And is extremely unhappy about his actions.

@reginaphalange321 throw this one back.

Astariel · 29/03/2024 10:11

Mummame2222 · 29/03/2024 10:03

Nice edit 😂 Yes but for now he’s brought a spider for his house.

do you view pets as disposable?

it’s not like buying a mirror for your house that you’ll just get rid of when you move

LogicVoid · 29/03/2024 10:12

He lied. He doesn't accept or respect your boundaries. Don't move in together.

Sausage1989 · 29/03/2024 10:16

What is wrong with a pet spider? I've got a tarantula and she's the most beautiful creature ever how dare you Diss his spider

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