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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Or is DH? Stuck on holiday with him

304 replies

WITWHBIWAGT · 26/07/2024 19:55

Bought lunch in a small supermarket today as per agreement. We are on holiday and needed quick food. I got a shop bought meat sandwich and some bread and hummus. It was slim pickings.

So, DC decided they didn’t want the shop sandwich and I’m vegetarian. So I said to DH, ‘I am afraid it’s the shop bought sandwich for you.’ I said it in a kind of resigned, ‘bloody fussy kids’ kind of way - I thought.

He got cross and asked why does he have to eat it? I said you don’t but DC don’t want it and I don’t eat meat. ‘So why aren’t I allowed bread and hummus?’ - me ‘I’m not saying you are aren’t, I’m just saying no one else will eat that sandwich’ - he continues ranting. I say, ‘it’s fine, we can just chuck the sandwich away’.

Anyway he goes on being cross and telling me how awful I’m being. I get a bit tearful. Oldest DC comes and hugs me. DH storms off and slams the door. Then a bit later comes angrily out and angrily eats the bloody sandwich. I try and make conversation but I’m feeling a bit upset.

DC then go off somewhere so I calmly explain that I wasn’t dictating he should have the sandwich, more was commiserating. He sulkily says thank you for explaining and then says, ‘but can you see how I might think you were dictating what I eat’. I say no I don’t, because it seems obvious to me that I’m saying oh no, you poor thing, the DC are being fussy again and you are going to be stuck with that boring sandwich.

He launches into another tirade about how awful I’ve been (I got a bit irritated with him twice in the last week - I think most people would have but that’s another thread) - called me arrogant. Said my irritation with him was as unacceptable. I asked him if he thought it was ok to speak to me how he was. He didn’t answer. Carried on his tirade until I just sat quiet for long enough. I had a bit of a cry.

Was I being unreasonable and should he say sorry for getting so angry and storming off? To be clear, I stayed calm, didn’t once shout and didn’t call him any names or have a go at him but also didn’t just apologise because he’d completely misunderstood me for some reason.

I’ve got another week of holiday left. I just want to go home but have to play happy families for DC.

OP posts:
Wendysfriend · 26/07/2024 20:09

God all this over a sandwich 🙄 I would have gone back to the shop and bought a fuck ton of hummus and handed it to him and said here you go you moany fuck, here's your poxy hummus. But then I'm stubborn.

Most mother's would eat whatever their kids didn't want, I know your veggie but jesus he could have ate the sandwich without moaning about wanting hummus. I bet he ate it all and enjoyed it.

Definitely take some hours apart during the holiday, you can get a bit of peace and not have to listen to him moaning.

olympicsrock · 26/07/2024 20:09

Are you both tired and stressed? I often take a while to relax into a holiday.

WITWHBIWAGT · 26/07/2024 20:10

owladventure · 26/07/2024 20:02

Is it even really a holiday if you haven't fallen out over something trivial because everyone's tired/hot/homesick/out of sorts?

(Unless he does this all the time, that's different.)

Its regular enough that we are spending a fortune for couples counselling.

OP posts:
Runnerinthenight · 26/07/2024 20:10

He goes to the fucking shop from now on and then he can choose what he wants to eat! Prick!

lavenderlou · 26/07/2024 20:11

He sounds very immature. Tell him to go and sort the food next time.

LiquoriceAllsorts2 · 26/07/2024 20:13

Wendysfriend · 26/07/2024 20:09

God all this over a sandwich 🙄 I would have gone back to the shop and bought a fuck ton of hummus and handed it to him and said here you go you moany fuck, here's your poxy hummus. But then I'm stubborn.

Most mother's would eat whatever their kids didn't want, I know your veggie but jesus he could have ate the sandwich without moaning about wanting hummus. I bet he ate it all and enjoyed it.

Definitely take some hours apart during the holiday, you can get a bit of peace and not have to listen to him moaning.

Well the op deliberately chose something that she wouldn’t have to eat as backup so that she could enjoy what she wanted.
why should he have had to have it when the op didn’t want it herself.

WITWHBIWAGT · 26/07/2024 20:13

MiddleParking · 26/07/2024 20:04

Honestly I can see myself getting stressy with DH if I was hungry and he appeared to assign me a shit supermarket sandwich he’d bought on holiday. I wouldn’t keep it going like he did though.

Yes. If when I said I wasn’t saying he should he’d stopped, I’d consider that normal. It certainly wouldn’t make me cry!

OP posts:
WITWHBIWAGT · 26/07/2024 20:14

HateThese4Leggedbeasts · 26/07/2024 20:04

I remember reading that the peak time for people to initiate divorces is after the summer holidays as people have spent lots of time with their grumpy other halves.

Sorry you are having a difficult time.

Hmmm. Interesting.

OP posts:
WITWHBIWAGT · 26/07/2024 20:14

Crystalbabe · 26/07/2024 20:04

You said this is a pattern and you’re in couples counselling. Your eldest having to hug you is a big sign for me that it’s time to end things, sorry, for their sake

Agree. 🙁

OP posts:
LiquoriceAllsorts2 · 26/07/2024 20:15

what were the instances in which he got annoyed over the last few days?

WITWHBIWAGT · 26/07/2024 20:15

owladventure · 26/07/2024 20:05

Language is imprecise. Do you often communicate in ways where you say one thing but believe you're communicating a different message that he misses?

He often assumes the worst possible meaning of anything is ambiguous. I try and word things carefully but it’s hard. He has lots of hair trigger switches.

OP posts:
WITWHBIWAGT · 26/07/2024 20:16

LiquoriceAllsorts2 · 26/07/2024 20:07

Sound like he overreacted but I can see where he’s coming from. I think I would have been annoyed with you in this situation

Edited

Interesting. Why?

OP posts:
AutumnChild99 · 26/07/2024 20:16

Gosh he sounds like hard work. Walking on eggshells all the time is exhausting.

MiddleParking · 26/07/2024 20:17

WITWHBIWAGT · 26/07/2024 20:10

Its regular enough that we are spending a fortune for couples counselling.

Going on holiday together right now sounds like a recipe for disaster tbh, especially as it sounds like you’re not particularly well organised for whatever it is you’re seeking to achieve. Why are you having counselling - do you really want to stay together, do you love him? This sounds worse for your kids than a separation if it’s a frequent pattern.

WeekendFreedom · 26/07/2024 20:17

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 26/07/2024 20:01

That’s part of being a parent though.

No it’s not

Gowlett · 26/07/2024 20:18

I don’t want to go on holiday with DH.
Thoughts of just the airport… Um, no!

Icedlatteplease · 26/07/2024 20:19

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 26/07/2024 20:01

That’s part of being a parent though.

No.

Because I'm not a martyr for my kids.

If I want a nice sandwich on holiday, I get a nice sandwich on holiday, I make sure everyone who is with me has a nice sandwich. It's a holiday.

I be pretty hacked off at being such an afterthought, I get whatever was leftover from the kids, and presented as "here this is horrible, you have it" kind of thing

Not saying this isnt the tip of the iceberg, but dont think the OP is particularly thoughtful here

ProfessorPeppy · 26/07/2024 20:19

Ah sorry OP you are married to a TWAAAAAAAAAAT!

He sounds very black and white/inflexible. Does he always struggle to see anything from anyone else's viewpoint? When I get annoyed with DH, I try to remember that he's fairly neurodivergent, it helps a bit.

Ethylred · 26/07/2024 20:19

So you've been irritable with him twice in the last week (your words, I wonder what his would be) and then you have a go at him over a sandwich. Why are you like that?

WITWHBIWAGT · 26/07/2024 20:19

owladventure · 26/07/2024 20:07

I say no I don’t, because it seems obvious to me that I’m saying oh no, you poor thing, the DC are being fussy again and you are going to be stuck with that boring sandwich.

He does kind of have a point though because this isn't what you said at all. You said something totally different and hoped/assumed he'd read your mind to understand what you really meant.

Yeah. I get that. But on another day he’d say, ‘daddy dustbin again eh?!’ And laugh.

OP posts:
WeekendFreedom · 26/07/2024 20:20

WITWHBIWAGT · 26/07/2024 20:16

Interesting. Why?

He misunderstood what you were saying, he thanked you for explaining what you actually meant and instead of leaving it there you carried it on and made it an even bigger deal

WITWHBIWAGT · 26/07/2024 20:21

SauviGone · 26/07/2024 20:08

Don't kid yourself that your DC think this is a happy family holiday.

Your eldest DC had to comfort you today then the kids deliberately made themselves scarce when dad stormed back in after storming out and proceeded to angrily eat a sandwich.

Memories to cherish.

I am under no illusion there. I just need to try not to keep the tension going.

OP posts:
WITWHBIWAGT · 26/07/2024 20:23

MiddleParking · 26/07/2024 20:09

Also, sorry OP, but even if it was ‘slim pickings’ I’d be really annoyed with a vegetarian buying a shit meat sandwich alongside something they acknowledged to be nicer, then saying the sandwich was for me.

I bought the shit sandwich for one of DC who would usually go for it (was what they had in their packed lunch all last term!) but they shunned it. And there was enough bread and hummus for us all (not a particularly great option either!).

OP posts:
BarHumbugs · 26/07/2024 20:23

It must be really hard for him with you telling him what to eat because it's all that's available. I mean, what's he supposed to do if he doesn't like it? Go out and buy food for himself like a functioning human being? You're asking WAYYY too much here OP.

Cherrysoup · 26/07/2024 20:24

Couples counselling isn’t working, is it? He’s often like this (hence the counselling). What is the point of being in an unhappy relationship? Clearly your eldest is aware of the problems, so splitting up wouldn’t be some huge shock.