Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Why was i never good enough?

30 replies

kittykat36 · 14/06/2025 23:35

This is sooo long and i apologise in advance. I just really want someone else to talk to about this. Im so confused by my feelings. So me and my ex got together in 2009. In 2016 i discovered he had been messaging ither girls (one who was his ex!) pictures of his naughty bits. After so much soul searching i stayed for our children who at the time were 5&3 (they are now 14&12). He swore it would never happen again and it was only because i was so tired and wanted to sleep early each night. Flash forward to 2022 and he started messaging another woman this time who he worked with. I lost it and asked him to leave. He left but the kids were heartbroken and so was i. Why wasnt i enough? Why did he keep doing this?! He made all the right noises kept apologising and eventually he came back to live with us in 2023. By january 2024 i said i couldnt move past all the times he had messaged other women and when i had asked for sex but been told no i dont want to. Eventually it makes you feel so worthless and belittled and just worn down like your not enough. I was at rock bottom. He got a flat of which i gave him half of evey bit of furniture i owned which i paid for because he was diabolical with money and tbf still is! After 1 week of moving out he had started dating a new girl. It crushed me so bad. My kids saw me screaming most nights into my pillow and barely functioning as a human being. My doctor put me on antidepressants and anxiety meds. By february 2024 he asked to come back again. And i stupidly jumped at it to make the pain stop. We now get to March 2025, hes been here none stop (still paying rent on his flat monthly!) since november. He suggested he move back in give his flat up. I agreed. Seemed pointless paying 425 a month when he didnt need to right? By may 2025 he still hadnt gave his flat up even with me asking fortnightly what was happening. I finally lost it and saw daylight. I asked him to leave and that any relationship was now done forever as he was keeping his flat on as a back up option. That doesnt show me he is committed to making this work. Id asked last year to be dated at least once a month. I took him on date nights away to hot tub lodges etc but it was never reciprocated. I also asked if we could do relationship counselling. He wabted no part of it. So yeah he left. Pretty easy considering he hadnt moved in again. Its been 4 weeks now. And just 1 week since hes found a new girl. I know everyones thinking christ you deserve the pain he should of stayed gone the first time but i loved him so much he was my lobster. I just i dont know what im supposed to do. I dumped him this time for all the hurt he put me through and im probably rightly being portrayed as the bad guy to his family for binning him off but i still hurt so bad inside. I still love him. Well not this him. Old him before all the pain back in 2016. How do you move past that? Am i being unreasonable to feel so sad my ex moved on 1 week after the last time and then 2/3 weeks this time? I know deep down i dont want him back ever and tonight is the first time ive cried and even felt pain about any of it. First off all i felt was freedom and liberation. But today i feel so down and sad. Why was i never enough? Im now 36 and honestly dating looks to be a minefield of which i want no part of absolutely not. My children are my main priority but he makes it so difficult when i feel sad for them when he says he can have them for tea one night 3:30 - 7pm and one night on a weekend to sleep over. All they want is more time with dad but he says hes busy and has plans. I know its with his new partner. I just dont want my kids to ever be anybodies second option like their mum was for so many years. I just want to move on somehow but its so painful.

OP posts:
DoYouReally · 14/06/2025 23:55

Very single experience of hurt, pain and betrayal in your post was caused by him.

He is no good. He's having a serious negative impact on your emotional and mental health and if you stay away from him long enough you will recover to the point of fully realising that.

Not everything that is good for you is easy but the hard work will benefit you in time Stay away from him, you deserve better.

Also, it's not a case you never being good enough for him. You are too good for him, you just haven't realised that yet.

Endofyear · 14/06/2025 23:55

He's definitely not your lobster - he's a liar and a cheat. He's got a new girlfriend a week after splitting up? He was seeing her when you were together. Think of this as a lucky escape and concentrate on yourself and your children.

Lmnop22 · 14/06/2025 23:56

OP you are good enough. He is the one who is not good enough for you! He is the selfish, lying, cheating, emotionless prick.

It is unbelievably hard but you will get past it and give yourself the biggest pat on the back for having left him and not wasted more time and energy on someone so unworthy of it.

Let yourself grieve and then be done and better and happier without him.

MrsMoastyToasty · 15/06/2025 00:00

You are good enough. In fact you're too good for a waste of space like him.

CalmTheFuckDownMargaret · 15/06/2025 00:01

He sounds emotionally useless. Really not a dream man at all.

MiloMinderbinder925 · 15/06/2025 00:01

How can your children be your main priority when they have a dad moving in and out of their lives and no stability?

He's a liar, he's never stopped cheating, he's financially incompetent and he's done nothing but disrespect you yet you keep inviting him back into your children's home.

Get some therapy and stop taking him back.

MeganM3 · 15/06/2025 00:03

You won’t find peace or happiness going round in circles with this bastard.
Show your kids how much they mean to you and make sure they know they are your highest priority.
That is all you can do.
If he hurts them, he hurts them. You can’t prevent it or alleviate it. But you can be their strength and their comfort.
Contact with him should be strictly limited, if it weren’t for the kids it would be a no contact at all situation. You need as much space as possible from him and in time you will begin to feel better and the rejected feeling will stop too.
Healing takes quite a long time. Try not to ruminate. Get busy.

ThatChirpyBird · 15/06/2025 00:06

I think you know all the answers yourself. You're pretty aware of everything that's happened, including the red flags you smoothed over, but that's okay! It has every bit to do with him, nothing to do with you. How he treated you all along has been extremely unfair. Please don't blame yourself for this. It has nothing to do with you. You've made the right choice in the here and now, time to heal yourself.

mathanxiety · 15/06/2025 00:08

It's not that you were never enough.

You have self esteem problems that caused you to play the pick me game with a man who was never the right man for you, a player.

Go and get therapy. Try to understand why you kept on giving this man chances and even paid for his flat for him and why you thought what you were feeling was love.

Do not let this man back into your life to mess with your children's heads and hearts again.

Oh and stop paying the rent for his love nest.

kittykat36 · 15/06/2025 00:16

mathanxiety · 15/06/2025 00:08

It's not that you were never enough.

You have self esteem problems that caused you to play the pick me game with a man who was never the right man for you, a player.

Go and get therapy. Try to understand why you kept on giving this man chances and even paid for his flat for him and why you thought what you were feeling was love.

Do not let this man back into your life to mess with your children's heads and hearts again.

Oh and stop paying the rent for his love nest.

I never paid for his flat i found his flat for him as he never looked originally. He has always paid it. I just always stumped up food for him and my kids at first as he “was skint” constantly. Im a people pleaser. I let him
back in for my children time and again yet this time i said to him and my kids “i need to be selfish. Ive tried for a year to make you and my children happy having a family all together but its hurting me inside so much. I need to put me first which goes against everything ive ever done”. I realised all the too-ing and fro-ing was not healthy for my children and me and it all had to stop. I just feel so sad yet i chucked him?

OP posts:
Agapornis · 15/06/2025 00:27

Take it you aren't married. Sort child arrangements in a formal agreement. Do a CMS calculation and apply if he refuses to pay the suggested amount. Focus on the admin and your kids wellbeing. Then perhaps try a few new hobbies to build your resilience.
He's a wishy washy fucker and girlfriends will come and go for as long as he remains unreliable - probably forever.

Set yourself and the kids free, you all deserve better.

kittykat36 · 15/06/2025 00:30

No marriage. He pays currently monthly without CMS. Im looking into hobbies. Ive been mum only for 14 years ive forgotton who i am and lost friends along the way. I need to start over again and its scary

OP posts:
Swannsee · 15/06/2025 00:32

Why on earth would you want to be good enough for him, if you really feel like that therapy may help with your thinking

Agapornis · 15/06/2025 00:37

I'd highly recommend martial arts or boxing to let off steam. Any sports club that welcomes women in their late 30s/early 40s. There will be others looking to make new friends, some after focusing on their kids for many years, some after divorce, some both. I hear good things about netball.

Lindajonesjustcantlivemylife · 15/06/2025 00:39

His first round of cheating he put on you because of your circumstances at the time.
Not his inability to keep his penis to himself and cheat.
Don't take him back and you really should have binned him the first time.
This man will always be a source of strife for you.
Move on and make a happier life for yourself and children.

Catsandcannedbeans · 15/06/2025 00:54

kittykat36 · 15/06/2025 00:30

No marriage. He pays currently monthly without CMS. Im looking into hobbies. Ive been mum only for 14 years ive forgotton who i am and lost friends along the way. I need to start over again and its scary

Hay maybe you don’t totally have to start over with friends. I was recently contact by an old school friend who was going through a hard time and I was just happy to hear from her. If it was just a case of you losing contact with your old friends, you can always try looking them up! That’s less scary than making new friends and you’ll probably be surprised at how receptive people are.

You are good enough OP he is a rat 🐀 and will always be a rat. The new gf will find out soon enough and he will probably come crawling back but you must stay strong. Also get therapy for yourself.

kittykat36 · 15/06/2025 11:01

Thank you all for your words ive read each and every one and it helped massively. Ive decided to go no contact - only to message when children are going over or being dropped off etc. otherwise i want no contact. Ive deleted him off all socials and asked my family to not mention anything that concerns him as in they thought i wanted to know he had a new gf and they had seen him out on a date with her necking on in a pub. I dont know why i would need to know about that but i guess they thought they were doing me a favour. So hopefully i can begin to heal and move on. My children will always come first now ive messed them up too much already presumeably trying to keep them in a fanily with a mom and dad around. I know now in hindsight that wasnt good. Ive reconnected with old friends as suggested by @Catsandcannedbeansso thank you for that! I do have some night outs planned with them for next month and one of my older friends has invited me to ladies day at york races on the 28th so at least il have something to do and get dressed up for! Today is a new day and day 1 of the rest of my life 🥰 thanks you guys xxx

OP posts:
Pbjsand · 15/06/2025 19:17

It’s not that you weren’t good enough. It’s that HE doesn’t have the capacity for a committed relationship. He just likes sparkly new things.

Goodlorditssummer · 15/06/2025 19:20

It’s absolutely not that you weren’t good enough. He wasn’t good enough. Selfish, entitled dickhead. He’s not good enough for anyone, not even himself.

EmeraldShamrock000 · 15/06/2025 19:23

Don't take him back again, this emotional turmoil is terrible for your children, boomerang parents.
He is not trustworthy, he is disrespectful and cruel.
Stay away.

Dweetfidilove · 15/06/2025 19:29

You are too good for him and your children deserve more than a mother being dragged down by this person. For your sake and theirs, let him go.

Drowningincokezero · 15/06/2025 19:32

I can feel your hurt from here and I can't imagine how you've managed to keep him in your life for this long without going clinically medically insane. I've had an comparatively small taste of this pain recently and I went 3 months before realising this, and for me it changed everything.
Some people we come across and get involved with are just, in themselves, shits. They will never have it in them to feel empathy or act with compassion, let alone hold any integrity in their actions. And this isn't because they were born bad, hey may have suffered their own traumas or been taught quite wrongly in their own childhoods. Anyway, it is absolutely no reflection of anything other than you happened to meet them one day. You have been caught up and have been burned by their behaviour. You could be 'good' or 'bad' yourself and it wouldn't have worked out any better. There is nothing you could have done, or been any better at, to have made this not happen.
I held onto this as the truth and I believed it to be so (and I still do). I had to find it again in my thoughts quite often as it didn't stick for a good while. You are hurting and it's only natural to ask if there's anything more we could have done or been. But try not to entertain those thoughts because for the right person you are perfect.
I admire your strength in all this. He may have successfully had you hanging on his every word for a while but you can wise up, cut the ties and move on. All the best x

Interestedkind · 15/06/2025 19:38

I’m so sorry this has been awful for you
when people cheat it says everything about them and not you. He is the one with the problem and probably will never have a fulfilling relationship because of his character flaws
you however can be hopeful for a new and good relationship. Not yet you need time

kittykat36 · 15/06/2025 19:38

Drowningincokezero · 15/06/2025 19:32

I can feel your hurt from here and I can't imagine how you've managed to keep him in your life for this long without going clinically medically insane. I've had an comparatively small taste of this pain recently and I went 3 months before realising this, and for me it changed everything.
Some people we come across and get involved with are just, in themselves, shits. They will never have it in them to feel empathy or act with compassion, let alone hold any integrity in their actions. And this isn't because they were born bad, hey may have suffered their own traumas or been taught quite wrongly in their own childhoods. Anyway, it is absolutely no reflection of anything other than you happened to meet them one day. You have been caught up and have been burned by their behaviour. You could be 'good' or 'bad' yourself and it wouldn't have worked out any better. There is nothing you could have done, or been any better at, to have made this not happen.
I held onto this as the truth and I believed it to be so (and I still do). I had to find it again in my thoughts quite often as it didn't stick for a good while. You are hurting and it's only natural to ask if there's anything more we could have done or been. But try not to entertain those thoughts because for the right person you are perfect.
I admire your strength in all this. He may have successfully had you hanging on his every word for a while but you can wise up, cut the ties and move on. All the best x

Thank you so much. Your words mean a lot. I had a wobble last night but today has been a good day. Day 1 of the rest of my life. I refuse to let my children go through that again as a pp said ‘boomerang parents’ i dont want that for them. I need to learn to love myself first and foremost xx

OP posts:
Hankunamatata · 15/06/2025 19:39

He isn't good enough for you.