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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

19 year relationship ending...

12 replies

NickyNora · 01/10/2018 23:34

Its for the best. I'm very unhappy. I get nothing from the relationship, haven't done for 5 years.

4 dc.

Yet i feel so sad. This is my choice. Dp doesn't want to leave. I need to do this but I'm scared too. I don't know what my life will be like in the future.
But i can't carry on living as i am.

How did other middle aged mothers cope with being a single parent? Dc are 4, 9,13 & 17.

OP posts:
AjasLipstick · 02/10/2018 07:24

Firstly, why do you need to do this? Is he abusive? Consider carefully the effects on the children.

ChampagneCommunist · 02/10/2018 07:46

@AjasLipstick Because she's unhappy, has been for 5 years and gets nothing from the relationship?

@NickyNora You don't need a "good enough " reason to leave and you definitely don't need to stay unless he's been abusive

Singlenotsingle · 02/10/2018 08:06

Are you sure about this? It sounds very drastic! Especially if you've got 4 DC, the youngest only 4! You haven't given us enough information about why you want to split except that you're not getting anything out of the relationship. What about the other five people involved here? Their happiness has to be sacrificed so that you can feel better, does it?

lifebegins50 · 02/10/2018 08:15

I think AjasLipstick's comment is to just determine if the unhappiness is with life in general as well as the relationship.

Op, lots of women can be very happy being a single parent but it takes time.
Most people grieve leaving a relationship as none of us want to break up the family but in some cases the family is already broken.The grief can take time to get over.
I do think it's important that you try to resolve your relationship difficulties as after you leave there are likely to be doubts and knowing you did everything before leaving helps you move forwards.

Often unhappiness can start from within so it is worth looking into what your needs are. If you have been a parent for 17 years it can feel like a treadmill, always giving with little back.
Is your youngest now at school? Do you work, see friends or have some outlet?

If there s abuse then I would alao say leave and emotional neglect by your H is also abusive.

pog100 · 02/10/2018 08:15

Whilst I agree that more information would be good if posters are going to be useful, I think we can assume the OP hasn't taken this decision lightly, on a whim one morning. Maybe we should support her?

AjasLipstick · 02/10/2018 08:19

Since OP says she feels sad about the decision, it's reasonable to ask for more information.

She says she can't carry on as she is which intimates a highly stressful situation. So more information is needed to support her properly.

No use saying "Do it!" and giving platitudes which could well be useless if she's facing poverty, abuse or other extreme circumstances which might need her to seek specialist support.

Thinkingofausername1 · 02/10/2018 08:31

Sometimes you just find you don't have anything in common or just don't get on like you used too.
Doesn't necessarily have to be an abusive relationship.

NickyNora · 02/10/2018 09:29

I haven't asked for advice on ending the relationship as its something i should have done 10 years.

Dp is at best indifferent, passive & uninterested in me or the dc.

I will try to explain why i need to end this relationship.

I do everything for the dc. Hes never been to the 3 younger dc schools. He went to our oldest dc school once in her last year. I have asked him to attend every meeting & event.

2 of our dc have medical needs. He hss never attended an appointment. At one very important appointment, he just didn't come & called me literally as i was driving to the appointment.

I had a MMC and he was supposed to drop tbe dc off ar school & come to the hospital. He didn't. I was all by myself & waited 3 hours for him to turn up...
He went back to work 3 days later. House was hideous & no food in the house.

When i had our last baby, he left the hospital about 40 minutes after i have birth so about 6am. He didn't need to. The older dc were bring cared for. He eventually picked me up at 6pm in the evening. I called him 4 times to see when he was coming back.

He works rotating shifts. He won't put his shift patterns on tbe calender so i never know when he finishes work.cam range from 1pm to 4pm.

He changed his annual leave without discussing or explaining why this year. It meant 1 dc & I couldn't go as i had already paid for camps for dc.

He has £40k in savings but I'm not supposed to know.

He gives me a set amount of money every month. Nothing more & nothing less ever. Hes never bought the dc anything other than an occasional Christmas or birthday present & thats only im recent years.

He never asks me anything about me. I ask him about his day, every day.

I went away to a country I've always wanted to go a few months ago, he didn't adk or acknowledge i had been away.

He never acknowledges if I'm ill. I have had 3 operations on my eyes in recent months. He asked me once if i was ok.

I went through the menopause last year. He never read any info i sent him or asked me how i was.

Dp has 1 friend. He makes anyone who comes to tbe house Including my adult dc who dont live her now, feel uncomfortable. None of my friends come here.

Dp has always been quiet & not very chatty but its got worse over the years.

He will not discuss anything. He won't have a conversation about our relationship. He just dismisses anything i bring up as by saying, he can't remember.

Why do i stay? Because he goes to work, doesn't drink often, smoke, take drugs, hit me or cheat.

I stay in this relationship for those reasons & out of duty. For the dc. Out of guilt. Because i will be looked down on for being a single parent. (I was a single parent when i met dp). Out of fear.

But its a waste of my life. I owe it to my dc to give them a better life & show them this is not normal or acceptable.

Yet im sick with anxiety. I have no family near. Few friends. No skills. No way of working but i still have to end this relationship.

OP posts:
Babdoc · 02/10/2018 09:36

Have a big hug, OP.
I don’t think you’re ending a relationship- I think from the sound of it that you don’t actually HAVE a relationship! This cold hearted man hasn’t been present in your family’s life for years.
Start planning ahead. Think of all the lovely things you can do without his dead weight dragging you down. Imagine having hobbies, meeting friends, inviting people round to the house who will laugh and chat with you. Imagine further ahead, perhaps dating someone who will actually care about you, ask about your day, take you out for a meal or off on a holiday.
You have everything to gain and virtually nothing to lose. Go for it.

lifebegins50 · 02/10/2018 09:54

He is effectively a single man who has children and sounds completely avoidant.

I guess not much would change for him other than household duties.What is the housing situation as you say Partner not husband.
If owned are you joint owner?

Singlenotsingle · 02/10/2018 10:18

So you call him dp. Are you not married? Is your house rented or owned, and in whose name?

NickyNora · 02/10/2018 14:41

No never married. I never organised it so it dodnt happen. Been engaged 12 years!

House is rented. Tenancy in my name. Everything is in my name. He is leaving Friday.

Due to dc SN i will be quite limited socially etc.

I have no idea what it will be really like or how i will cope. I just can't waste anymore time staying with dp. Hoping things will get better. Hoping he will change.

Its like I've seen the embarressing reality of my life & can't make anymore excuses or un-see it.

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