Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Please or to access all these features

Post-natal clubs

Join our Postnatal Clubs forum to find parenting advice for newborns.

October 2007 These Little Piggies chased the easter bunny..and stole the eggs pt ll

990 replies

TheLadyEvenstar · 25/03/2009 09:21

ok lets try here ladies!!!

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
NeedCoffee · 21/08/2009 10:17

Awwww Dal

Things are probably quite mixed up at the moment with you being pregnant, you're probably exhausted and emotions are high. Could you maybe try some marriage counselling? xx

Dalrymps · 21/08/2009 14:32

I know but it's the same stuff that always comes up. He keeps saying to me 'you always moan about looking after Dylan so why don't you go get a job then?'. I do moan somtimes, he hardy eats a scrap and it's a constant source of stress for me, I thought it was ok to confide in my dh about that but no, i'm just 'moaning'. He thinks because we decided I should be a sahm and look after Dylan that I should do it happily and with a constant smile on my face. It's not possible, there are difficult days just like he has at work and I don't tell him not to moan about them or to go get a different job .

He said lately I just have a 'miserable face' when he comes in for lunch and I hardly seem to want to kiss him. I have explained about a hundred times I look fed up because i've had terrible ms and am exhausted, not because i'm just being horrible. I always say to him 'oh i'm just feeling sick' when he asks. I also have explained that I don't feel very 'kissy' when i'm trying not to vomit.

He said I hardly do any housework and am not interested in 'maintaining the house'. I explained again that I have been barely making it through the day and looking after Dylan lately and haven't had the energy or have felt too sick. That's not to say I have done nothing at all, I still make his dinner most days unless i've felt really bad. I have done tudying/hoovering/washing up and the basics. When I exaplined to him I (again) it is because i'm actually pregnant and feeling awful he just said I never did much before either . I am not a domestic godess, I am not one of those who has to have everything spotless but I am certainly not a slob and do as much as is needed to keep things clean and reasonably tidy. I believe in sharing the housework. He has had to do a little more than usual lately due to how i've been feeling and he resents every little bit of it. If it were the other way round I would do everyhing in my power to make him feel comfortable and looked after.

He says I don't care about money at all (he constantly wories about money, so do I but I don't let it take over my life, I just watch what I spend and accept I can't do much more atm). he said one thing that shows this is the fact I never check my till reciept when we've been to the supermarket. He always stands to the side near the tills and checks right through the reciept for mistakes (so does mil). I don't know anyone else that does this and have never done it myself. incidentally there has never been an mistake. I just don't do that, doesnt mean i'm careless or I don't care, i'm just in a rush and figure that as everything has a bar code it's very unlikely there will be a mistake. I can see why he checks it but I don't think it makes me irrisponsible that I don't. I do care about money a lot, I sell things on ebay to try and make extra, he thinks it's a watse of time... I am setting up my own business to make extra. I watch what I spend. I even went round all 3 supermarkets here with our shopping list a while ago and compared the price of everythin we buy at all 3 so I could get our weekly shop cheaper. What more can I do?

He said it's taking me too long to set up my ironing business. It's not my fault though. I've done everything the business advisor asked but there have been contant delays whilst I wait to hear about funding. It's them I'm waiting for, not me!

He said about my ms that he nearly always tells me to go and ave a lie down if I feel bad when he gets home. I said yes he does but tbh I feel like he resents me for having the lie down if I do and always am made to feel guilty about it afterwards. He said he does resent it as I don't appreciate all he does and never say so. This is absolutely not true!!! I have lost count of how many times I have said 'thanks for letting me lie down/empting the dishwasher/bathing Dylan etc I really appreciate it, i'm sorry I feel so i'll and can't help out more etc etc'

I tell him all the time how much he means to me, how much I appreciate him, I leave messages for him on the fridge telling him I love him, I send him texts saying so, I actually feel like I have to keep thanking him a lot or he'd be more grumpy than he can be already.

I said to him I would never resent him for having a lie down if he felt ill, I would just be glad he felt better after and that could be of help. I told hom I feel that he doesn't appreciate just how bad I feel at times and it seems like me being pg is just a big inconvienience to him.

He then randomly brought up that over half our debt is mine?! We both had debt from being students when we got together, we accumulated a bit more through carelessness in teh begining so we decided to take a consolidation loan to cover it and take control of our finances. I didn't force him to take the loan, it was a joint decision. I didn't accumulate my part of the debt with him in mind, we weren't even together then, how was I to know? I just feel he said this to make me feel guilty tbh. It was another way to 'prove' I don't care about money. I was bad with money when I was at uni, I wasn't with him then and I was young and silly, that was 6 years ago though, why doesn he keep throwing it back at me? I am careful with money now

Oh and he said I 'nag' at him I don't do this, I am oen with my oppinions on things that affect both of us but I certainly don't nag about it. Why is is when a woman has an oppinion it's nagging but when a man does he's just making a point? I hate that word...

He also sadi I amke him feel guilty for diong jobs about the house. There are jobs that ned doing but come the weekend, thats all he wants to do. I believe in making time for us as a family and doing work on the house. Everything in moderation. It's hardly surprising i'm not too happy about watching Dylan all day long whilst he does diy when thats what I do all week too, I like to have a bit of a break at the weekend from the constant responsibility of watching Dylan, just like her gets a break from work...

In the past I have tried really hard to 'cheer him up' make him happy but I never felt like my efforts were noticed or that it worked. i used to do all the clothes washing but he would never take his clothes and put them away (hard for me to do whilst watching Dylan as I can't carry a pile of washing and him up the stairs). So all my efforts were ignored and the clothes just sat there. I used to tidy as I went round the house, I am the kind of person who will do a job as i see it so if there is something on the stairs I will take it up if I have to go up etc. Dh would just walk past said item several times. I felt like I was clearing up after a teenager and got tired of him 'making jobs' for me. He would never put things away where they went, would just shove them somewhere for now and then I would end up putting them away later, so he had created 2 jobs when he could have just put it away in the first place. I explained this to him but he still does it...

Basically I felt like the work I was doing went unoticed and was being added to and I just couldn't keep it up so I stopped trying so hard. Now though he says I have never done much housework at all. I try to explain to him there are hundreds of little jobs that I do that never register on his radar. I clean the oven, bathroom, always wipe the surfaces, always am the one who thoroughly cleans the highchair, always wash the wooden chopping board, always do the washing up (Dylans stuff doesn't clean properly in the dishwasher), I always tidy bits and bobs away that are left lying about, I file mail away, I scrub the toilet when it has 'marks' , I change the lightbulbs when they go, I make the shopping lists (or we'd never have food), I mostly make dinner and tea, I nearly always wash and sterilise Dylans bottles which is usually a few times a day as we have less bottles than he has feeds a day, I hoover (not as often as i'd like but I still do), I always scrub out ceramic sink and he just leaves food and stuff all over it, I share emptying and loading the dishwasher, doing the washing, etc.

Basically I do stuff and when he talks like he does he really has me believing I do nothing at all...

So so sorry for this long post, no one has to reply, just wanted to get it off my chest. Don't think we cana afford marriage counselling and mil would have to watch Dylan whilst we went and I don't want them knowing..

Stefka · 21/08/2009 18:33

Dal you poor thing that just sounds awful. How long has it been like this? I think he is totally out of line. You are not responsible for making him happy and I think he is being a selfish twat to be honest.

Could you go away for a couple of days and leave him to do all the work? Or get 'ill' so you have to lie in bed and he can see how much you actually have to do. It wasn't until my DH had to look after Dareh full time for a bit that he understood how hard it actually is.

What do you think you need right now? It's sounds like you are in such a horrible situiation and that can be so isolating. DH and I have been having some issues on and off and I hated that feeling of just not knowing what to do. In the end I spoke to my mum and decided to live my life as though he wasn't there so I wouldn't get annoyed when he didn't contribute. As if I was a single mum. It seems to have setteld down a bit now so I hope it stays that way.

Could your DH be depressed and taking it out on you? I think that is the situation with us. You don't deserve to be treated that way - it is not on at all.

NeedCoffee · 21/08/2009 20:13

Dal- for you, sounds similar to when I was with DD1s Dad, and he just didn't care enough to try and make things better, so in the end, neither did I..

Agree with Stefka, is there any way He can take some time off and you go to a girlfriend or even his parents so that He can deal ewith the day to day crap for a while? You need to learn to like each other again, seems that you've gotten into a rut and from my experience it will just go downhill unless you deal with it, sorry if that sounds harsh, but you both need to work at this, could you have a day out together without Dylan, maybe a picnic, walk, anything that doesn't cost too much? Sod the housework and DIY crap, yeah of course it'll be nice to have it done, but life is too short, really.

I hope you can see a way through this together, afterall, you've stuck with each other against the posionous parents, surely you can overcome this xx

Dalrymps · 21/08/2009 20:46

Sorry to worry you ladies, it's up and down really. I know i'm not perfect myself...

I think he is frustrated that he doesn't earn more and hates his boss where he works. I think he was a bit depressed after we had Dylan and has seemed so a few times along the way but he won't go to the docs. He doesn't fancy talking to a counsellor and he doesn't want to go on AD's. I'm not sure he's depressed at this particular moment in time though, just generally fed up with our lives.

I know our life needs work and isn't perfect but I try really hard to find the positives in the small things. A walk on the beach can make my day, I don't need loads of money or possetions to make me happy. He just seems to get bogged down in what he's not happy with about our life. It makes me feel he thinks our life is shit where as I think we have a lot to be thankful for.

It's hard because he's made a real effort to be nice to me today and we went for a walk after work and we've got on really well. It just goes to show if he makes a bit of an effort then we get along fine. Thing is he does this after we have a big argument then things slowly slide back to grumpy/moaning groundhog day type existence.

Just to be fair, he is not a total arsehole, in fact when he wants he can be really helpful and nice. He does a lot to help around the house and feeds Dylan his tea every day to give me a break and feeds him on weekends. It's just the almost constant pesamism that gets me down.

I can't go anywhere, my family live 5 hrs and 9 hrs away and I could never leave Dylan and go that far away anyway. I'd judt feel so guilty. I even feel guilt having a shower whilst he waits for me!

I don't know what to think, I can be a shit too. There has been an ongoing 'anger' issue that has cropped up with dh many times and he hasn't done anything about it yet. Just that he gets very wound up and angry sometimes. He promised twice he would see the doc to ask advice then just didn't and changed his mind and said he would get an anger management book instead. He bought it and hasn't read it yet, that was quite a while ago...

I know we both need to work at things. I just feel I have become a bit pathetic compared to how/who I used to be. I have no friends here apart from his family/sil. I never go out for coffee/ a drink/ anywhere exciting really. I have no hobbies. I just feel lonely and lost. I also am held back by my wasp phobia in summer...

NeedCoffee · 21/08/2009 20:51

aw Dal Anyway, don't be sorry, thats what we're here for

Am I right in thinking you where seeing a therapist/counsellor? Could they help you work through things?

Dalrymps · 21/08/2009 22:29

I was seeing a counsellor but tbh I found him a bit crap and he didn't really delve too far in to my issues. He signed me off as I was doing a lot better... He said I could see him again but I don't feel i could discuss this with him anyway really.

NeedCoffee · 21/08/2009 22:39

maybe see GP and ask to be referred to a different counsellor, or even the counsellor, they're usually ok if you say that you find it difficult to open up to them and would like to try someone else.

Going to bed soon, hope you're ok x

NeedCoffee · 22/08/2009 08:12

good morning ladies, I'm so very tired today, I couldn't sleep last night, and then Shannon was in my bed by 5.30 grinning her head off

Meant to be going out tonight for my birthday with freinds that couldn't make it last week but I'm feeling pretty rubbish, my legs wont stop itching, no idea why, its been about a week and they're driving me crazy, I'm tired and achey, I think I'd be better off with a good nights sleep!

Hows everyone else today? (keeping the thread topped up with us all )

Dalrymps · 22/08/2009 08:42

Morning NC sorry you couldn't sleep, it's awful when you're tired and can't drop off. 5.30 is pretty early too... I would probably prefer a good sleep to going out too! Hope you feel better soon. Are your legs maybe itchy just cause your skin might be dry? I get itchy if it's been hot at night and my skin is dry... Maybe try a mild moisturiser?

About the counsellor, he's the only one for our whole area so I can't change. I was gonna see a private one about my wasp phobia but I keep putting it of as I don't feel we can afford it, i'll see...

Feeling a bit more optomistic this morning. Dh is working all weekend with his dad (the reason the argument started but i'm fine with it now). Anyway, Dylan is still asleep when i've got up so i'm really enjoying 'coming round' on my own without jusmping in to the daily routine. I think deep down I need a purpose, sometimes I wish I did have a job if only to meet friends and get out and have something to do. I can't bear the idea of not looking after Dylan though so i'm kinda stuck... I do want to set up my business too but that doesn't solve the no firnds round here problem. I am going to push myself to go to aqua natal every week, it's free and on a tues eve I think so I might meet some people at that .

I feel we need a lot extra in our lives than what we have but also struggle to see where we'll fit extra things in iyswim?! Anyway, i'm just rambling but at least i'm feeling a bit better about the whole thing.

Hi to everyone else, how are you all today?

NeedCoffee · 22/08/2009 08:58

Aquanatal sounds fab, yeah def get out there and you may meet some other women, won't vbe as good as us though

I so know what you mean about not having time to do stuff, things are never ending aren't they.

I've been putting calamine cream on itchy legs, but the just wont stop! Weird.

Haha Shannon is dancing to the adverts on tv, she's in and out of thge garden while I'm sat in dressing gown on laptop.
Oh forget to tell you all, my laptop crashed yesterday, then wouldn't turn back on, rung PC world, who told me to ring Dell, the woman got me to take the back of the laptop off, remove some memory board things, put them back in and it worked! Asif they had me doing electrical stuff over the phone!

Dalrymps · 22/08/2009 09:09

LOL I am also sat in dressing gown on laptop!

Of course the women I meet won't be as good as you lot, if you all loves closer i'd have a lovely group of friends to go out with!

Hope your legs feel better soon, I get excema and it has got worse recently, i'm sick of scratching. Doc gave me some good cream though, maybe if yours don't stop itching you could get something through the doc?

Eek, thats technical stuff they had you doing then [shcok]. Ah well, at least it worked!

NeedCoffee · 22/08/2009 09:22

Oh I've only just remembered to give Shannon her breakfast, she had her milk when w egot up but I forgot cereal, run out of weetabix so she's had choc cornflakes, she doesn't seem to mind though, even with the extra chewing

Hows the MS been? any other pg related aches and pains? Little man awake yet?

Dalrymps · 22/08/2009 10:29

Dylan had his breakfast about the same time then. he just woke before your last post... Ms kinda gone but I tend to feel sicky with all the ingigestion i'm getting and it lasts from lunchtime onwards everyday! Gaviscon works temporarily but then wears off. Apart from that i'm suffering from insomnia, oh the joys.

Lol at Shannon chewing her choc cornflakes . Dylan has petit filous for breakfast, he doesn't 'do' cereal

NeedCoffee · 22/08/2009 10:34

oh I don't envy you, hope it wears off soon, how far on are you now?

Petit filous has got lots of calcium at least Will he eat raisens or dried cranberries? maybe something to add to brekkie for him.

Dalrymps · 22/08/2009 10:51

12 weeks today! I hope I get some more energy soon so I don't feel so much like an old lady!

Yeah it's got lots of calories too which he needs. He's tried raisins and stuff, he'll eat a couple then chuck em on the floor, good idea though, will keep trying!

NeedCoffee · 22/08/2009 11:09

Well Shannon would be eating them off the floor after he'd chucked them, she also loves peas and swetcorn, rice and noodles, tomatoes and olives! Well actually, she'll more or less eat anything, but just trying to think of extra little things to give him.
Wow 12 weeks, should be stating to get the glowing soon eh

Dalrymps · 22/08/2009 12:59

He quite likes peas, sweetcorn and noodles... The main problem is how much of it actually goes in, very small amounts...

Yeah hoping to be glowing soon!

Just had a nap whilst Dylan had his, dh came back for lunch. Itold him to wake me so I could see him but I felt a bit sleepy and sicky when I woke so I was sat here looking a bit sorry for myself. He was a bit grumpy about that and asked if I was angry with him, I said no, i'm just coming round. He was still a bit grumpy and not really talking much. I asked him what was wrong and he said 'nothing I just get the impression you're angry with me' and i said well I've already said i'm not, i'm just a bit sickly and feeling a bit off as i've just woken up. He was like 'oh well I didn't know that did I'. I reminded him that lately I usually feel pretty sickly when I first wake up That's not the case at all, if he felt ill I wouldn't expect him to sit there grinning like a cheshire cat would I?!

Ah well, at least his new effort lasted a whole day!

WhiteWineAndJaffaCakes · 22/08/2009 13:12

Inzi - glad your grandad got home from hospital, and that you had a good trip.

FT - at balloon converstaion - that's so cute. Hope your mum is better soon so you don't have to rely on your mil! Do you always finish teaching at 7? If you've got any earlier lessons I could come and mind Alex for you if you're stuck this coming week but 7 would be a bit late to then take Anya home.

Loving all these toddler conversations.

Dal - really glad your scan went well. Have you looked at Surestart groups in your area? Ours are a bit patchy now Anya's a toddler but you may find something and they're free.

NC - lol at poo on the head. Oh the joys of potty training. Congrats on the exam - brillliant news.

We are planning to start potty training in a few days - when the current stock of nappies runs a bit lower . We've timed it all wrong of course, it would have been easier to do it a few weeks before I went back to work, but never mind. Only one week to go before my new job - am getting quite excited!

strawberrylace · 22/08/2009 14:38

hello everyone
we are having a lazy day today - ds is asleep on me, dh is playing on his xbox - we should be doing something on the extension, but have no enthusiasm for diy. plus i don't feel well at the moment - not sure exactly what's wrong, but want to get better asap to enjoy the last week of my holiday!
having a dilemma about work - have asked me to do a slightly different job full-time for a while, while they recruit a permanent person. would help out my work colleagues - team not doing well at the moment - and would stand me well with senior managers, but would mean working mondays & fridays again - am having a working mum dilemma at the moment...
no potty training here yet, and particularly rubbish sleeping - ds won't go to sleep in his own bed, and always wanders through to ours sometime during the night.

Stefka · 22/08/2009 17:11

What do you want to do Strawberry? It sounds like you quite fancy it and it is just temporary isn't it? How long would you have to commit to it and would you have a get out if you changed your mind?

WhiteWineAndJaffaCakes · 23/08/2009 14:24

Strawberry - understand your dilemma about work. How long would it be for? Would you be able to sort out childcare for those exta couple of days?

We've sort of tried potty training today - not really sure it's going that well. We did have an argument about putting pull-ups on this morning ("Nooooooooooooooooooo!!!") but once she got a pair on she seems quite happy - she likes stepping in/out of them. I've also persuaded her to sit on the potty a few times but she's not done anything. She's not had a poo yet and all wees have been in the pull-ups. All a bit anti-climactic then. Am I starting this too soon if she's happily weeing in her nappy still? or is this just the first bit of a gradual process?

WhiteWineAndJaffaCakes · 23/08/2009 17:40

Woohoo - Anya did her poo in her potty .

NeedCoffee · 23/08/2009 18:49

Brill WWAJC Sounds like shes ready to at least have it introduced.

Strawberry-how long would it be for? How do you really feel about it?

FloriaTosca · 24/08/2009 10:02

Well done everyone for getting talking again!!!

WWAJC You are soooo sweet for offering to babysit for me. I often teach until 8pm so far too late and far too far for you too come anyway...its the 8pm finish, which is also Alexs' bedtime that is the problem because no one but me seems to think that a regular bed time is importantbut then no one but me is coping with two wake ups a night either! I'm going to ask one of my pupils to sit for me but thank you soooo much for offering...and well done Anya with the potty training, woo hoo! I find it a gradual process, but then I started very early...Alex did 2x3hr car journeys on Saturday and only needed us to stop once in each direction yet this morning, after a dry night and using the toilet at 7am was sat watching cbeebies and eating grapes on the settee at 8am and said and signed toilet as he wet himself fortunately those events are few and far between now...

strawberry the job sounds facinating and probably very worth doing. If you can find good child care I'm sure a short time as a ft working mum wont harm and you can go back to the luxury of being pt (like me)quite soon. Or do you think that it would just pave the way back to ft permanently sooner than you want?

Dal deep sympathy honey...not only do we seem to have sons cut from the same cloth but husbands too (though Dh has more sulk issues than anger issues)! He too got depressed when Alex was born, felt he wouldnt be a good dad, felt useless and didnt bond with the baby and worried because although I kept working, it was only part time and I lost a lot of clients so money got tight. His parents write down in a note book every single penny they spend, they never buy anything that isn't on their shopping list and yes they check till receipts so yours arent the only ones. I find my Dh is at his worst when money is tight, he frets and gets cross when he doesn't think I'm as worried. He is at his happiest when 'achieving'... if he can do a job and see an improvement, especially when the gratification is instant (cutting down a tree or building a shed etc)atm the garden, with its interminable rotovating, pulling out of stones/roots/debris, levelling, raking and rolling over and over again has him in a foul mood as there is no obvious improvement. Though he now adores his son, he doesn't see looking after Alex as that tough a task... just a hindrance/ excuse for me to avoid helping him with the heavy work...in his defence he does do most of the ironing, walks the dog at weekends, often does the dishes and will do vaccing if asked (though he never shops or cooks unless it is forced on him)...we had to have a long talk about 4 months ago about him giving me a chance to achieve too... I have had little time to groom the dog, tend my greenhouse and do things like sort Alexs small clothes out and so now he occasionally remembers to allow some time in the weekend for me to do things too .. and is finally learning the value of stopping and taking time out for us as a couple and us as a family. Though I hate it when he works away, I do find it a bit of a respite too because I can allow the house work to slide, have lazy pj mornings and only cook square meals for Alex ...I then have a mad dash round on the day he returns so he comes home to a sparkling clean, sweet smelling house . Oh and when the argument brews up again the best tactic of all, for me, is not to raise to the bait, but to agree with all his complaints; yes I'm lazy, yes I'm frivolous, yes I'm a rubbish mother, yes I'm a rubbish wife who has let myself go, I can't understand why he married me ... his own concience fills in the gaps.
I hope you find some time to get back to some balance in your lives together..... before I married I read a lot on the subject (cold feet)and one of the most interesting quotes I read was from a lady in her 80s who had just celebrated her diamond wedding anniversary, she said that over the years she had 'fallen in love with her husband many times over', implying that she had also fallen out of love somewhat too .. it gave me food for thought and hope that we could work through any bad times and find love over again.