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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

7th Wedding Anniversary,but seperated...What should I do???

41 replies

Namaste100 · 18/12/2014 16:35

Hi,
My wife and I seperated in the summer due to my infidelity ( long story) Were currently living seperately and due to go to Relate in 2015 to discuss it further.Its our wedding aniversary next week and I'm unsure how to mark it? I have told her how much I love her and want to be back together,but Im backing off and allowing the space she needs right now.
I was considering a letter/note not card..just to say how much the past years together meant??? Any advice? Thanks

OP posts:
Lweji · 22/12/2014 22:55

I really wouldn't have cared for the poem, tbh.
Clearly you haven't always loved her, or you wouldn't have cheated.
It would sound fake to me is this came from a cheater. Sorry.

GoodKingQuintless · 22/12/2014 22:55

I think you have showed her how much she means to you, and how much your life together meant through your actions.

You really posted that claptrap to her?

Confused

You loved her while you shagged another woman?

JeanSeberg · 22/12/2014 23:00

This whole thread's a joke right?

Namaste100 · 22/12/2014 23:59

Ouch.. A lot of haters on MN tonite.. I I hold my hands up re my 'cheating' not making any excuses.. How do I know I will be faithful? I guess I need to fill in some of the thread gaps!!!
It's hard to explain it fully as it relates to historical private experiences..In suffering many forms of abuse as a child it has left me lacking in self esteem,confidence,social graces,insecure,controlling & needing
to fill voids in attachments.. In trying to do this and be free from the tainting of abuse ( be perfect ) it's has led to a mental breakdown & disclosure of the abuse for the very first time ...I'm working hard in counselling & working on changing my behaviours...I will never cheat on my wife again if we're back together as I would of dealt with all my past baggage ( in time ) and feel the hurt and pain of missing them all everyday ( wife n kids)..I acted consciously in hurting them all..but I recognise my mental state in making that conscious decision... If that sounds deserved or insincere then I'm sorry.. That's your opinion of a situation you know a snapshot of.

OP posts:
Bogeyface · 23/12/2014 02:24

The reason you are getting such a hard time is because many of us, me included, are living every single day with the fall out of our husbands affairs.

I am very sorry for your abuse, but there is always a reason, always an excuse and it doesnt make the pain we bear any easier. Does the fact that you have a disordered past make it easier for her to know you willingly and deliberately had sex with someone else, made an emotional connection with someone else and didnt give 2 shiny shites about her while you were doing it? No.

Does it mean that considering the past you thought you had, the future you thought you would have and the reality of life as a single mother potentially going it alone is less painful? No.

Your issues dont change the fact that you have hurt you wife beyond endurance to the point where she may never want to be in a relationship again. That is her reality and your reasons for cheating are frankly neither here not there, you did and thats all she knows and cares about. The fact that you were abused will be something that she cares about, but not in the context of your affair. She will be thinking of the two things completely seperately and whether that is right or fair isnt really the point if you are trying to repair your marriage.

I suggest that rather than focusing on trying to win her back, you focus on your therapy in order to truly heal (as much as anyone can after abuse), and be the person you want to be. Her coming back wont make everything ok, and it will take a very long time for you to come through the journey of acceptance and recovery from your abuse, so promises about having dealt with your baggage in order for her to come back are false and cruel, to both of you.

Lweji · 23/12/2014 09:05

I sort of had given you the benefit of the doubt, but the poem was everything you were told not to tell her and the last post is just about excuses for you.
The poem is crass, doesn't warrant a reply and doesn't want one. I am not even posting about how the message should read, because if you can't come up with the right feelings then I'm not going to help you fake them and win her back based on that.
As for the last post, it's all about you, poor you, and how you were affected. Lots of people with low self esteem and who were abused don't go on to cheat. You chose to cheat, and fail on your promises of faithfulness to your wife. I don't think I'd trust you not to cheat again while you are blaming your past for it.

Lweji · 23/12/2014 09:06

And I wasn't (knowingly) cheated on.

Namaste100 · 23/12/2014 09:09

Your spot on Bogeyface..and I really do take on board all you've said...Iv completely shattered her world ( and my kids) and I do need to heal me also..it's going to be a long long term thing..with an uncertain end.

OP posts:
Namaste100 · 23/12/2014 09:22

Not blaming past Lweji.. I take full ownership of what I did..and I'm not using the abuse as an excuse...It's a fact of what led to my breakdown...not into some bodies bed!!! Yes the poem was tacky,could be seen as fake or false .. I know... but I honestly didnt know what to do for best...don't want tactics/advice on how to win her back.. and I didn't put my true feelings on the card as it would be unfair to pile on any pressure or emotional BS...you say you wouldn't trust me not to cheat again..well that is your opinion based on how you feel.. I respect that..and have nothing to prove to you ( I don't mean that nastily ) If we get back together...and that's a huuuuge if and not my call..then I know I never ever want my wife or children to hurt like their hurting now.

OP posts:
Chelseaharbour · 23/12/2014 09:36

Whilst I sympathise with your past, I still feel this is all about you not your wife...coming on here to validate your actions and to ease your guilt...Does your DP use mumsnet? are you sure you're not using this in a manipulative way..

Feeling cynical this morning Hmm

AuntieStella · 23/12/2014 09:42

I wish you well with the counselling.

It may or may not help you towards a reconciliation, for the marriage may be too broken for that. But it will help you, I hope, find an honest and authentic version of yourself and that will be the best starting point for the next part of your life (whatever that might be).

Don't pressure your XW, but I don't think one message on an occasion such as an anniversary amounts to pressure. Don't expect a response though, or that what you say will be even remotely welcome. I suggest you never try to second guess what you think she wants, and instead look for your authentic voice.

DrMorbius · 23/12/2014 09:45

Rioux - "can I ask, how do you know you will be faithful"?

Namaste100 · 23/12/2014 10:06

Again I respect all your comments.. Not on MN to ease my guilt.. Just knew I'd get honest opinion..and I have so far.
.AuntieStella your comments are sound and spot on..my wife keeps saying 'Stop tip toeing' around her.. but I'm genuinely wary not to be heavy..Example..After we returned from the day out we'd all had yest ( see earlier post) she asked me to put the boys to bed before I left...I did..she then offered me tea/ chat & asked about counselling related stuff.. It was really late & it had been a fab day..so I said I didn't really want to chat about it as didn't want to put my crap onto her.. not her issue..We chatted briefly and I left...I sat in the car for a few mins and re knocked the door.. I wanted to blurt it all out.. But most of all to hold her and tell her how much I love her & want to make things right again...I just said thanks for a lovely day again... got to feel able to be open when talking to her as honesty is a must after cheating..I'm just scared tbh.

OP posts:
Rioux · 23/12/2014 10:06

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

DrMorbius · 23/12/2014 11:07

Rioux - "Very basic, very simple and it ain't hard, treat others better than how you wish to be treated yourself."

That is a laudable "mantra", and I am sure we all concur, but no one knows how they will truly react until they are faced with the decision.

Rioux · 23/12/2014 12:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

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