Feeling desperate about husbands affair

[Isabeth]

I found out on Monday that my husband has gone back to an affair that he ended 18 months ago. I am devastated, he is very confused about what he wants and has moved out to try and work it out. He is not a bad person but has seriously lost his way am I crazy to even consider having him back?

You have to face up to this is who he really is.

He is a man who lies and cheats on his wife, leaving her sitting at home looking after the kids so he can go be romantic, love and have sex with another woman.

He can also be a considerate, generous person how ever I would bet 99% of that is aimed at his current infatuation not the Mrs stuck indoors.

Why are you willing to sit around while this man sees another woman, takes her to dinner, buys her gifts and sleeps with her until he makes up his mind. Leaving you looking after the kids so he can do so.

You deserve to be the woman being treated like this not the skivvy there to keep the nusciences out of his life while he has one.

You are all completely right I know he is just a selfish bastard that wants the best of both worlds. I basically need to stop being so weak.

I don't actually think you're being weak Isabeth I think you're an honest and reasonable person who assumes that the people you deal with are equally honest and reasonable. Unfortunately, in this situation, your husband is being dishonest and unreasonable. It's difficult to deal with and not surprisingly you are probably pretty confused yourself about what to do and how to go forward.

Don't beat yourself up about being weak...but do try to start putting yourself first, stop listening to your husband's selfish whining for a bit and try to realise what you're dealing with. Getting angry helps sometimes .... instead of 'He's confused...I'll give him some time to think it through' ... 'confused??...you're fucking confused you arsehole?...well let me make things a bit clearer for you...I'm going to think about me for a change'...

Tell him that you are confused and you need some space to think things through. Arm yourself with practical options for the future - assuming he is not moving back in, what would you do? TBH that scenario is not that bad once you think it through in practical terms. Do not talk to him until you've got that information. If he's leaving you then you need that information anyway. If he wants to come back then knowing what's at stake puts you in a much better position for you to dictate the conditions for that, if it is possible.

Personally what I did with mine was let him go away and think about it...and I never let him back in....

He's not a nice person. Nice people don't do this to their kids.

Yes he's not a nice person. And what you said before OP about this not being who he really is? Thing is this is what he really is, you just didn't see it before but now you do.

Don't worry about being upset. Few people have the ability to detach from someone they were close to overnight. Tell people... tell your mum! Tell them the whole story and they'll support you. Sharing it will make it really and enable you to see his 'confused' BS exactly for what it is...

Your girls mainly want to see you happy and you can't be happy right now with this twunt messing you about.

make it real...

Imagine the scenario...you get yourself all dressed up sexy, go out, seduce some guy, have sex, don't worry, your partner's at home to look after the kids, tell him some bullshit excuse about working late or something, meet this guy few more times for sex...blah blah.... could be love, well who cares, the sex is great. And you still get your creature comforts at home too. Fab!

Oh shit, your partner's found out...but wait....wow! can you believe it...he's blamed himself instead of you...RESULT!!

Lie low for a bit then....coast is clear...carry on as before...cake and eat it....cake and screw it.

Woah sounds great huh?

No, it's not great, actually. It's confusing. You are going to need some space, some time, some sympathy to try to work this all out. You're not a bad person but you've lost your way...

You are stronger than you think, but please do as others have suggested and confide in your loved ones so you can have some extra support.

Please eat and stay healthy, try taking soup or small bites of comfort food over the day.

You may wish to let their schoolteachers know in case of any change in behaviour or if they seem unsettled generally. If he does return remember the older your DDs get, the more they'll cotton on about the atmosphere within the home. Being a great dad is one thing but how he treats you and how you react is teaching them lessons about adult relationships and how they might fare in later life.

Knowledge is power so find out where you stand, what your options are. If your H at any point says well you have made me choose/forced the issue/brought divorce into it, I hope you'll remember, actually he's the one who called time on any trust or respect. I don't suppose for a minute he took dirty unwashed clothes with him or sees himself short on spending money? Let him go, focus on yourself.

OP did I write this post!! In Nov my H told me he was seeing the woman he had the affair with 12 months earlier. If Im honest, and with hindsight, I think Id known for a few months. I was devestated my 2 DCs saw my tears and saw how much I was upset but they have also seen me get stronger. I have missed him loved him wanted him back hated him hated her, Im now at the what a kn*bhead he is and shes welcome to him. I deserve better who does he think I am? just sitting round waiting for his 'infatuatiuon' to wane? when he starts putting her bins out and she starts washing his socks he will realise that me and my DCs were the best thing about him. I want him to wake up and come knocking on my door asking to come back just so I can say No Im sorry Ive moved on.
You're not crazy for wanting him back but have a good think about who is coming back. Its not the husband you had, this is a different person and it wont/cant be the same. I hope things work out for you and YOU get what YOU want x

Sorry you're struggling this morning OP, it's a desperately sad situation.

You keep saying that it is not really who he is, but he has lied and cheated on you not once but twice. He has created a situation where the mother of his children feels vulnerable, not once, but twice.

I think you are being too kind on him. If he was such a great father, he would be doing all he could to make sure that his children had a stable home environment, and it doesn't sound at all like that is what he is doing.

Part of the grieving process is to grieve for what we have lost. You are in the process of losing the man you thought you married which is an incredibly painful thing.

I think you need to get angry and start to focus on yourself and what you and your DC need, not what he needs.

So glad you've reached out to MN, there is a wealth of support here for you!

I am over whelmed by it all on the one hand I am finding everyone's posts terrifying and difficult to read as you are making me face up to the truth but on the other hand quite empowering as I know what I have got to do. It is good to hear that you are doing so well in such as short time 'doinmybest'

Please try and consider, however difficult, that the most likely truth is that the affair never properly ended. He has been wasting your time while he 'makes up his mind' and struggles to 'do the right thing'. Loss is the motivator for people. He needs to lose you.

Isabeth, Doingmybest has good point- if he came back, it is t the same person. I don't know how you felt for the last 18months but I did take mine back 15 months ago after he strayed a lot, and now the dust has settled I'm noticing a lot about him which I was blind to before and which I don't like.

If he had really got what he did to you he wouldn't have done it twice. Also, I think it is the Frank Pittman book on infidelity which explains that in this situation, even if you happened to be desperate for him to come back, it is critical to tell everyone and also cut contact and refuse him entry, since that will catapult him into " his own private hell".

Stands to reason anyway- he is a selfish person deep down, and he is relying on your always being around should he choose to return. He is gambling on it actually. You have nothing to lose by taking this approach, and the fact that he will certainly hate the new situation he finds himself in, should make you realise how selfish he is.

The trick is to keep breathing.... I got through the early days by taking deep breaths, having 3 baths a day, listening to relaxing music...and getting some good legal advice. People say 'keep talking, keep communication open' with your partner. I say 'stop talking' to him for a while. Don't tell him everything your thinking and feeling - his responses to that will only confuse you. Slow down. Take all the time you want. If he starts pushing you to talk to him say you're not ready. Talk to a friend or relative when you feel able to. Counselling on your own might be useful - it was for me. Again, at your own pace. I didn't tell my ex anything that I was discussing in counselling. It's important that you get to focus on you at this time. But you're right...it is empowering once you remember that you do have control over your own life.

Loss is indeed a motivator. Also, you mention his lying and deceit. Can you really live with that?

Try as hard as you can to project forward having him back, two years hence. Imagine your day to day life and how you will feel. What he will be like. If you can force yourself to do this, write it down even, then you may feel differently.

Also that anger that you don't yet feel, it is because you don't feel safe. But one day you will, with him or not, and it will come.

Isabeth I am doing well and no one is more surprised than me. In the first days I was on here looking for someone, anyone to tell me it would be ok, he will come back and it will all be back to normal. I thought there are so many angry women they obviously dont know my H like I do.....
Here I am 4 months later saying it to you :( The one thing that I keep reminding myself is we were happy once and I loved him. Now he's a liar and a cheat, shes welcome to him because I'm worth more than that

lovingfreedom I dont keep any communication open. We talk about when he's seeing the DC's only and I know that is probably driving him mad. I was texting him 3/4 times a day at first how sad I was how selfish he was etc then someone reminded me I was probably playing right into the role of psycho wife he'd fed OW about me so I am now quietly getting on with my life and letting him wonder.........

Good for you. I think that's right. Honestly...doinmybest...you will come through this. I can only speak for myself, but 18 months on and life is much much better than it ever was with my ex...and I considered myself happily married. It's like bereavement though...you are mourning for the person you thought he was and the relationship you thought you had. Spend time with your friends, with your children. Get rid of all the things in the house that he likes but you don't. Buy things he wouldn't. Do things you wouldn't get to do if he was around. Within 6 weeks of my ex moving out I'd painted the bedroom pink and invested in floral bedsheets and about 15 scatter cushions. It's surprising how much pleasure you can get from this kind of thing.

Hi Isabeth the hardest thing about this is that you have to accept that he is voting with his feet, whilst not wanting to lose his family either. You are paying.

Read 'split self affair' by Emily Brown. When a nice, lovely man does this it is because he is too nice and is trying to express the side of him that nobody cares about: his aliveness and his passion. He loves this woman (very hard to read, sorry) but he also values you and his children.

The answer does not lie in the OW or you, but in HIM. My best advice is to act as though he is never coming back. It will empower and strengthen you as a person in ways you will only understand in years to come. (you see, the other side of his 'he was perfect' coin is your excessive neediness and dependence on him. OW is the relief from that do you see.

The thing that we fear more than anything else is abandonment. And yet, the thing we fear the most? Has already happened! And you are STILL ALIVE aren't you?

Take one day at a time, see a solicitor NOW (legal aid for divorce ends in April) and book a mediation appointment. I know you are devastated, but take decisive steps. When he is in a mediation room with you looking at the ending of your marriage, he will feel a lot of pain and it will dissolve the fantasy for him..

But either way, a woman this embedded in your marriage means you do not have a marriage. So let go of that one and let go of him.

When a nice, lovely man does this it is because he is too nice and is trying to express the side of him that nobody cares about: his aliveness and his passion.

the words of The Beautiful South

I think if you've been turning somersaults the past 18 months to make him stay with you (always a mistake) then in some ways, letting him go now will be a relief. It should also tell you that this was never about you or your behaviour. Nothing you could have ever done would have stopped this happening.

Get your dignity and self-respect back and just tell him it's over. You tried your best but it was impossible because it was so one-sided.

Whatever you do don't give him the luxury of choice. He'll never respect you and he is no prize anyway.

Let him go and be the person you want to be, not some false version of superwife.

I have been away for the day living my life with out him, taking the girls to school and all their activities and we have just been to the pub early doors with mine and their friends. It has been motivating to get out there and carry on life without him. after reading messages earlier i e mailed him a long message about how I felt and basically what A selfish twat he has been. you are probably wondering why i had not said his to him before but i hadn't. realised that he had never been sorry and that I had to stop being nice and tell him the truth. We are now at loggerheads but it feels good as I have stopped pretending for fear of loosing him. Maybe I will loose him now but I realise that if he can't be truly sorry and come back on my terms we have no future. This maybe still sounds pathetic but it is progress!