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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to want an occaisional lie in?

17 replies

LissyGlitter · 19/05/2009 20:59

My DP works part time in a local shop. He does various shifts, but the earliest he starts is 11am. We have a 2.3yo old DD who gets up at about 9am every morning (sometimes it is as early as 7am, sometimes as late as 10am) I don't work, so I don't mind getting up with DD most mornings. However, is it unreasonable for me to expect DP to, maybe once a week, allow me to stay in bed for an hour or so longer while he gets up with DD, does her breakfast and gets her dressed?

Most nights he is up till 3 or 4am or even later playing world of warcraft on his computer, and even when he has what he calls a "morning shift" (ie 11-3) he only gets up about 10.30. Today he got up at 4pm. I got up at the same time, but for me, it was after a nap after I had spent all morning entertaining DD.

He is very good generally, and does most of the housework on top of working, but I am pregnant and suffering with tiredness, morning sickness and depression, and could really do with the gesture that he sees DD as his responsibility too.

It's not just mornings, it's little things all day long, for example, if he goes to the shop he just goes by himself, but if I go and try to nip out by myself he makes a big deal of "do you want to go with mummy?" to DD so I have to take her, thus making the entire trip take about five times longer.

Or if we eat tea together (which he usually cooks, but only because he refuses to eat my cooking) he always wolfs his down then goes straight into the other room to read the paper or play on the computer. DD is usually the next to finish (I eat very slowly as I'm generally trying my best not to throw it back up) and makes a fuss to get down from her highchair, so i lift her down and she goes into the other room to see her daddy. He then starts muttering under his breath about me not letting him have a break at all and often tells her to go back into the kitchen.

He does work hard, but he's not full time, and he only works for a max of four hours at a time (very rarely he will do two four hour shifts straight after each other, when of course I don't expect him to do anything at home). He moans that he is exhausted, but that is mainly because of the late nights he spends either on the computer or out at the pub.

I think one of the most annoying things is that whenever anyone professional is around (quite a few people visit the house due to my mental health problems and pregnancy) he won't leave her alone!

I am probably being unreasonable, but neither of us are morning people, and neither is DD, and she can be very demanding in the morning. Earlier in the pregnancy he would bring me breakfast in bed, which was absolutely lovely, but he would still bring DD in and leave her in bed with me, often while I was actually throwing up into a bucket beside the bed. When we got downstairs we would always find him on the computer.

Like i say, he does do most of the housework, so I feel really mean moaning, is it just that I am getting depressed that I am finding it hard to cope? I feel like world of warcraft is the "other woman" in our lives. He will quite happily sit and ignore DD to play on it for hours and hours. I will sit and read the paper while she is playing quietly, but I rarely get through an article without being interrupted several times to deal with her.

He had to look after her for an hour recently (because I was throwing up and so dizzy I didn't feel safe in charge, and he was just in bed) and didn't even know where her nappies were kept!

I keep saying I will make more of an effort with the housework, it's just I'm finding it so hard at the moment to just keep myself and DD going day to day. I had a bath yesterday and it was the first time I had washed myself in two weeks. Skanky, I know, but I just couldn't get together the enthusiasm during daylight hours (the bathroom light is broken) along with the time apart from DD. In the end I just announced I was going for a bath while she was napping and told him he had to listen out for her.

OP posts:
LissyGlitter · 19/05/2009 20:59

Sorry, I didn't realise it was that long!

OP posts:
kalo12 · 19/05/2009 21:04

poor you. i think your dh is being unreasonable. my dh works a 14 hour day 10 til midnight and always gets up at 6 to take ds for his breakfast so i lie in til 8.

don't mean to brag, just wanted to give you some perpective. my dh looks after ds on two days i am at work, and always cleans the house and cooks dinner when he is home.

he also works weekends.

give your dh a kick up the arse

PM73 · 19/05/2009 21:21

So let me get this straight in my head,your dd gets up about 9 every day - very jealous as my ds gets up at 7 at the latest!

Your dh only works 4 hrs a day,he does the housework & the cooking & plays a lot on the pc.

Why hasnt he changed the bulb in your bathroom?

I am also very jealous that you can sit & read the paper whilst your dd plays quietly next to you,my ds is at the stage where you need to watch him like a hawk,he is 2.9yrs.

Why dont you turn the pc off & make him shift his arse?

pippylongstockings · 19/05/2009 21:29

I too am a bit about this.

My DS both get up between 6 and 6.30am - I get up with them every morning and yes I too would like a lie in - but my DP works 12 hour days in a very physical job so I feel he needs a lie in the 1 day a week he doesn't work.

Tell your DH to get a rocket up his arse. Hide the PC or something.

LissyGlitter · 19/05/2009 21:30

PM73 yep, most days. I am very lucky, which makes me even more scared about what it'll be like when the new baby comes, what if it's an early bird?

I don't turn the pc off because he has a massive temper and it wouldn't be worth the shouting and muttering for the rest of the day. Also he does do the housework, so I feel a bit mean. I think i'm guilty about not working, although I don't have a choice, I am actually in the process of claiming incapacity and DLA on the advice of my mental health team as they don't feel I am fit for work.

And god knows why he hasn't changed the bulb in the bathroom, it has been broken for about two months now. I can't do it because I don't want to climb up a ladder as I'm pregnant and he says it's an odd bulb that will be really expensive. I need to get my housemate to climb up and get the bulb out and then i can take it to the electronics shop and see how expensive they really are. We are moving out at the end of the month, but it is friends who are the new tenants and i don't want to leave them a broken house! Most of the lights in the house have broken bulbs in, we have to use lamps.

OP posts:
violethill · 19/05/2009 21:35

I'm glad I'm not the only one feeling a bit

You don't work and your DD sleeps in til around 9 am??!! Even 10 sometimes?? You get a lie in every day, dear. How are you going to manage when she goes to school and you both have to get up earlier??

And you DH works a maximum of 4 hours in a row, hardly ever doing a 'double shift of 8 hours?' Double shift?? Blimey, my normal working day is longer than 8 hours.

Your set up sounds bizarre, and not terribly nice in many ways (DH disappearing off at meals, sitting on PC half the night etc). But TBH you both sound pretty idle to me and your expectations seem to be very far from real life!

PM73 · 19/05/2009 21:37

Hmm,so you live in a house with hardly any lightbulbs working

PM73 · 19/05/2009 21:38

Thank God someone else has said what i wanted to.

How did you cope with the early starts when your dd was newborn?

mistlethrush · 19/05/2009 21:49

Getting back to the question - dh currently doesn't have a job - I'm working ft. I get up and get ds up (or vice versa) and do school run, then work, pick ds up from school and do more work at home whilst dh is meant to be looking after ds (somedays better than others) and gets his supper. Somehow though I always end up doing his bath

So - you're pregnant and ill but do practically all the care for dd, he works pt and does the housework and cooking, but nothing else.

No, you're not unreasonable to ask him to give you a couple of lie-ins - and this should defintely take precedence over WOWC

LissyGlitter · 19/05/2009 21:56

PM73 It's not so much the early starts, as I realise they are not exactly early, it's the general attitude that she is my responsibility.

When I was working and not pregnant, my mum would have her for at least one night a week so I could work (one of my two jobs was mainly weekend nights), and me and DP shared the responsibility of getting her to nursery. I used to work two jobs and study for a degree, so it's not like I have spent her entire life loafing about. Now when she goes to my mums, I go too as I need the company to stop me getting so ill I end up in hospital again.

In a few weeks, DP will have to spend some time at the opposite end of the country from us as he tries to find full time work near his parents (we are moving up there as soon as we can) and of course I will have to cope with DD on my own then, which I won't mind. It's just seeing him lying in bed when he has only made himself tired through his own choice when i am tired through illness, pregnancy and looking after OUR child that annoys me.

We made the decision that DP would only work part time so he could have a better relationship with DD, and we decided to live in a shared house and not have many luxuries so we could afford this. If he manages to get a normal 9-5 job, then of course I will do all the morning duties and housework, but I am finding it really hard at the moment, especily as if I take my eyes off DD to throw up, she has an uncanny ability to find anything breakable or dangerous in the room!

OP posts:
MIAonline · 19/05/2009 21:57

Pushing the issue of what time you get up aside, It is not unreasonable to expect your partner to help to look after your DD. He needs to grow up, stop acting like a teenager and switch of his PC so that he is capable of getting up in the morning (whatever time it is) It sounds as though you are needing more support currently and will probably need more when your 2nd child comes.

Just because he does a decent amount in some ways already does not mean he shouldn't up his game and help you out while you need it.

violethill · 19/05/2009 22:02

Right so the problem is actually far more serious than whether you get a lie in or not. It sounds as if your DH has never really accepted responsibility as a parent. The part time work thing sounds ridiculous, as clearly he's not using the time to have a 'better' relationship with his dd - he's wasting time on rubbish. So support him in getting a F/T job. Hopefully this will mean a better division of labour and you can get into a routine and not feel so resentful. It just seems from the OP as though you're both hanging around the house for an awful lot of the day but not enjoying it or doing anything positive - you're resenting eachother and it can't be nice for your DD. Sounds like you need to sit down and insist on a proper talk to your DH.

LissyGlitter · 19/05/2009 22:03

What makes me laugh is he has said a few times (mainly in a jokey way, but a couple of times during serious discussions about friends who have split up) that he would obviously get full custody of the kids if we ever split up because of my mental health problems! God knows how he thinks he would cope! I don't actually know how I would cope without him either, but still!

OP posts:
RumourOfAHurricane · 19/05/2009 22:06

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

MIAonline · 19/05/2009 22:11

He sounds delightful Lissy

Don't let him make you believe that the support you need makes you unable to care for your DD. You would cope, and there are systems in place to help you.

I agree with Violethill too about getting into more of a routine, and perhaps him starting to get up 'early' with your DD (I accept that in your family it is early, though in mine it 6! ) will help him prepare for your baby, who as you say may be an early riser.
Good luck.

Portofino · 19/05/2009 22:17
Hmm
Heated · 19/05/2009 22:26

It all sounds emotionally, physically and mentally unhealthy. Aimless days, little productive work that brings in ££ and for your dp, hours spent on the addictive WOW, an existence which surely must contribute to your own mental health problems. Hope you don't mind my saying this but you both need a routine.

How about:

  • an agreement to no wow/gaming/pc chat until dd is in bed, with a reasonable bed-times for you all
  • 2 days a week where dp gets dd up, breakfasted, dressed and on one of those mornings (or afternoons if a work day) he takes dd to free swimming or to the park
  • you go out somewhere/undertake a home-project (the garden) as a family together
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