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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

DH has done something lovely but I am furious with him about it. Can you help me articulate why???

482 replies

TeaFor6 · 05/07/2014 13:21

Brief background is we have been married 9 years, mostly very happy. 4DC DC aged 8, 5 and 6month old twins.

Previously we have always had at least 1 holiday abroad a year. With the (unplanned) arrival of 2 babies things are obviously a bit tighter money wise. So we agreed we would not go abroad this year but would do days out and maybe a long wknd somewhere for ‘holidays’. I can’t lie- I was a tiny bit disappointed about not going abroad. I know it’s a bit of a first world problem but I do look forward to getting away. But I didn’t make any kind of fuss about it and I am excited for what we do have planned.

Anyway, this morning DH sits me and DDs down and announces he has booked a ‘surprise’ holiday abroad. Due to fly in 3 weeks! He booked it over a month ago. I could just about get over him booking it without telling me but I am livid that he chose to tell me at the same time as the DC’s. I am NOT a bloody child. We are supposed to be equals, partners who make decisions about these things together. Surely I’m not wrong on this???

I KNOW he was trying to do a nice thing for me but I just feel so undermined and patronised! And he just doesn’t think things through. He’s booked us a villa. So has he thought about if its in a practical location i.e. easy to push a double buggy around? Close to restaurants/supermarkets? (self-catering of course, so will he be doing all the cooking/washing up? I doubt it) Are there things for the girls to do? Is the house practical with 2 young babies? No. He hasn’t thought about any of that. Nor the inconvenient flight times (fly out at 1am). Plus I will now have to cancel appointments for that week, and a party invite for DD1 that she had already accepted.

On the less practical side I’m upset because I would have liked to have some say in choosing the holiday myself. I love looking through brochures, choosing where to go and counting down the weeks until we leave and I feel a bit like he’s taken that away from me (very childish I know, but it’s how I feel)
I know some people will say I’m being ungrateful and maybe I am, but I suppose I’m pissed off because its just another example of him making a bloody great decision without discussing it with me and just expecting me to put up with it. (It's not that long since we had a big discussion about him doing this and I thought we'd got somewhere but obviously not. It's like he thinks my opinion doesn’t matter Sad) And it feels like he’s done all the fun bits on his own and just left me to think about the practical stuff as usual Plus it might have been nice to have the fun of telling the DCs together. Now he's SuperDad and I get no credit (again very, very childish I know)

I’m trying to explain some of this to him but I’m one of those people who, when I get angry and frustrated, I end up in tears Blush It’s pretty hard to sound sane and reasonable when your voice cracks into a sob every time you try and say something!

Am I right for feeling like this? He just can’t understand why I’m upset and I feel guilty for being so angry when he really was trying to do a nice thing Sad I'm just sick of always feeling like the miserable one who puts a dampener on everything. I don't want to always have to think about the practical side but somebody has to! How do I get through to him??

OP posts:
daisychain01 · 06/07/2014 12:30

How many mothers bitch about how their husband does nothing, ever?
Stop being such a control freak and realise you have the "gold" husband that thinks about you and your family. Now you know that you are going on a super holiday, get on the internet to research the area and its facilities

Pretty late to this thread but wow, there are a few posts that spectacularly miss the point!

Super holiday? What?!! It might be super and a lovely surprise, in someone else's life, but this about Teafor6. She doesnt give a flying FourX about surprises . The whole point is that it wont make a scrap of difference whether Teafor6 researches the facilities, its too late, all done-and-dusted, and quite honestly - what a waste of her time and energy (maybe read the bit about her having 22 week old twins to care for, perhaps??)

Her DH is living in some parallel universe where he probably expects all the travel/accommodation/logistics to be attended to by minions and he doesn't have to worry about all the dull stuff! Fine if you're the Beckhams and you have staff to hand it all off to!

Like the majority on here, I am sorry to say this about your DH but he is taking you massively for granted and cherry-picking the best bits not working as a team. Disney, Pixar , loonytunes rolled into one.

Lweji · 06/07/2014 13:45

I wouldn't mind not doing the research, if my needs and of the children had been battered for, plus had had the courtesy of being asked if such and such dates were ok.

But a super holiday would definitely involve full board, good children entertainment and a nanny.

I hope you get to the bottom of those stairs and make him carry the twins and the luggage.
And you can tell him you're just a guest, not expected to do any work, really.

Lweji · 06/07/2014 13:49

Or catered instead of battered.

traviata · 06/07/2014 13:52

what is so spectacularly crappy is that it puts tea in an impossible position.

She won't be able to just stand by and not do any work, because the DC would suffer for it.

she can't just call his bluff and turn up with no arrangements made.

Thumbwitch · 06/07/2014 13:55

Exactly, traviata - my DH is a bit shit about doing preparation for days out/holidays etc. and I always have to pack everything, make sure we have food, make sure we have drinks etc. because if I don't then it's the DC who suffer and I can't do that to them just to prove a point. Trouble is, DH knows that too - so he'll switch his brain to "off" and just let me think about all the details quite happily. It's very annoying just on a day trip, let alone the sort of arrangements required for this "holiday"!

GoodtoBetter · 06/07/2014 15:34

It's all very well to say "make him do all the work" but if he won't or his uselessness affects the children she'll end up doing it as she's a nice person. I would refuse to go, if nothing else but for the flight times.

GoodtoBetter · 06/07/2014 15:34

x posts better expressed than me.

Trollsworth · 07/07/2014 20:07

Op, have y talked about this?

bigkidsdidit · 07/07/2014 20:30

I absolutely would not go. I just wouldn't. It sounds like a bloody nightmare - the sort of holiday where everyone except you will have a great time and you'll hate it. And you can't just 'leave him to do it all' because je won't and then the children will suffer so you'll have to.

Poor you.

SolidGoldBrass · 07/07/2014 20:50

I.expect.he.kept.the.booking.quiet.till.it.was.too.late.to.cancel.it.
He's.learned.from.Puppygate.all.right.He's.learned.to.make.sure.he.gets.his.own.way.

Lweji · 07/07/2014 21:26

Exactly, SGB.

Givealittlerespect · 07/07/2014 23:42

Harpies . Tick
Crones . Tick

Thought so

BillnTedsMostFeministAdventure · 08/07/2014 00:26

Space bar broken again, SGB?

Grin
Iswallowedawatermelon · 08/07/2014 01:16

I think you have very good reasons to be upset!

Thank goodness he has given you 3 weeks to make some plans yourself.

So be cross with him, then try and get over the crossness quickly so you can plan to have a good time Grin

Explain to him very clearly why you are upset so he knows to never do this sort of thing again!

BillnTedsMostFeministAdventure · 08/07/2014 01:17

"Explain to him very clearly why you are upset so he knows to never do this sort of thing again!"

She did.

He did.

Poor OP!

saffronwblue · 08/07/2014 01:23

I'm trying to imagine inside his head. "She didn't like the surprise puppy ...I know! She'll love a surprise holiday!"

I know in my marriage I am the controlling sensible one and DH is the impulsive fun one. I am watching to see what suggestions you get around this.

BillnTedsMostFeministAdventure · 08/07/2014 01:24

And she'll love it even more if I tell her at the same time as the kids! Because the trouble last time was I told the kids before her! Yes, I've cracked it...!

VenusDeWillendorf · 08/07/2014 01:30

Why do you have to go OP? I wouldn't bother.

Can you book yourself and a friend or family member for a holiday somewhere you want to go?

Leave your DH to dig himself out of his mess. He may be able to cancel at this stage, or not if he didn't read the small print.

PhallChops · 08/07/2014 08:13

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

chrissy74 · 08/07/2014 08:20

I see the "flashy car, small penis" brigade are still watching us
www.pistonheads.com/Gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=210&t=1419924&i=320&mid=63473&nmt=Mumsnet+-+NEST+OF+VIPERS%21%21%21%21

Thumbwitch · 08/07/2014 08:23

Are you the husband, Phall?
"thoughtless" - ha. Yes, and the rest. And no, it's not "pure nastiness" to say it's deliberate and controlling, it's throwing out an idea to see whether or not it rings any bells for the OP.

The OP is not "nasty, shallow and ungrateful" - but you sound like a prince for suggesting she is.

PhallChops · 08/07/2014 08:28

The OP is not "nasty, shallow and ungrateful" - but you sound like a prince for suggesting she is.

Do point out where - In context with my post, it was quite obviously a statement aimed at a certain group of respondants on here

FunkyBoldRibena · 08/07/2014 08:32

Nasty, shallow and ungrateful.

Why should she be grateful that her husband spent family money on a holiday that is going to be one massive ballache for her?

Yes husband, no husband, three bags full husband. If that's how you run your affairs then good luck to your better half.

lowcarbforthewin · 08/07/2014 08:39

I'd be furious OP and I'm afraid, cancelling it. You can't fly out at 1am! The children will be exhausted.

If you cancel, he will at least be getting the message that he's acted entirely selfishly and stupidly. And he won't do something like this again in a hurry. If you go, he's just going to keep doing this.

Ok so you'll lose some money, but that's his fault.

LisaMed · 08/07/2014 08:48

PhallChops so if a man does something that means a lot - and I mean a lot with a 1am flight with such young children - of problems for the woman, that means that the woman will be actually having a fucking awful time and struggling then the woman should be smiling happily at the husband?

If a man has done something that is going to cause so much distress to a woman (accidentally or otherwise) after being begged not to do this in the past and promising not to do this in the past, the woman should be smiling and grateful? If you think that she is going to have the energy for gratitude sex you are mistaken.

This behaviour, accidental or otherwise, can slowly poison a relationship. Women can feel that they would be better off on their own without this. Because whether well meant or not, it is not nice to be signed up to a holiday from hell when you have put it on the line that this is something that is damaging. If these 'marvellous surprises' keep happening then in combination the marriage is going to be dead in the water.