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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

That cliche of married woman meeting man at work.....

53 replies

midlife2015 · 08/12/2015 19:28

Long story short. Had trouble with marriage husband was slightly depressed but still great dad- I have been on this site before worrying I didn't fancy him. My husband sorted himself out now has his sparkle. Whilst this is going on with hubby, I fancy guy at work - didn't know if he did. All was ok re building marriage then boom.... Night out with man he asks if I am unhappy with hubby and if I am leaving him. I am an experienced person with people this guy is decent. He is in a relationship no kids I have kids. I couldn't answer him as we are up and down. I try to kiss him he refrains cos said it would be more complicated. He asked twice if I was going to leave my hubby. There is a connection and I cannot concentrate it s ridiculous . Saw him today he asked if I was ok . I know this is a cliche (i am 37) I have so much to lose but can't get him out of my head. Help! I know some people will judge me but I also know other women go through this. Yes I am probably bored of marriage (awful to say) I also haven't had the feeling of fancying someone (with hubby it just grew steadily) such turmoil

OP posts:
whatyouseeiswhatyouget · 09/12/2015 16:24

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

blindsider · 09/12/2015 16:40

midlife - The point is it is nothing to do with this 'decent' guy at all, you shouldn't be making decisions on whether or not to end your marriage based on the potential safety of the lifeboat you seem to be trying to jump into. At least have the decency to finish one relationship before embarking on another.

Whenischristmas · 09/12/2015 16:50

atomik you need to post that on every potential cheating/affair brewing thread.

AgathaF · 09/12/2015 17:03

He's not a decent man if he openly flirts with you knowing that you are married and he also has a partner.

However, he is not the problem, you are. Either you want to work on your marriage and make it better, stronger and more fullfilling, or you don't. If you feel your marriage is over then you need to leave before you create an even bigger mess.

Your husband and your children deserve better treatment than this.

ThatsNotMyRabbit · 09/12/2015 17:08

This man obviously has strong feelings for you; that's why he didn't kiss you. He is probably afraid of getting hurt.

Feelings like yours and his don't come along every day. They're special. Go for it.

TendonQueen · 09/12/2015 17:09

Read Atomik's post again! Says it all.

Look, you sound like you've had a bad time, but this guy will look as mundane as your husband does in two years, and he won't be the kids' dad so dealing with all their stuff will be harder. It won't end well.

blindsider · 09/12/2015 17:09

Just seen Atomik's post - absolutely spot on and really resonates as when my ex wife told me she would die for her kids, I replied interesting that you would die for them but not forego jumping your bosses' bones!!

10 years later 5 of them deleriously married I find myself in the position of being grateful for her infidelity. According to my daughter that really rankles....

ThatsNotMyRabbit · 09/12/2015 17:10

(Hopefully the above will result in the OP buggering off with her crush and freeing her DH up to find someone worthwhile).

blindsider · 09/12/2015 17:11

*deleriously happily married rather than just delerious!!

ILiveAtTheBeach · 09/12/2015 17:19

Some advice from Atomik is good (married is wed not dead), but I wouldn't agree with dressing like a Gran at work, lol. And, do you hold a marriage together, for the sake of the kids, no matter what? My ExH had at least 10 affairs before I left him. Tried it on with every woman in my life (including my Mum and my Sister). So, I finally couldn't carry on and I left him. Does that mean I don't love my kids? That's a bit harsh tbh.

The thing is OP, if you are already at the stage where you moved in to kiss another man, you have probably mentally checked out of your marriage already. Do you want to try to check back in? Do be aware that separating when children are involved IS utterly heartbreaking and you will feel like an utter shitbag every time you see your kids shuffling their stuff between 2 homes. Every time they go on holiday without you, you'll be checking Airlines website to make sure no planes have crashed. Every Christmas/New Year/Birthday, you'll have to spend half of it alone. It's a very very hard road.

I don't think you're a bad person. Your DH has had depression and tbh I couldn't deal with that. That, together with the humdrum of daily life has worn you down and this man seems exciting and you're feeling things you haven't felt in a while. You're 37 not dead.

But be very careful, because acting on this could threaten your marriage - can you deal with that? Do you want to separate? If you want to keep your little family together, then you must not act on these feelings.

Jan45 · 09/12/2015 17:20

Neither you or him are decent or good people otherwise you wouldn't be sneaking about behind your partners backs.

No wonder I never got married, most of my married friends are like you, total disregard for marriage and all it means.

What makes it worse is you are not prepared to allow your OH to have a happy life with a faithful partner, no, you want to be able to jump into the arms of another cheat before you leave him, nice.

Such turmoil you say - you caused it, you must love the drama of it all, I'd say grow up but at 37 it's pointless, talk about self centred.

blindsider · 09/12/2015 17:28

Iliveatthebeach

And, do you hold a marriage together, for the sake of the kids, no matter what?

I think you have missed the point, the decision is does she want to be married to the father of her children, not would she prefer the new man. That is the decision that needs taking, without the distraction of Mr Darcy in the background. If the marriage is over it is over, but a flirtation shouldn't be the reason to end it.

IrishDad79 · 09/12/2015 17:45

Great, another poster who'd happily traumatise her kids' lives for years to come because she "fancies the fit bloke at work".

ILiveAtTheBeach · 09/12/2015 17:54

Well, some PP were saying that you hold marriage together for kids. But sometimes you just can't do that. I married a cheating twat, gave him the best years of my life, only for him to shag around, again and again and again, whilst I was being the good wife at home raising the kids and trying not to go off at the deep end with it all. Sometimes you have to say, yes I've got kids, but I can't live like this anymore. Kids will grow up and leave. I deserve a life too.

I agree. The flirtation is just that. She needs to decide if she wants out of her marriage, even if that means being single for a few years. I think Mr Darcy is just highlighting the fact that she's not 100% happy. If it wasn't him, it would be someone else. She's restless. Not settled. It's a horrible place to be. I wouldn't dream of flirting with anyone other than DH. Can't imagine snogging anyone else! Together 7 years and haven't ogled any man since we got together. If I was sniffing about other guys, I would know there was a big problem.

Atomik · 09/12/2015 18:59

Well, some PP were saying that you hold marriage together for kids. But sometimes you just can't do that. I married a cheating twat, gave him the best years of my life, only for him to shag around, again and again and again, whilst I was being the good wife at home raising the kids and trying not to go off at the deep end with it all. Sometimes you have to say, yes I've got kids, but I can't live like this anymore. Kids will grow up and leave. I deserve a life too

You can't hold a marriage together when one party has let go of their end of the string. You need two people, each holding one end of the string to have even the minimum of a fighting chance of holding the relationship together for the long haul.

The somebody who dropped their string, cos they got a buzz from playing with new strings, unraveled the family. The one who actually calls time on the marriage isn't neccessily the one who let go. They are often just the one dumped with the task of calling time of death, so the rotting corpse of the relationship doesn't start stinking up what used to be the children's happy enough home.

But the OP doesn't seem to be describing protracted, one sided string holding with no end in sight. Nor a high tension household where the kids need to be freed from a parental Warzone ASAP. She speaks instead of an extended tough time, and what sounds like it might be a strong desire for a taste of life's glitter after a long, grey period that has tested her sorely. In the case of the latter there is every reason to hang on in there and not be the one who let go of their end of the string..... just as their tough time was starting to draw to an end.

PushingThru · 09/12/2015 19:04

Brilliant posts from Atomik.

midlife2015 · 10/12/2015 10:04

Thank u for your comments, I know I need to push the bloke out of my mind - he has said he is happy. However my marriage had been the issue I just find it hard as my hubby is a great man.
When he proposed to me I was happy but said yes as we were moving in together. Maybe he was right for me - such a wonderful man. Yet sex was never good - I never felt like it with him but just did it. Then we had a rough time having children who are poorly so our time and teamwork went on them and still does. I have to question whether I feel like this cos it's got slightly easier and I know deep down things aren't right. We have already discussed it once and things were better but not the sex. I know that ending this marriage will break his heart and the kids but have a feeling of so trapped and unhappy. I just need to work out if this is still a little connected to the bloke but I had been feeling like this for a while . If it does finish I know in reality this bloke will not leave his girlfriend . I would just work on the kids and then finding someone who does fulfil attraction . I can't sleep cos of it and know I am in trouble
Thank you x

OP posts:
Devastatedcoconut605 · 10/12/2015 11:02

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Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Atomik · 10/12/2015 11:13

midlife

The frustrations of trying to resolve issues hidden in a tangled heap of threads can mean scissors come out, when a more patient unknoting would have done the trick, without any severing required in the process.

Your failings.
Your husband's failings.
The relationship's failings.
Your children's health issues.
All sorts of other stuff.

They are all muddled up together in horrible, tangled mess of "I'm not happy".

Right now it is possible that your crush has required you to employ a "filtered" lens in order to justify your response to it. Which might be making your husband and your relationship appear somewhat more one sidedly lacking, more irredeemable and more "blameworthy" than they really are.

Bin the crush. Give yourself time to properly knock it on the head and reset to normal. And THEN autopsy your relationship.

Once any lens can be considered no longer a risk factor in terms of providing a filtered picture you'll be in a better position to work through untangling and examining issues. Then you can sort them into "shit I'll have to deal with either way", "stuff we can work on", and "deal breakers".

But take care not to skip steps. Start with you and the rather glaringly obvious fly in the ointment you are plonking in the marriage before you start on anybody else's faults/shortcomings.

My son was 2 when I was in a similar situation to you. On top of all the normal life pressures we were dealing with MIL's extreme mental ill health. I was at a really low ebb. I was about as far from a happy bunny as I could be. And I blamed ... DH pretty much. Becuase that was more palatable than picking over the details of my own clay feet. Which I certainly didn't do with the same enthusiasm I employed when poking at his faults. I was pretty sure that what I needed to do was leave him, becuase it was obviously not working for me if I was so unhappy and ... well that couldn't possibly be my fault ! Grin

DS is 15 now. Our 20 th anniversary has just happened. MIL is dead, but in the last part of her life we got through far far far worse ramifications of her illness than we had ever met previously. Perfect we are not. But we are content most days. And properly happy lives in our house from time to time.

I can't promise you that as an outcome. But I can promise you that if you start first with you, your actions, your choices, your flaws.... you will be in a far better position to work out what ails you and the family. And better placed to evaluate any potential solutions to make things better than they are right now.

Devastatedcoconut605 · 10/12/2015 11:59

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Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Kr1stina · 10/12/2015 12:09

Wonderful advice from atomik

midlife2015 · 10/12/2015 18:26

Thank you atomik I really appreciate your advice. I had held off going to relate as thought all was ok however I know it's not. Am going next Wednesday - I am trying ! Just feel rubbish and you are right it's a tangled mess. Thank u x

OP posts:
grundrisse · 10/12/2015 18:28

I wish we could sticky Atomick's post so it stood permanently as great advice for all of these threads about limerance.

JonesTheSteam · 10/12/2015 22:16

Atomik

Your posts are excellent.

jessicame · 11/12/2015 07:34

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