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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

Lying Dh. How do I deal with him this time?

73 replies

endoftetheragain · 21/07/2013 16:14

Just caught "d"h out in a lie. He has history for telling unnecessary lies, and it's something we'd been working through.

He told some pretty bad lies just after we got married, all related to meeting female friends/co-workers, he lied and said he was meeting male friends. No evidence that he cheated but it's horrible enough to be lied to really. He tried to excuse himself by saying I would have worried which I don't think is good enough. I'd never been paranoid/arsey about things like that.

He has been truthful as far as I can tell for a couple of years, but today I noticed on fb (bloody hate that thing!) that he had lots of new female friends. Didn't see in detail. One of the things he'd promised to stop was adding every woman that he walks past to fb. So I jokingly asked if he's being popular with the ladies again, expecting him to say of course not. He said he'd only added people he works with now ("now" being pretty important, he told me as they met at work almost every day and they were friends with his work friends on fb, it would be rude not to. He said everyone at work is a team and he likes to be part of that team by being friends on fb too. This info will be important later!) , some who were on his team and some who worked opposite shifts but who he occasionally met and handovers.

After he went out I had a look (not on his fb page, but just the recent activity bit that anyone can see) and he'd added 10 people, 8 of them women. Ah well, a small lie, I thought. Looking closer I noticed none of them were people he worked with, so that was a lie. Hmm All, as far as I can see, are friends of a girl he used to work with or random unconnected girls. They are all young (uni/graduate age) and live at the other end of the country. He's in his 30s.

I sent him a text saying the above in a calm, level headed way. He won't have seen it yet, and I have no idea what to do next. I know he hasn't met any of them (unless he's been telling enormous lies and travelling a lot) but I don't know why he had to lie and why he wants to be friends with young girls who are just friends of a girl he used to work with. It just seems pointless and a bit sleazy.

I know he has the freedom to be friends with anyone he likes, but why suddenly these girls, who he won't have talked to for over 2 years and didn't really know? I'm probably being too "strict" but my heart is a mess after his lies before, and now I know, although it was a relatively small lie, that he doesn't care about my feelings (as he'd agreed to stop, knowing how much his lies had hurt me) and that he could still lie to my face knowing how that has wrecked our relationship in the past.

I know this sounds really petty and I'll probably get flamed for not "letting" him have friends. I've never banned him from that, it was his solution. I want him to have friends, but I also need to trust him. But, he's lied again..

OP posts:
endoftetheragain · 21/07/2013 18:01

Quite a few Cog, epic fuckwit that I am! Grin

OP posts:
Ezio · 21/07/2013 18:05

People only insult you when they have done something to feel guilty about but have no intention of changing or apologising, because they have some sense of entitlement.

endoftetheragain · 21/07/2013 18:08

He says he used to work with all of them Hmm I don't recognise them but could be true. So in the face of that i just look like a controlling lunatic don't i. He says it's nothing sleazy but he lied because he knew i' d be upset because he knew how sleazy it looked. Is he being honest? He is not being kind with me at all. Ignoring, insulting, saying he feels like he's in prison.. It's hardly going to make things better. Left here in tears again, he must think i'm a total mug.

OP posts:
Twinklestein · 21/07/2013 18:09

You have to stand your ground & not let him turn this round on you.
He should feel bad, it is suspicious. And if there's nothing suspicious then there's no reason to lie.

Tell him that lying is not ok in relationships full stop, it's incredibly immature of him not to know this, or the effect it has.

(It's also fairly sad to be 'friending' random young women he doesn't know).

Twinklestein · 21/07/2013 18:11

Bollocks he used to work them!

Nagoo · 21/07/2013 18:13

Just ask him if it was reasonable and normal behaviour that he felt no shame about, why did he downplay it/ lie about it?

He didn't want you to know that he'd been adding random young women who were friends of friends (and only young women) so he lied about it.

He knows that this is inappropriate.

Nagoo · 21/07/2013 18:14

Where did he work? Hmm a strip club?

CogitoErgoSometimes · 21/07/2013 18:15

So he lied... because he knew it looked sleazy....and you'd be upset? Hmm That's such a crappy argument I don't know where to start. I'd tell him that the way you don't look sleazy, Dumbo is ... DON'T DO THE SLEAZY THING IN THE FIRST PLACE!

Dry your tears and find a bit of fury here. I think you're going to need it.

endoftetheragain · 21/07/2013 18:17

He lied because he knew i would be angry, so it was easier for him to lie.

But i have caught him out with 99% of his lies, he's not good at it, he must know i'd see the truth at some point Sad

Ok. If it is just girls he really used to work with, am i being unreasonable?

OP posts:
Twinklestein · 21/07/2013 18:23

But if really is girls he used to work with, why would he worry it would 'look sleazy'?

I would question how a man in his 30s used to work with 8 uni aged girls... unless he worked in a bar...

CogitoErgoSometimes · 21/07/2013 18:24

'If you didn't get angry, I wouldn't lie'..... can you see what he's doing there? Blaming his bad behaviour on your reaction to the bad behaviour.

This isn't about whether he used to work with these girls. This is about you crying and stressed out in a relationship with someone because - like the Boy Who Cried Wolf - you don't believe a word that comes out of his mouth. That's what I mean about lying being so destructive.

endoftetheragain · 21/07/2013 18:28

Phew, back on pc so might stand some chance of spelling properly!

Twinkle he used to work in a music shop. Apparently a very largely staffed one Hmm

Cog I pointed that out to him quite shoutily, but it's still apparently not his fault. Hmm

Where do we go from here?

OP posts:
tallwivglasses · 21/07/2013 18:39

How would he feel if you befriended several young guys...and lied about it? Actually he'd probably lie and say it wouldn't be a problem. He doesn't give a shit about your feelings, does he?

Nagoo · 21/07/2013 18:43

If this was my DH my view would be this: He can be friends with whomever he wants. But friendship when you are married has boundaries of intimacy that he should observe. If I thought he was being inappropriate then I would confront him. And no, I wouldn't like it if he was being overly flirtatious or secretive. Secretive is what he is being. And lying.

And lying kills the marriage. Because if you have no trust, you have no security, loyalty, intimacy...

Twinklestein · 21/07/2013 18:50

I can believe he worked with 1 or 2, but if he worked with them 2 years ago why not add them then?

Do not let him get away with 'it's not his fault' line. It IS his fault, entirely.

It's absolutely fine to be friends with women, it's the lying about it that's the problem. If there's nothing to hide, there's no reason to lie, and it makes it look as if he's up to snuff.

endoftetheragain · 21/07/2013 18:59

tallwivglasses That's exactly what he says! That it wouldn't be a problem..

Nagoo My views exactly Smile

Twinkle He didn't have fb at the time he worked with them, although got it about 6 months after. But yes, why then? He also decided to add his ex-co-worker (and current fb friend)'s new wife Confused That wouldn't occur to me to do, but there you go.

I've texted him asking if having these secrets is more important than being married to me, he said I'm more important. I asked him how I would know that he wouldn't lie again, and why the fuck should I even have to worry about this, it's too much.

His reply was "If staying with me is too much, you should leave.It's not good for each other. Even though I try to support you I often fail. I can't ask you to stay with me anymore."

Sad Is he just giving up?

OP posts:
Meringue33 · 21/07/2013 19:02

Just for fun, you could set up a fake account on FB using photos pulled from the web, pretending to be a 20 something single friend of friend. Send him a flirty message and see how he responds...

I'm not seriously suggesting you do this though as tbh if it's that bad you probably already know what would happen... :(

Meringue33 · 21/07/2013 19:04

X posts, sorry. It sounds like he is giving you an out and wants you to be the one to end it so you look like the bad guy.

CogitoErgoSometimes · 21/07/2013 19:07

Not giving up but again, turning it back on you. He's cornered so he's trying to make you feel like the unreasonable bad guy (because he's been caught out lying) with the 'nothing I do is good enough for you' hand-washing old chestnut. What you're supposed to reply is 'no darling, I don't want us to split up, I love you, we are good for each other and you're not a failure etc'. What you probably ought to reply is 'you're right, it's no good that you are so untrustworthy, but it would be less disruptive to the DCs if you left for a while'..... or at least something that says 'don't try to turn this back on me'.

Leverette · 21/07/2013 19:07

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HappyYoni · 21/07/2013 19:18

Hmmm, my experience with pathalogical liars is that being with one is enough to drive you utterly mental, and leaving one is the most rejuvenating, liberating experience. But that's just my opinion!

endoftetheragain · 21/07/2013 19:23

Not a nurse Smile

I asked him if he would be happier single and being with all these girl friends, and he just replied that he doesn't want to break up. Hmm

I should probably be maintaining a dignified textual silence, but I'm just not that cool. Have asked him if he can stop lying and "collecting" all these girlfriends as I can't feel important to him when he lies to my face and refuses to admit what he's doing is a bit hurtful. I probably should shut up now shouldn't I Blush

OP posts:
endoftetheragain · 21/07/2013 19:35

Hmm. He's replied

"OK, I'll try to stop adding female friends on fb. But I never tried to deceive you, just said something off the top of my head without thinking when you asked me. Sorry for being stupid. Love you."

Thoughts?

OP posts:
GiveItYourBestShot · 21/07/2013 19:41

Not nearly good enough! How hard is it not to add random people on FB? It's not like you're asking him to climb Everest...

MariaLuna · 21/07/2013 20:04

"OK, I'll try to stop adding female friends on fb

try?

O.k. If my husband was more interested in adding women onto his FB than making sure his marriage was sound, it would tell me all I need to know.

Sorry OP.

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