Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

My (22F) fiancé (22M) has been lying to me for 5 months about his uni essays, AIBU to feel hurt?

278 replies

feathertv · 17/05/2024 09:57

My (22F) fiancé (22M) has been lying to me for 5 months about his uni essays, AIBU to feel hurt?

My fiancé’s dissertation is due next week, along side 2 other large essays. We have been together since a young age before GCSEs and I have supported him through GCSEs, Alevels and now his degree. He struggles with being under academic pressure and never seems to start essays until they need doing, in 2nd year he handed in multiple essays that did not reflect his full effort just because he was overwhelmed with them. I don’t mind what grade he gets tbh I don’t think he will use his degree. But at the start of January I wanted to be supportive with his dissertation and so have asked him every week what can I do to support you, how is it going have you gotten a good amount of words down this week? Especially as the dissertation is such a large amount of words I knew he couldn’t pull it out of the bag last minute. He has gone to the local library every single day since January sitting there for 9 hours at a time. He usually takes on the cooking/washing up/laundry etc because my degree is more demanding (I have placements alongside my studies) so I’ve really made an effort to take some of the weight off of him, even though it’s left me struggling myself as I am also in my final year of university on my final placement(working 40 hrs a week with a 1 hr commute twice a day) whilst studying at the same time. Basically I am exhausted and ready to finish my degree but i wanted him to have no pressure on him during the last couple of months. I asked him this week if I could read through his essays and dissertation and he would not let me look at them. I thought it was weird but I had been on nights so I was too tired to investigate further. Yesterday I decided to question further as he still would not send me them so I asked what was going on. I reassured him that I just wanted to help like he does with mine but he kind of broke down went for a walk and sent me a huge message about how sorry he is and that he has been lying for months about the progress of his essays, I knew I didn’t have time to be mad I needed to be supportive so that he can try and get something written by next week otherwise he really would not cooperate, I applied for an extension for him and he now has to write 16,000 words in a week because he wrote literally zero words the whole 5 months.
I drove him home from university so that me and his parents can support him for the next week . He was also supposed to start a new job next week so I drafted an email for his boss.
It was only last night that I was thinking before bed how hurt I actually am, the constant lies about how much progress he’d made each week, asking me to wash up because he’s been at the library all day even though I’m exhausted from placement. He even copied and pasted 5000 random words off the internet into a doc that said dissertation because he knew I would ask to see a word count .
I honestly feel distraught that he felt he had to lie when I’ve been nothing but supportive of his academics.
We are supposed to be getting married next year but I fear that if he can relentlessly lie like this for 5 months what else can he lie about.
Do I have a right to feel upset? Am I going to be able to get over the complete lack of trust? AIBU to feel so hurt by this ?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
5
SleepingStandingUp · 17/05/2024 13:14

Sorry to be an echo chamber op but YOU'RE NOT HIS MOM.

This is too much pressure FROM you and ON you.

You're working full time, studying and parenting a 22 yo teenager.

He's lying because he know MommyFiance will check up on him and ask to see word counts and read drafts or will confiscate his toys / tech / sex.

He doesn't sound like he's cut out of Uni and you don't think he'll get a useful degree anyway. You don't sound like you have much respect for him even before this.

I get it. Youfell I love young, he's all you've known, everyone expects you to get married etc. but ask yourself. Are you ready for this to be forever? Every time he needs time off work or has a spat with a colleague, every time he gets close to a deadline. When you're working crazy shifts around childcare for the kids and he's sat on the sofa exhausted because he "works" so hard?

Tombero · 17/05/2024 13:14

Time to move on. You’re not his mother. You’re young, a relationship shouldn’t be like this.

Allthehorsesintheworld · 17/05/2024 13:17

I’m glad I did my degree as a single parent! If anyone had tried to micromanage me I’d have totally flipped out over the pressure.
Leave him to sort himself out, that’s what tutors and uni counselling services are for.
And why on earth do you want to marry at 22/23? Go and have a life, have some adventures, meet more people. I do not recommend getting married young. Been there, done that , have the divorce papers still.

Good luck in your degree/ finals/ career. I think you’ve more than enough to cope with.

Mannyshy · 17/05/2024 13:17

Why on earth are you getting this involved and asking to see his work? He's an adult, let him adult. If he fails he fails. Why on earth are you applying for extensions and messaging his work place. Just no.

mushroom3 · 17/05/2024 13:22

Could he have ADHD?

viques · 17/05/2024 13:24

He won’t change, and you won’t either. You say he has been the same since GCSE. And you have been the same, micromanaging him, being his life coach, organising his life, overseeing his studies, sending emails on his behalf etc etc etc.

No wonder he hasn’t managed to learn any life skills .

I honestly don’t think you are good for each other, he will resent your constant organising and checking on him, you will become increasingly frustrated at his attitude. There are probably other people in the world who you are both better suited for. Just a thought.

Testina · 17/05/2024 13:25

mushroom3 · 17/05/2024 13:22

Could he have ADHD?

🙄
And that has what relevance to sitting back and letting his over worked girlfriend do the domestic chores too?

pikkumyy77 · 17/05/2024 13:25

Missing word:codependent. Thanks auto correct!

AuxArmesCitoyens · 17/05/2024 13:27

Littlepixie75 · 17/05/2024 11:37

Anyone else thinking of The Shining…?

I'm thinking the men who pretend to have a big job and end up going beserk and killing their family when the truth is about to come out

DrinkFeckArseBrick · 17/05/2024 13:31

Sorry to be harsh but the lie is a red herring distracting from the bigger issye - you're not his fiancee. You're his mum.

If you marry him you will end up resenting him as you will be micro managing his whole life as you would a child, and this will eventually kill your relationship

It's not a partnership unless you're both there for each other when times are tough. And mot only is he not there for you at all - he actually adds to your load when times are tough for you rather than supports you.

I can understand being paralysed by fear and not being able to write. I can't understand then asking someone to do all your chores because you've been writing all day, and then getting that person to sort out all your shit for you including emailing your bosses and lecturers etc like you're in primary school

This relationship is notnor.mal or healthy. Foe either of you

AmaryllisNightAndDay · 17/05/2024 13:32

I can see you mean well, but your relationship sounds unhealthy. You are living his life for him, writing letters to his boss, getting your own parents to look after him, managing his studies for him.

You are not his mother or his teacher. And what you have been doing has not helped him at all. It is his decision to work or not. It is up to him to find better ways to manage his stress. You can't do it for him.

It may be hard at first but both of you will be better leading your own lives separately.

StopStartStop · 17/05/2024 13:34

As a Audhder, yes that all sounds familiar but...
You aren't his mum. (haha! Quick check upthread shows me everyone is saying that!)

A song comes to mind, an old song by Queen...
"I want to break free, I want to break free
I want to break free from your lies
You're so self-satisfied I don't need you
I've got to break free
God knows, God knows I want to break free"

You chap doesn't sound self-satisfied but the rest holds true.

You've supported him so long, keep schtum until the dissertation is finished. Otherwise, you'll be his excuse for not doing it, for the rest of his life.

But not your life. Because you are going to break free.

XiCi · 17/05/2024 13:37

It sounds like classic ADHD and if it is, the meds would really help with the procrastination and lack of focus. Have a look online with him and see if the diagnosis fits. If so, it may be worth paying for a private assessment and deferring his degree till he can get treatment

Chatonette · 17/05/2024 13:38

How you do something is how you do everything. This is who he is. You need to have a long hard think about whether you want this in life, when it comes to career, kids, holidays, finances, shared goals. You are in for a lifetime of him telling you that things are under control, then finding out at the last minute that they aren’t under control.

Mummyoflittledragon · 17/05/2024 13:39

I also think you’re treating him like a child. You’re so very young. I know you don’t get it now. But you’re far too young to be tied to him right now. He needs to learn and make his own mistakes otherwise nothing will ever change.

DysmalRadius · 17/05/2024 13:40

Hillarious · 17/05/2024 10:15

It sounds like he's overwhelmed and needs help, and should have had help before. It's not an issue of a lack of respect for you, more an inability to be honest with himself, open up and ask for help.

I don't think claiming that you need your partner to wash up because you've had a hard day working shows an inability to ask for help. It shows that he's lying and not even trying to mitigate it by picking up the slack at home.

Garlicnaan · 17/05/2024 13:42

TwelveAngryWhiskers · 17/05/2024 10:13

Why are you micromanaging him? Constantly asking to see his essays, his word counts and writing to his boss all sounds suffocating. You're not his mum. He's a grown man!

This is who he is. You're not compatible.

Well I couldn't say it better.

You're trying to help I know but you're babying him, and he's letting you. He'll never grow up with you doing all the adulting.

Hillarious · 17/05/2024 13:45

DysmalRadius · 17/05/2024 13:40

I don't think claiming that you need your partner to wash up because you've had a hard day working shows an inability to ask for help. It shows that he's lying and not even trying to mitigate it by picking up the slack at home.

Did I miss the bit about needing his partner to do the washing up? When was that mentioned?

standingbythegate · 17/05/2024 13:51

I think anyone can panic and get caught up in fudging the truth but in this case, sounds like your fiancé is going to great lengths to construct a false reality - pretending to be tired as he's been 'working' all day or copying text into a document to create 'evidence'. That sounds worryingly devious and I would be very concerned about his ability to lie (and cover his tracks with other fabrications) so easily. I would wonder if he is really just a very dishonest person!

I say this because I once had a relationship with a man who found it very easy to lie. He would lie about the weirdest of things, he would lie and tell me he was at a friend's house when in fact he was at a totally different friend's house, he'd tell me he'd booked a holiday when he hadn't, he'd tell me he'd read a specific book but he hadn't...and on and on. I later found out he was a serial cheat.

I know this is not what you asked but please be very, very wary of people who find it easy to lie.

Peachy2005 · 17/05/2024 13:59

As so many have said, you are not his parent. Take a break from the relationship, focus on yourself, do not marry him!

TarantinoIsAMisogynist · 17/05/2024 14:02

I got together with my husband when we were in our teens, at uni.

Neither of us ever asked to see the other's uni work. Neither of us has ever tried to manage the other's approach to studying. Neither of us has ever contacted the other's employer.

The fact that you think any of this is okay or normal just shows how utterly dysfunctional the whole relationship is.

You are so young, but you are behaving like a 40-50 year old micro-managing her teenage son. Get out and enjoy your youth, because it'll be gone before you know it.

YankSplaining · 17/05/2024 14:03

takealettermsjones · 17/05/2024 10:26

This relationship sounds like a nightmare. He's a major procrastinator, you're suffocating as hell and you're both clinging to it because you were childhood sweethearts.

Why are you playing at being a 40 year old married couple - arguing over who does the washing up and checking his work for him? Why are you even living together?

You're a 22 year old student. Live with mates, eat super noodles, do vodka shots from a water pistol! Don't get married at 23 to a boy who can't even email his own boss ffs.

I agree that the relationship is unhealthy with major problems, but not everyone wants the stereotypical university experience. I’m very introverted (with ADHD sensory issues as well), and living in a house of partying roommates sounds like my personal vision of hell. This gets brought up so much on Mumsnet when people have an atypical university experience, the idea that everyone is “supposed to be” living a particular lifestyle.

DysmalRadius · 17/05/2024 14:03

Hillarious · 17/05/2024 13:45

Did I miss the bit about needing his partner to do the washing up? When was that mentioned?

It was only last night that I was thinking before bed how hurt I actually am, the constant lies about how much progress he’d made each week, asking me to wash up because he’s been at the library all day even though I’m exhausted from placement.

From the OP.

stripes92 · 17/05/2024 14:04

Stop mothering him.

Coffeegincarbs · 17/05/2024 14:05

Don't marry this Walter Mitty unless he consistently proves he has his life back on track. Whilst some of us do like to procrastinate over difficult tasks (I had to give myself a stern talking to as I also struggled with writing up my own dissertation so have the Tshirt) you're overcompensating for him. You're not his mum and you shouldn't be drafting emails for him. If he's doing a PhD he's an adult who should be capable of sending emails requesting the extension/ delay himself. If he can't manage that then I'd query why he's doing a PhD at all. What are his long term career plans?

You sound like you like to rescue people and are a people pleaser and have got sucked into this model of behaviour with your DF. Its not a healthy equal partnership.

Swipe left for the next trending thread