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AIBU?

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To ask DH to bring a couple of bits of shopping home?

1004 replies

starsnstripes · 20/03/2009 15:42

Emailed DH to ask if he would bring some milk and bread home on the way back from work as thought I had some in the freezer.

He replied "Yes ok"

Then he sent a seperate e mail titled "Why"

It read
"why are running out of basic items?"

Know that sounds pretty tame but he has been really agrumentive recently and questioning everything I have'nt done or criticising what I have done.

It's just another case of him being verbally abusive and controlling.

OP posts:
Cazzaben · 04/04/2009 02:01

I've read the whole thread...
It takes that one ounce of courage and you will be free...
I know that you will be free one day and your DC's will be MUCH happier.

Go Stars LEAVE HIM! You can do it... You are strong...
EVeryone here has faith in you... Your not bullshitting your not exaggerating!!!
What you are going through is REAL...
Sometimes you will think its not as bad as your making out... But really??? Would you have posted here with 40+ different names...

I'm hoping that God (i know ur not religious) Will give you the strength...

Please please keep thinking of your DS... Can you imagine him like ur BH???? That would break your heart even more wouldn't it?? I know it would mine. To know he might turn out like his father.

Dont let your DD believe its right to be treated like this... Would you want her to go through what you are going through... Leave and let her know that it IS possible to be happy...

Only YOU can do this Stars... Listen to Dreadpirate she will help you

I'm sending Love and May God hold you in the palm of his hand...

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

lowenergylightbulb · 04/04/2009 09:42

Woh - he's threatened to kill her, has threatened to have her sectioned and has a serious drink problem. These issues can't be worked through over a few days.

Stars, I'm sure that this is all confusing and scary. If he's being 'nice' I guess you're hoping that he'll stay nice.

However, if/when he turns again at least you have the beginnings of a plan to get out.

starsnstripes · 04/04/2009 10:00

Sorry fell asleep last night.

I suspose I feel I do owe him an explanation.
I just try and imagine what it would be like to come home and find your children gone.

I wish we could just go somewhere for a short holiday but not sure how I would explain that.

Flibberty-thanks for all your suggestions will make a note of them.

Thanks to everyone for sharing your personal experiences it does help.

things have gone to far and things have been said that I can't forgive.
Even IF he is suddely amking an effort it is too little to late.

hobbgoblin-am happy for dreadpirates to CAT you,thank you.

I would hate to think my children would grow up thinking this is acceptable behaviour.
Hopefully after we have gone they will see the difference and know it is'nt acceptable.

All quiet here this morning.

H has not said to much apart from being disappoited that I we have run out of peanut butter .

Was thinking funny that,it is not on my list of prioritys at the moment.

OP posts:
Miamla · 04/04/2009 10:08

stars, you don't owe him an explanation before the event. After, is the time for talking. You said you can't imagine what it would be like to come home to find the children gone. But what you need to do is put yourself back as a fly on the wall of his past behaviour. Does the man who behaved so badly deserve being treated in a sympathetic way?

I smiled at you running out of peanut butter and your reaction to it. Sounds like your head's in the right place today, I really hope H doesn't wake up and spoil it all

I'm in a position to be able to help you physically as well if you're reasonably close. My car's got a big boot (I'm north-east ish London/Essex)

Miamla · 04/04/2009 10:09

forgot to add.. my email is miamla at hotmail.com if i can be of any help

notmyusualmnname · 04/04/2009 10:20

You do NOT owe him an explanation at all.

I think you owe it to yourself and your kids to get the hell out of there asap. You owe him nothing. I made the mistake of thinking my ex had feelings and that I shouldn't 'upset' him. But in actual fact he has no concept of others, everything was, and still is, about his own gain. And your ex aounds scarily similar. Do NOT put his feelings above anything else.

How old are your kids btw? And how are they doing? I used to get really angry at the suggestion it affected my kids and the whole 'kids see threequarters of domestic abuse'. But I have to admit that my kids were negatively affected.

I really want to hear you have left, or got rid of him somehow (I managed to stay in my home because he was arrested, but I would not reccomend waiting for that to happen). Also, I expect WA have told you this, but you can leave, go into a refuge, and WA can help you apply to get him out of the house, and even still have to pay rent and stay away from you. That is, if your house is rented not owned? (I don't know if the same would apply if you own the home, but actually, if he is being abusive, I cannot see why not) My life is soooo much better single. I do not want to go into what I have achieved on my own because I m a bit worried about being recognised on this thread (obviously I HAVEN'T achieved a complete acceptence of what happened and people knowing it happened to me!) but I have really achieved more than I ever thought possible, and you can too.

notmyusualmnname · 04/04/2009 10:22

Fourth line down I have said 'your ex sounds similar' obviously he is not your ex yet, but hopefully he soon will be!

tringle · 04/04/2009 10:40

it sounds like your D?H is v. unhappy but this does not give him the right to take it out on you! You are supposed to be partners, and that doesn't mean he is your 'boss' who picks you up on every little thing he thinks you do 'wrong'. He needs to talk to someone or else you both do together, you can't live like this. Well I know I couldn't...
I stay at home while my partner is out working but we are totally equal and he wouldn't dream of asking questions if i asked him to get bread and milk he would say is there anything else you want babe?? Maybe I didn't realise how lucky I am until now??

tringle · 04/04/2009 10:42

Sorry I thought I read the whole thread but obv didn't! You do what is right for you and your kids. You deserve better.

Servalan · 04/04/2009 10:56

Hi Stars

Still rooting for you like everyone else.

Just thinking about the impact on your H, but only because you are expressing concern about that.

First of all, I echo what has been said here, you do not owe him anything.

However, putting aside the fact that I personally wouldn't give a shit about him...

It is pretty clear from what you have posted that as well as being a nasty aggressive bully
(a) he is an alcoholic
(b) he is in total denial of this.

Earlier in the thread you talked about him saying to you that you needed a wake up call.

I dispute this. It is him that needs a wake up call. In the long term, his heavy drinking is going to do him no favours emotionally or physically. More than that, as well as leading him on a path to self-destruction, his drinking is already having a harmful impact on the people around him.

No one can change an alcoholic's behaviour other than themselves. To change their behaviour, they have to admit that they have a problem. If an alcoholic doesn't have any reason or incentive to take a good, hard, cold look at themselves, they are very, very unlikely to change.

Your DH coming home and finding you and your DC gone will give him a shock, but frankly, he needs a shock. You going will give him the opportunity to look at his behaviour and give him an opportunity to change.

Now, he may well squander this opportunity and become more self-pitying, worse etc - but the fact is you will have given him the opportunity to address his life and sort himself out - and facing some harsh, home truths will take him further down the road to recovery, even if that road includes some hefty dips on the way (and those dips are not your problem - it's a journey he needs to make on his own. If he needs support there is AA).

Right now, he can deflect what he is doing to himself by blaming you and using you as an emotional punchbag. Removing the emotional punchbag means that he has to look to himself and his behaviour.

Again, you owe him nothing, but in fact by leaving you are ultimately, long term doing him a favour.

I agree, please don't sit down and discuss this with him, even with a third party there. He is unpredictable, he has made threats to you in the past. It is not safe. If you want to explain, leave him a letter. If you talk, he will not listen/he will shout you down etc. With a letter there is more chance of being heard, and a letter after you have moved out gives you and your DC a chance to get to safety.

I'm only posting this and showing any concern about your H because you have been expressing doubts and guilt around this. I repeat, I'm not actually at all concerned about your DH. He has brought this all on himself and doesn't deserve pity. The main priority is you and your DC - and actually you do matter!!! The shit he has been feeding you is making you think that you don't but you do.

Stay safe. Stay strong. We are all behind you.

starsnstripes · 04/04/2009 11:10

Thanks everyone.

The shock may well force him into realising he does have a problem.
At times in the past he has said he has a problem but when I have suggested he gets help if he really means it he has never done anything about it.
I have always said if you really want things to work you need to give up drink altogether that's the only way.
He obviously can't do that and me and the children are not enough of an incentive to do it.

I have written many letters in the past explaining how I feel which he has acknowledged but then all is forgotton a few days later.

He has been tidying up the kitchen this morning and is now taking the children out to town.

BUT at weekends he has done this before and it seems to be in the week mostly that he changes into this different person.

OP posts:
clam · 04/04/2009 11:15

So, leave but, if it helps, view it as a trial separation. Clearly you cannot leave the kids behind as a) he's out at work all day and b) he's not going to be a responsible carer if he's drunk every evening.

Then, as someone has said above, gauge how he's reacting to your having gone (AFTER YOU'VE GONE. DO NOT TELL HIM BEFOREHAND! Leave a letter, explaining it calmly and rationally) and decide where to go from there.

GettingaGrip · 04/04/2009 11:27

Hello Stars

If he is an alcoholic, you most certainly cannot change him.

A shock may well make him think a bit, but alcoholics need professional help to change. He has chosen to drink and abuse you over many years now.

I don't know if anyone has suggested this already but have you looked at the support site for partners etc of alcoholics, al-anon?

You owe him NOTHING.

He puts drink above you and his children.

You must think of yourself, and your children.

For what its worth...I wish I had left years and years ago. All those wasted years I thought I would stay for the sake of the children, because he wasn't THAT bad compared to others etc etc etc.

YOu are young....you have your whole new life ahead of you. He is not your responsibility.

xxxxx

Servalan · 04/04/2009 11:29

It's not enough for him to change at weekends though is it? He shouldn't be getting pissed or abusing you at all. You should not have to walk on eggshells and be scared, whether for one minute, one hour or 1 day a week. The fact that the behaviour is there is enough.

Just want to emphasise again, his alcohlism isn't and shouldn't be your problem - well it is your problem at the moment because you are stuck bang in the middle of it, but changing is something he has to bring himself to do.

My FIL is an alcoholic though an "amiable drunk" rather than an "aggressive drunk". Being a "charming drunk" has meant that he has been able to carry on drinking without facing up to the fact that he is - in fact - an alcoholic.

He is in his 70s and has only recently stopped drinking.
He carried on drinking when his family didn't have enough money to be able to eat because he was pissing it away.
He carried on drinking when his children got frequently beaten up on the estate they lived on and he was too drunk to sort it out.
He carried on drinking when his own DS became an alcoholic.
He carried on drinking when his DS got into recovery and gave him all the information on how he could recover too.
He stopped drinking for a couple of months after being hospitalised and told the drinking was killing him.
He has stopped again 6 months ago after being hospitalised a second time - this seems to have given him the shock he's needed - for now - who knows if he will start drinking again. It is in his hands.

The thing is, he has a DW who loves him, children who love him, a sister who loves him. None of these things matter. Addiction makes people inward-facing and selfish.

You need to get out because nothing you will do is going to change him. He can only change himself.

He will make excuses to keep drinking and keep drinking and you and your DC will bear the brunt of it.

BTW - when I said about writing a letter, I only meant if you really feel you need to explain or if it would in any way give you some closure.

Explaining to him isn't your priority - your priority is getting you and your DC out of there.

Stayingsunnygirl · 04/04/2009 12:04

I second Servalan's opinion that you should leave the explanations until after you have left him. Discussing it with him now might tip him off that you are planning something, or might trigger a situation that would force your hand and make you flee without having set anything in place.

On the other hand, you leaving with the children might be the shock he needs to get him to sort himself out, and then you can talk to him, and see where things go from there - but you will be in a place of safety and a place of strength.

Take care, and I'll look forward to hearing from you.

{{{hug}}}

MuppetsMuggle · 04/04/2009 12:54

Stars - I Have read your thread, I have no personal experience. I totally agree with everyone else, it is abuse, you need to get out for the sake of you and your children. and please don't tell him that you are going, he won't let you go, he can only get violent.

My thoughts are with you xx

clam · 04/04/2009 13:20

Interesting point you made, stars, when you said he wasn't drunk last night, although he'd had 4 or 5 gin and tonics. His tolerance level must be high, if he can drink that much and not appear drunk. How much has he downed on all the other nights when he rolls in aggressive and falling over?
He is an alcoholic for sure.

dittany · 04/04/2009 14:47

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

theDreadPirateRabbits · 04/04/2009 17:47

Hello all - hope your weather's been as lovely as ours

Stars good to hear from you, and that you're having a decent weekend so far. Maybe we can talk again on Monday if you'd like? My cope-with-5yoDS-schedule says we're at a garden centre in the morning, but will be pottering around in the afternoon so can easily stick him in front of indiana jones something educational while we talk...

Hobbgoblin - couldn't CAT you - your profile won't accept? But you can email me at thedreadpirateofmn at googlemail dot com, and I can pass your details onto Stars?

starsnstripes · 04/04/2009 17:56

H has been doing the garden this afternoon so things gave been quiet.

I was upstairs doing something and heard DS shouting about something downstairs .
Went down to see H driving off.
Apparently he told DS he was going for a beer.
He did'nt even come up and tell me he was going out,he just sneaked off.

DS is now all moody with me and angry at his dad for going out.

Now I feel stupid for feeling guilty becaue he was making an effort.

OP posts:
starsnstripes · 04/04/2009 17:59

x posts-dreadpirate may ring on monday ,sometimes it is impossible to have a conversation on the phone when the children are here,but will try.
If not will e mail you.

Have just tried to ring H to ask what on earth he is up to but he has left his phone here.
surprise surprise

OP posts:
clam · 04/04/2009 18:04

So he thinks you're sufficiently capable to babysit his kids while he goes down to the pub, then!
Just what would his reaction have been if you'd done that? Sneaked off out for an undetermined period of time without telling him.

starsnstripes · 04/04/2009 18:09

I don't know what to think.
My heart is beating so fast.
Am verging between anger and wanting to cry.
Will not give him the satisfaction of the latter though.

Was just thinking how many times I have sat around wondering where he is ,howlate/drunk he will be.
Maybe it's time to sit around wondering where I am?

OP posts:
DandyLioness · 04/04/2009 18:10

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

starsnstripes · 04/04/2009 18:10

Meant to say

Maybe it's his time to sit around wondering where I am?

OP posts:
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