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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

Do any of you actually trust your husbands?

214 replies

Buckfollocks · 17/04/2012 19:56

Just been reading some 'I think he's cheating on me/sleeping with escorts' threads and am wondering if (and how) any of you can actually trust your husbands?

The statistics are pretty daunting regarding number of men who have slept around, either with escorts or affair/one night stands.

How do youa ll get through it? I am having a relationship crisis on the trust front at the moment and would appreciate any advice......

TIA

OP posts:
Agincourt · 18/04/2012 17:14

yes I do trust him and he trusts me. We have been together for 17 years though and well, he has earned that trust iykwim. I think it's harder when you are younger or in a 'young' relationship iykwim. that said, my own father left my mother after 20 years but he was an untrustworthy bastard and had been all their marriage. I just mean i trust him but I don't think you can ever be complacent

AnyFucker · 18/04/2012 17:17

today is the day after I said I trusted my husband yesterday

so, I trust him today

OP...where have you gone ?

lou2321 · 18/04/2012 17:19

Just read a few older posts that say 50% of men cheat but then is that 50% cheat in every relationship or just generally 50% of men have cheated on a partner?

Both DH and I have cheated, on our ex's (with each other for a whole 3 days before we ended the relationships) and also in the past.

Neither of us are proud of what we have done in the past, we are not serial cheaters, just were in crap relationships that were not necessarily serious and dealt with that badly rather than just ending it.

DH had never been engaged before me or even bought a house with someone so I do feel fairly certain it is not just his personality to cheat, same as it isn't mine.

fiventhree · 18/04/2012 17:23

Yes, and can we explode some myths about cheating types?

Based on my h- who cheated for 5 and a half years, we have been together 22 years):

  • they are not all womanising 'types'
  • they may have great personal politics, or appear to for years
-they may love their children very much, or if less than they should (as it clearly is), you would not know it, as they dont even see that in themselves
  • they often deny even to themselves what they are doing, let alone you
-they come home from work and tell head-shaking stories about the mid life crisis man or other cheater who is 'playing a mugs game' and 'risking everything'
  • they have often disliked dishonesty as a trait and advice their children against it.
  • they probably dont go out anywhere much that you dont know about, or which appears at all suspicious.

I would never have believed it until I stumbled on the evidence. And even then I was persuaded otherwise, and more than once. Sometimes it does appear to 'fit' the person. Because we make the mistake of thinking that there is a type, or a sub type, and there is not.

And the type of cheating may shock too- so my h has always been a keen fan of women's equality, and has argued it and supported it at work, with friends and at home. He also disapproves of leering men, sleazing over young girls He is aware of politics to do with age and gender, race etc.

However, he cheated by sex chatting a couple of hundred girls aged 18 (one hopes to god) to mid twenties. He liked to be, can you actually believe, "in control" of the questioning. Oh, and he is 50 himself.

Really, you never can tell.

fiventhree · 18/04/2012 17:24

AF there is another thread, started today- called advice re lying or similar.

AnyFucker · 18/04/2012 17:28

thanks, five x

fiventhree · 18/04/2012 18:46

"Advice needed re: husband is lying to me"

Showmethemhappyfeet · 18/04/2012 18:50

Haven't read the whole thread, just the first page. You're all going to think I'm stupid no doubt, DP has cheated in the past (we were under 20) but I do 100% trust him now. I don't think he would for 1 second risk losing his family. He has recently proposed and we are well through all the hard times Grin

Showmethemhappyfeet · 18/04/2012 18:56

Ok just read some more, maybe 99%, I still make sure I have my own money etc and can look after myself should anything bad happen. Not limited to buy including cheating I guess.
We've also agreed that famous people don't count. If Webtworth Miller or Angelina come knocking we're good to go!Smile

noinspiration · 18/04/2012 19:29

I used to trust my husband, but I don't any more.

ChippingInLovesEasterEggs · 18/04/2012 19:29

showmethemhappyfeet - I wish you well :) However, always listen to your gut instinct because 80% of men who cheat you would think 'he wouldn't risk losing his family'... really, they just don't 'think' that far ahead - they live in the 'now'. Hard times aren't limited sadly, so just because you have been through some hard times, doesn't mean there wont be others... of course I hope not!!... but listen to your instinct x

Abitwobblynow · 18/04/2012 20:22

Thank you, Five:

  • they are not all womanising 'types'
  • they may have great personal politics, or appear to for years
-they may love their children very much, or if less than they should ... they dont even see that in themselves
  • they often deny even to themselves what they are doing, let alone you

The reason it comes as such a horrible shock is that the person you think you know? Isn't the person you think you know. And even he doesn't know that person.

So, my H and his little bestfriendfuckbuddy never once admitted to eachother what they were doing. Not ONCE did they say 'we are fucking, we are betraying'. They were good friends who just happened to end up 'going upstairs'. When he got found out, he dumped her in seconds and told me it never meant anything.
But he and his bestfriendfuckbuddy 'went upstairs' for two years and it only stopped when he got caught....

This stuff rips your heart, twists your brain takes your children's innocence and safety and throws your life away. The pain and upheaval is indescribable.

And 'I never thought about what would happen' just doesn't begin to be a comfort and doesn't begin to explain anything. It is HEADCASE stuff. It is so awful. I now know why God said: 'thou shalt not commit adultery/thou shalt not covet your neighbour's wife' as TWO of his TEN commandments.

He wasn't being a killjoy. He was WARNING us.

AnyFucker · 18/04/2012 20:33

wobbly, I wish for you to find peace, so much Sad

Showmethemhappyfeet · 18/04/2012 20:40

Wobbly - so sorry he has treated you that way. Wish you all the best of luck in you're future.
Chippingin, I understand what you mean, but as a few people have said 100% trust is crazy, and right now I trust him as much as it is possible to trust another person. That may not last forever, maybe one day he will give me reason not to again. But I hope that now we have seen the Hirt it causes, worked through it (a long time) and grown up a hell of a lot, we would have the respect for each other to just call it a day on 'us' if it wasn't all we were looking for. Good luck to all of you, I hope this time next year/ten years from now we can all still say we trust those we love

SucksToBeMe · 18/04/2012 20:59

Bloody brilliant post Abitwobbly

PattyPenguin · 18/04/2012 21:35

I was going to second "I trust him as much as it is possible to trust another person".

Actually, in some things, I trust my little band of tried and tested female friends more than him. I can imagine scenarios where I'm more sure they would be there for me than I'm sure he would.

As to sexual fidelity, I'm pretty certain he would dump me for someone else rather than cheat. I also think that given a certain combination of circumstances, he would do just that. (We've been together 26 years, married 22, BTW.)

The thing is, you can't trust anyone completely, absolutely, 100%. Why would a husband / partner / boyfriend be an exception to that rule?

jen127 · 18/04/2012 21:36

I don't trust DH ! But that is more about me than him Blush
Self confidence issues coupled with not being prepared to be hurt or dependent on anyone ever....

cobwebthegrey · 18/04/2012 21:41

I trust him, knowing that he is human...and therefore no matter how goo d a man he is (the best, honest, kind, loyal, patient and morally sound) I can never ever be 100% sure of him, nor he of me.

I KNOW that I would rather die than cheat on him, but I have no idea what, or who, life is going to throw at either of us. I can't be certain that one or other of us wouldn't at some difficult juncture in our lives, or our relationship, make an enormous error of judgement.

I BELIEVE that that would never happen, We work hard at our marriage to maintain the trust, respect and love it takes to make us as impenetrable as possible. We have often talked about discussing if we are attracted to other people, and have agreed that should that ever happen we would tell one another and that the person attracted would avoid contact with the attractor.

Can I guarantee that this is enough? No, probably not, because almost every single person I know who has been cheated on by their husbands believed they had a cast iron relationship and had just been going though a sticky oath due to work stress/young kids etc. But I'm not going to let that teeny tiny possibility stop me from loving him with all my might, enjoying our oives together, and making plans for the rest of our days.

FWIW if he or I ever did cheat, I THINK I would want us to work together to repair our marriage and our friendship, but I also believe you have NO idea of how you will react to a situation until it happens!

cobwebthegrey · 18/04/2012 21:42

Sticky patch, not oath.

OrmIrian · 18/04/2012 21:45

I don't see what the alternative is.

I'm married to the man. Have been for nearly 20ys. We have 3 kids. If he's going to shaft me, he's going to shaft me . If I don't trust him I might as well walk away.

GoOnPitch · 18/04/2012 21:59

Humm, I do trust DH not to have an affair .
But I do not trust him to always be able to put the needs of his family before his or not to turn to low level abuse.
Or rather I do trust or know that these are real possibilities because they have happened in the past.
But I also do trust he does love us and that our family is important to him.

Written down like this, I can see it doesn't make sense... Perhaps it's more about the fact that I am very aware of his limitations and at the same time, I do trust him to do his best.

Like Orm said, I am married to him. What is the point of staying if I am not trusting him?

pinktrees · 18/04/2012 22:00

Orm - the alternative is posted above by cobwebthegrey Wed 18-Apr-12 21:41:52. Basically yes trust but not 100%.

OrmIrian · 18/04/2012 22:11

Trust is an all or nothing thing.You can only trust 100%. If I say I trust him but a little bit of me is waiting for him to betray me, there is no point. I'd be better off without him. It's not cloud-cuckoo land stuff, it's pure pragmatism.

motherinferior · 18/04/2012 22:16

Yep, pragmatism.

DP is off for four days at a conference in NY next week Envy. It really hasn't occurred to me, for instance, that this would be an Opportunity for Shagging (and back in the day I personally was a right conference-shagger, ho yes I was).

cobwebthegrey · 18/04/2012 22:19

Orm, I'm not sure I agree with you there...I trust that the bridge I walk over every day won't break with me on it, but I can never trust it 100%...doesn't stop me crossng it though. I think trust contains a risk the same as anything else, the point I was making in my post was that I trust him enough to risk sharing my life, heart and kids with, and that's a hell of a lot more than I've ever trusted anyone else!