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Relationships

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

Is it time to leave?

70 replies

veeeee · 06/03/2012 12:17

Have name-changed for this since DH sometimes googles my mn nickname to see what I've been posting.

This is a long one so thankyou if you manage to get though it!

Firstly, I've been married for 11 years, with DH for 13 since we were 18. We have a 4 month old dd.

I'm very very unhappy being with DH and the arrival of DD has made things worse - it's just something else for us to disagree on! I suppose I'm just going to use this as a place to vent about everything and try to get other people's perspective. And before anyone says so, yes I have tried to talk to him about it. He says that I'm the one with the problem so if I don't like it I can leave and if I haven't left then it can't be that bad.

So I'll split this into the main areas that we disagree on.

Housework - when we got married, for some crazy reason (probably because I was mainly raised by my nan and it is her viewpoint) I decided that I wanted to be a "good" wife and take care of my husband by basically doing everything around the house. Initially I was at university while he worked so I was at home more than him so it seemed logical that I did the housework and cooked dinner (even though I worked evenings and weekends). Once I finished university, I had a job where I worked 8-4 whilst he worked 9-5 so again I was home before him. In his opinion, this meant that I had more time to do housework than him and so I continued to do it, and ensure dinner was on the table when he got home. I then trained as a teacher which means that I "finish" work at 3 although I then spend evenings and weekends working but still he thinks the house is all my responsibility. Now I'm on maternity leave it's even worse. He does nothing at home except moan about the state of the house or that his ironing isn't done or that dinner isn't done or, if I've cooked chicken burgers and chips for example, it's not a proper dinner.

Evenings - he plays some sort of sport at least 3 evenings a week and on Saturdays. He uses this as another reason why I should be looking after the house - because I'm at home while he is out doing leisure activities! He says it's not his fault I'm too lazy to persue a hobby (which isn't true, I enjoy things such as reading which he doesn't agree is an acceptable leisure activity for me).

Sex - he thinks that my body belongs to him and that I owe him sex, even if I don't want it. He gets progressively meaner whith name calling and comments (see later) as days without sex go by until I give in just to get him off my back. He thinks he is entitled to put his hand in my bra or molest me whenever he wants to. We never cuddle because I know that for him it has to be sexual. He didn't speak to me all day on Sunday becuase I didn't want sex with him on Saturday evening after we had been at a family party - he felt he should have been rewarded for enduring the whole party. It's always about his gratification anyway, I've told him things I would like him to do but he never does them.

Comments and name-calling - when we first got together, I didn't mind so much the name-calling, I thought it was a bit of a laugh. I don't find it funny anymore and I've told him and he wont stop because he says that I shouldn't have a problem with it. His latest name for me is "MB" which stands for mega-bitch. He uses it all of the time instead of my name e.g. "MB do you want a cup of tea". He changes it every few months, I've lost track of most of them but he went through a phase of calling me Pot-pot once because I'm a pot-bellied pig.
He constantly mutters little comments like "it's unreasonable of you to go out when the ironing isn't done", "have you seen my football top, I doubt it's been washed", "we've got no milk, I can't believe you haven't bought any" among others.
There are mental health issues in my family and I suffer from depression which I control really well! He says that he has "taught me how to behave like a normal person" and constantly tells me that we don't have any problems in our relationship, it's all in my head.

DD - he had told me I cuddle her too much and spend too much time playing with her. He feels I should sit her in front of the tv more often so that I can get on with the housework.

Finally, he thinks he knows everything about everything.

There is more but this post is mammoth as it is! I hate being here but he makes me feel as though I'm the problem and I suppose I am. I don't want the same sort of relationship I wanted when I was 18. I want to be loved and respected and treated as an equal. Am I wrong to have issues with the above points?

OP posts:
HotDAMNlifeisgood · 06/03/2012 12:18

Yes, it is time to leave.

HotDAMNlifeisgood · 06/03/2012 12:20

You might find the links and books at the start of this thread helpful.

DreamingofSummer · 06/03/2012 12:22

In a word "Yes"

OnTheBottomWithAWomansWeekly · 06/03/2012 12:23

Not wrong to have issues.
Yes it is time to leave.
From reading your OP I can't see a reason to stay.

SecondRow · 06/03/2012 12:24

Not so much time to leave as time to throw him out.

Kayzr · 06/03/2012 12:25

Yes you need to leave or get him to leave.

steamedtreaclesponge · 06/03/2012 12:28

You poor love. Sounds like you'd be much better off without him.

LittleHouseofCamelias · 06/03/2012 12:29

You beat me to it HotDAMN !

I was where you are veeee for 28 years. I had a self sacrificing mother who taught me to be a doormat so despite a high flying professional career of my own I did EVERYTHING in the house and garden and family to enable my FWH to pursue his career and his interests.

Guess what happened when I finally cracked and left him? He suddenly became a capable cook and organised the house and the laundry and the garden. OK he doesnt actually do any of the dirty work himself, that would be beneath him as an entitled knob, but he pays others to come in to clean the toilet and clear out the gutters.

I think you have chosen a man who fits your family mould of manhood, and he is unlikely to turn into an equal partner because you have changed. It is worth a try, spell out what you want, ask if he can change, go on strike or whatever it takes, but at the end of the day why would you want to stay with someone who sees you as a domestic appliance?

With a bit of luck SGB will be around later to bolster your resolve with some well chosen words.

You deserve better!

veeeee · 06/03/2012 12:31

I'm finding it difficult too because I know that friends and family would be shocked and confused about why I would want to give up what they perceive as my perfect marriage. DH is very popular, funny, loved by everyone etc. I've never talked to anyone about how things are at home and I find myself just accepting the things he says and actively trying to be better around the house!

OP posts:
buggyRunner · 06/03/2012 12:32

Trust me- to be happy in a family unit you need to be in a team. He is not in your team- it will only get worse.

buggyRunner · 06/03/2012 12:33

Give yourself the chance of happiness and leave

MyNameIsntFUCKINGWarren · 06/03/2012 12:34

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

PeppermintPasty · 06/03/2012 12:36

Christ alive, yes yes yes it's time to leave. Do it now, you are young, your baby is young, do it before she starts to pick up on it all. He sounds absolutely vile, how dare he call you names and expect you to wait on him hand and foot. I would have stuffed his bloody football shirt down his throat. That would've stopped all the "MB" crap!

Outrageous, what an unspeakable shit!

veeeee · 06/03/2012 12:37

HotDAMN I have perused the EA threads before and although the descriptors almost all ring true with my relationship, I'm loathed to categorise myself as in that sort of relationship. There are lots of reasons for this but I think the biggest one being that my parent were EA of each other, I had a very broken upbringing and I've tried desperately my whole life to be nothing like them.

I feel like I've failed in many ways if I leave.

OP posts:
PeppermintPasty · 06/03/2012 12:38

Bugger what everybody else might think! Anyway, they are not living with this abuse, and you are! Tell them what he says to you. If I were your sister or mother I'd go round and punch him in the nose.

veeeee · 06/03/2012 12:39

They know what he says, they find it funny.

OP posts:
pictish · 06/03/2012 12:40

Yes it is indeed time to leave. No question.
He sounds just dreadful.

veeeee · 06/03/2012 12:42

I'm just reading www.hiddenhurt.co.uk/verbal_abuse.html and nodding my head to so much of it :(

OP posts:
PeppermintPasty · 06/03/2012 12:42

Oh god, well I wish I were your relative, just for one day, because it's not funny, it's utterly horrible and you should not have to put up with it.

Can you make an appointment to see a solicitor?

This is ABUSE, pure and simple. You do not deserve it, and you didn't cause it. It is his failure, his disgrace. Have you got anyone in RL who will listen to you and help you?

QuietTiger · 06/03/2012 12:43

In a nutshell? He's a knob and it is waaay more than time to leave. He is an abusive, unspeakable shit who is disrespectful to you. You don't deserve his treatment.

A marriage is a "partnership" of equals with mutual respect and caring. It's not a place of belittlement, nastiness and emotional torture, which is what you are living.

LittleHouseofCamelias · 06/03/2012 12:45

veeee it is okay not to want to stay in a relationship if it is making you unhappy. You don't have to justify or explain or prove anything to anyone.

My family and friends are all mystified why I left FWH because I have never said bad things about him and I treat him politely so we can be good co-parents to the DC. He of course doesn't think he has anything to apologise for, and probably blames my behaviour on a mid life crisis or hormones or something.

You don't need to rush this. You need a plan, to save a little money to pay a deposit on a new place for you and the DC. You can check what benefits you would get, and maybe look into tax credits for working single parents, and get a feel for what you position would be financially.

Do you have any good friends you can talk to? I had one who wasn't taken in by H and she has been a lifesaver for me.

LittleHouseofCamelias · 06/03/2012 12:47

One thing, once your H realises you are breaking free things will probably get very unpleasant and his nastiness will escalate. So keep quiet while you are planning what to do, because once you let on you will have to leave quickly.

TeeBee · 06/03/2012 12:49

Yep, I'm not even sure why you would consider staying. You are worth more than that treatment.

veeeee · 06/03/2012 12:52

Littlehouse I have looked at some places but I wouldn't be able to rent anywhere remotely comparable to what I live in now and I don't want to take dd away from her home to live in some shithole just because I'm unhappy. I could buy somewhere but only once we had sold this place.

I can't save anything while I'm on maternity leave and I'm planning on going back to work part-time because I would be unable to look after dd in the evenings and get all of the marking/planning etc done as a full time teacher.

Yes he will blame my hormones, or my mental health, my upbringing or anything else he can. He's told me already that he'll try and take dd away from me if I go.

OP posts:
Winkly · 06/03/2012 12:53

As soon as I read that he was googling your nn to see what you post I was leaning towards a yes. Then you say he regularly sexually assaults you. YES.

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