Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

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

NC (No Contact) thread #11: learning all the way

999 replies

Belonger · 02/04/2018 12:42

A thread for anyone going/maintaining/struggling with/succeeding in going NC with someone for whatever reason. No judgement, just lots of support. All different situations welcome.

Many of us have found www.baggagereclaim.co.uk useful, worth a look for helpful articles and podcasts

OP posts:
Thread gallery
34
OutofSyncGirl · 21/04/2018 18:50

Yes I think he may be unwell perhaps. I haven’t contacted him since Wednesday and he’s moving out of my area shortly...

LiteraryDevil · 21/04/2018 18:52

Well that's a relief, he sounds nuts. Definitely block and delete. Works a treat because you can't be contacted and you can't contact them. Don't write the number down first!

OutofSyncGirl · 21/04/2018 19:02

Yes I’ve deleted every trace. I’m going to have to accept that I won’t get my bracelet back I guess.

In the beginning he seemed SO normal.

OutofSyncGirl · 21/04/2018 19:04

I don’t miss him as much as I thought I would. He’s very good looking so when I was with him I was drawn to his lovely face. But he has a much lower sex drive than me and we had nothing in common.

He goes around telling anyone who’ll listen that he is ‘an empath’ I think he probably does absorb everything but he has the most staggering lack of self awareness imaginable 🙄

Iwouldmarrythebeast · 21/04/2018 19:40

You’re doing the right thing Outodsynch. Was feeling ok and quite positive until about 10 minutes ago and it’s just all got to me again.

LiteraryDevil · 21/04/2018 21:19

Newcomers have you written a list of all his bad points? I found this immensely helpful. I've just read through it again. Most things weren't bad as individual things but add a few together and it wasn't a pretty picture. If anyone needs a laugh I'm happy to share it!

OutofSyncGirl · 21/04/2018 21:24

Oh do tell OD! I've just had another email from mine 🙄

LiteraryDevil · 21/04/2018 21:34

I divided the list up into different things. It was quite shocking and illuminating. And liberating. I hadn't realised there was so much that made me unhappy when I really thought about it.

OutofSyncGirl · 21/04/2018 21:36

Yeah I think i idealised my relationship for sure.

LiteraryDevil · 21/04/2018 21:46

I think we all do. It's human nature. We skim over the bad stuff because we want to believe the best in people.

OutofSyncGirl · 21/04/2018 23:18

Yes LD. and we think 'surely this time I'll be lucky and it will all be great'

LiteraryDevil · 21/04/2018 23:37

I really thought my guy was wonderful, I really did. He seemed interesting and interested in me (maybe too interested in what I did), he seemed great with the kids, took me loads of places that I wanted to go, was generous with his time and sometimes his money, had a good job, was on good terms with his ex, similar interests in outdoor stuff, he was very affectionate and loving and treated me great. Initially. Then things started to crumble very slightly about 2.5 months in. Not enough to worry about. Then there was something major after 4.5 months and it never fully recovered and then at Christmas there was too much damage and n interest on his part to take any responsibility to try and fix it.

Here's my list at the end of the relationship: (it's copied and pasted larger than this text for some reason)

Habits:
Bit his nails/horrible rough and catchy skin as a result
Fork scraping. Ugh. Every. Fucking. Time.
Slurped hot drinks
Noisy eater-sounded like trainers in a washing machine
Too much coffee-coffee breath
Hocking snot up in a morning
Sprawling out over the bed when awake so I had no room
Asking for affection and kisses like he asked his daughter. Ugh.
Leaving clothes in the middle of the floor
Leaving shoes at the bottom of the stairs causing a trip hazard
Never offering to help clear up after meals. Think he did it once or twice.
Not locking house doors overnight or leaving the key in
Not locking car doors leaving valuables in
Leaving cups/plates/glasses wherever he’d had them
Leaving wet towels on the floor
Leaving the shower so it sprays out the door despite being asked not to
Sticking out his tongue during sex so if you went to kiss him you got stiff tongue. Ugh.
Needing the lights on. Yawn.

Personal hygiene/appearance:

Not seen a dentist in 3 years. Bad breath.
Excessive visible ear wax. Yack.
Bitten nails
Long toe nails. Troll feet. Disgusting. Horrible if anywhere near my feet.
Wouldn’t shave on weekends. Painful stubble. Didn’t shave for dates either.
Obese and no motivation to change despite health issues
Bald patch (not his fault admittedly)
Really long pubes. Very off putting.
Small dick. Sigh.

Personality:

Sulked
Whined
Manipulated
Controlling - sex, finances, parenting, dates, meals
Victim mentality
Critical of parenting, my parents, My son, my spending habits
Could never say sorry
Never culpable
Boring
Not proactive in anything in life
Insulting and disparaging
Disrespectful of my family
No respect of personal boundaries
Lazy
No backbone
Poor manners

Misc.:

Kids badly behaved and poor manners
Emotionally married to ex-wife. Doormat to her.
Too reliant on elderly mother
Hated his job and moaned about it all the time but did nothing about it
Awful taste in music
No hobbies
No outside interests apart from cricket, cycling but only seasonal
Didn’t like Christmas and disparaged my love of the festive season
House dirty and very messy (and mine is no way near perfect)
Couldn’t cook. Never cooked for me. Didn’t even try.
No passion
No goals
No ambition
SNORING!!! I’d end up on the sofa and he’d complain! WTF!
No discipline with his kids, no boundaries, no consequences

What a catch he was eh?! That list opened my eyes dramatically. I felt like a bitch for doing it as we had done great times together but the list is the reality of who he is. Not good at all and these bad things appeared very early on. He didn't try to hide them for long, or maybe couldn't. He of course saw nothing wrong with who he was and how he behaved though.

I've shared my list to help you think about your NC's bad points and why you are better off without him, not so you feel obliged to share with strangers!

LiteraryDevil · 22/04/2018 07:46

Morning all. I've blocked mine on messenger again because just seeing his face gave me the rage. Whenever I chat to him he's so negative and defensive and takes offence to anything I say. He said he wanted to be friends but seems he's not capable of it. Maybe he's pissed off I dumped him.

OutofSyncGirl · 22/04/2018 08:26

What did he do that made you leave him LD? Wow - reading that list though he sounds pretty awful!

The problem of course is that everyone is the best version of themselves early on.

LiteraryDevil · 22/04/2018 08:34

I think all those things once I started linking them together just got too much. He was in denial about nothing I had an issue with or just told me I was being ridiculous. He was depressed but refused to do anything about it except take medication. Recent chats show the new (started feb) medication isn't working. I told him he needed therapy to deal with his issues not medication and seems I was right. He's been like that all his life on and off apparently. He was dragging me down with him. Refused to plan dates and made me do everything then accused me of being controlling. So many things, not just one right that's it moment. I'd just had enough and said I wanted a break. He'd never said he loved me and when I asked if he did he said he wasn't sure so that was the definite end.

OutofSyncGirl · 22/04/2018 08:41

Oh yes I had someone last year who was depressed and 'forgot' to take his medication and didn't respond to the NHS when they offered him counselling so he got signed off. And then wondered why he felt so awful 🙄

Iwouldmarrythebeast · 22/04/2018 09:43

That is one hell of a list Literary

LiteraryDevil · 22/04/2018 10:10

I know. I write down every single nit picky thing though. It helped so much.

Iwouldmarrythebeast · 22/04/2018 11:05

You’ve inspired me! I’m going to do mine

Iwouldmarrythebeast · 22/04/2018 11:13

Day 5 for me. Was very tempted to contact him last night just to call him the c word. But restrained myself! But it was a close call

Dimael · 22/04/2018 13:30

21 days for me today. I have been quiet the last few days mainly because I haven’t felt too well - low blood pressure and felt lethargic and dizzy as a result. I even dropped a glass of wine is how and I felt!

Some good news I have sorted my friendship out with my mutual friend with the NC and girls holiday is back on! For now anyway.

Today I am back to sorting out my house. It is so therapeutic to get rid of old things cluttering up your space! I am also trying to study a bit as well to try and progress my career.

The list of negative traits is such a good idea in the first week or so but I am now moving past that. I see the positives in him too which I miss but I do not see him as all evil and I can only see that as positive for me moving forward now. I can forgive but not forget which is probably the most healthy mind set. I still get social media likes from him but it doesn’t bother me like it did before. I now don’t expect to hear from him or wait for his calls/messages which never happen.

Life is not as I imagined at 28
and there is certainly a lot that I need to sort out. I guess starting with the home is a start, maybe I will move somewhere else to leave the memories I have in these 4 walls behind me.

Hope everyone else is doing well! And welcome to the newbies - the first fortnight is the worst but then you start having better days I promise you! This place has been my saviour and helped me through it all.

Dimael · 22/04/2018 13:51

This is where I am at!

NC (No Contact) thread #11: learning all the way
LiteraryDevil · 22/04/2018 15:49

I've got a real urge to contact mine today and tell me exactly what I think of him.

Iwouldmarrythebeast · 22/04/2018 16:14

No, don’t LD!! Don’t give him the satisfaction

OutofSyncGirl · 22/04/2018 16:48

LD, I spent time trying to get answers from my NC about why he'd behaved so erratically and dumped me in the middle of a crowded restaurant when I'm autistic. It did no good because he just replied with rude and pompous brush offs. And now I'm not messaging him at all but he's trying to push for me to meet him.

What I'm trying to say is we won't get answers because if we had them we wouldn't be in this position in the first place,