Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

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

Time for a talk

128 replies

Mrshappy2019 · 13/09/2019 10:01

I put a post on here about how I’d being talking to a male friend and should it continue as it is perhaps inappropriate. I received a lot of good advice and one thing that is clear is that my marriage is in a worse state than I realised or at least refused to acknowledge.

I am going to speak with my hubby tonight and see what he thinks as this has kind of been the elephant in the room we don’t discuss

We have been married 12 years and have two children ages 6 and 9. We both work full time and most of my spare time is taken up with family duties. He is an ok dad however he could do more with the children. Many Saturdays or Sunday’s he goes watching football and drinks excessively. We used to be very close but over the years we’ve become more distant and I’ve put this down to busy lives etc and in all honestly neither make an effort to address this. He has become more moody over the years and puts me down at times by rolling his eyes or calling me stupid. Sometimes I’m worried to tell him things for example the central heating broke and he blamed me even though the engineer said it was wear and tare. He doesn’t bother coming to my parents anymore as he says they bore him and dropping my filter here completely we haven’t had physical involvement with each other since last December.

I know some suggest counselling but he 100% would dismiss this so how do I approach this conversation

OP posts:
Herocomplex · 13/09/2019 10:07

I’m so sorry, it sounds really miserable, especially being too worried to discuss household issues with him. Is he depressed? It’s not an excuse, but it might explain the moods, drinking and disinterest in sex.
You need to be calm and stick to your points, work it out in advance. Don’t let him derail you. If he gets angry just ask him to come back and talk to you when he’s calmed down. Be firm in what you want. Good luck.

Mrshappy2019 · 13/09/2019 10:14

@herocomplex I don’t think he’s depressed I think it’s just how he is. Yeah thanks, I’ve wrote a few points down

OP posts:
Herocomplex · 13/09/2019 10:17

The good old ‘I think we need to talk about the future’ might be a good starting point. Can you go out somewhere?

Mrshappy2019 · 13/09/2019 10:20

May just wait until kids go to bed

OP posts:
Herocomplex · 13/09/2019 11:40

Yes, I don’t think it’s something the kids need to see or hear at all.

Hidingtonothing · 13/09/2019 11:48

I think you approach it that you're worried neither of you is really happy and that you'd like to see if that can be fixed before you both end up somewhere you don't want to be. Make sure it doesn't sound like a threat, more an acknowledgement of what's happening and that you're both responsible for it. Everything after that will depend on his response but we'll be here if you need to talk it through Flowers

Mrshappy2019 · 13/09/2019 11:53

@hidingtonothing thank you. Shall I text him as a pre warn or just drop it on him

OP posts:
CursedDiamond · 13/09/2019 12:00

Have the conversation and keep having it. Make him talk. It will be difficult and painful and there's never really a good time. But make sure that it's not just a one off conversation - it has to be about opening a dialogue.

We kept have just one conversation, where i said how i felt and nothing really got resolved. I a) ended up having a very short affair and b) ended up going to counselling on my own, and now we've hit the crunch point my OH wants to go together. But i've done all the processing and feel like i'm just done with the relationship. You need to work on this together - if he refuses, then you have problems.

Mrshappy2019 · 13/09/2019 12:07

@curseddiamond thanks. Did he find out about your affair?

OP posts:
Hidingtonothing · 13/09/2019 12:28

Depends what you think he would respond best to, if you know that dropping stuff on him won't end well then yes, pre-warn him but not if he's the type who will dodge it if he knows it's going to happen.

Be prepared for his initial reaction not being great, if he's just getting on with life and hasn't yet realised things are becoming critical between you then he'll need time to catch up. Just aim to open the dialogue for now, ask him to have a think about what he feels is wrong and what might be needed to improve things and set a time to talk again when he's had chance to think.

It's likely to be a slow process if he's not a talker so don't expect too much too soon. Good luck, I hope he listens and wants to work at it Flowers

CursedDiamond · 13/09/2019 12:31

No. I haven't told him, and it ended. We have a don't ask, don't tell policy which we have discussed many times (we've lived in different cities for a decade, and my father cheated and left my mother, so i've always thought about how i would handle it. though, tbh, i'd made a somewhat gendered assumption that it would be him, not me).

the affair was short, it ended mutually, and I don't think there's anything to be gained from telling him, other than causing him more pain. It was entirely escapism and bad decision-making on my part, and I don't know that it would help him to know, especially as he knows the person. I don't know...I've contemplated it, because perhaps it would be easier if he was able to be angry at me, rather than sad - but I don't know. I feel like it's unloading guilt onto him and making it an easy way out of the relationship. I've discussed this endlessly with my counsellor.

but anyway, I don't want to derail your thread, because this will become about that, given general attitudes on this board. My point is, so much of what has happened in my relationship (including my infidelity but only to a point, obviously. As the other guy pointed out, it's very easy to not have sex with someone...even if the feeling is crazy-making) was to do with our lack of communication throughout the entirerity of the relationship. Even before anything happened, and I was just trying to explain how i felt, my feelings were minimised with him insisting that our relationship was perfect. It was for him. It wasn't for me. He's finally asking to go to counselling...but I feel like he's a year too late. Actually, about 8 years too late, which is when I originally wanted to go to sort out our communication difficulties.

Push him. Make him talk. It will be really hard, painful, uncomfortable, and you'll feel like you're ruining the day every time you do it. But do it. It's so much better than the alternative.

CursedDiamond · 13/09/2019 12:32

Oh, but @hidingtonothing is right - he will need to play emotional catch up. But it's why you need to keep pushing him. With me, he would listen, sort of, but then bury it all and we never resolved anything. For literally a decade. He's only just now beginning to prod his emotions, when i've been doing it for both of us, for years. For me, now, we're beyond repair, because i don't feel strongly enough to commit to the relationship to work on it. It would be unfair on him.

Mrshappy2019 · 13/09/2019 12:44

@curseddiamond thanks again, I appreciate your honesty

OP posts:
Hidingtonothing · 13/09/2019 12:55

I agree with cursed that there does also need to be a degree of pushing, that's why setting a time for the next time you will talk is important. He needs to realise it's past the point of kicking it into the long grass now, it needs sorting and he will need to make the effort to catch up.

I'll be honest, it will probably be like pulling teeth (if your DH is anything like mine anyway) and you will hate having to do it but you can't afford to let him brush this back under the carpet.

Mrshappy2019 · 13/09/2019 12:59

@hidingtonothing but why’s it always us that have to keep pushing

OP posts:
ISmellBabies · 13/09/2019 13:02

I think you need to force yourself to drop the sugarcoating you usually use to soften his anticipated harsh response. You need to be brutally, brutally honest about the state of your relationship as you see it and what you need from him. Sometimes men get so complacent and they just can't contemplate that their wife would ever actually leave, so they don't change.
My first husband said to me after we split up "why didn't you tell me you were so unhappy?" wtf?! I said "I told you loads of times". He said "yeah but I thought you were just moaning". Confused

Mrshappy2019 · 13/09/2019 13:06

@ismellbabies ha that’s typical men!! Was it too late gone when he said that

OP posts:
Hidingtonothing · 13/09/2019 13:15

Yep, I get that OP and it shouldn't be but it's also us left in limbo, unhappy and with nothing moving in any direction so what choice do we have really? Men seem to just cling to the status quo, even when its monumentally shit for all concerned. You're at the stage where that isn't enough for you so I guess that means it is on you to get things moving. If he won't get on board then you have different decisions to make but, unless you just want to split now with no discussion, you're stuck with trying to put a rocket under him.

Mrshappy2019 · 13/09/2019 13:28

@hidingtonothing yeah that is true lol

OP posts:
ISmellBabies · 13/09/2019 13:43

Yes, much too late, silly sod, haha! Still, I was better off out, it all worked out for tye best (for me anyway, I've no idea what he's up to now, but hopefully he learned a lesson).

Mrshappy2019 · 13/09/2019 13:48

@ismellbabies aww lol probably not ha

OP posts:
CursedDiamond · 13/09/2019 14:24

You're welcome OP - good luck, let us know how it goes. Me and OH are currently on a break while i try and sort my head out a bit, and we have to have our next talk next week. I am dreading where I think it's leading, because it's going to be awful and involve a lot of crying.

Mrshappy2019 · 13/09/2019 14:28

@curseddiamond :(

OP posts:
Mrshappy2019 · 13/09/2019 16:41

Ok, I’ve text hubby to say I wanna talk tonight (he’s home at 7)
The guy from school I have been talking to was there this afternoon and I walked back to my car with him. I do think he is after something as he made a comment about me wearing tights today Confused it was quite funny but certainly inappropriate. I said to him I’m not sure we should be talking really and I’m sorry if I’ve led him on or gave him the wrong signals. I said things weren’t great at home and maybe I’m using him as a distraction. He was really nice about it and said he was surprised as he didn’t think of me like that and just said it was nice talking as mates (I felt a bit silly tbh) he said he’ll stop talking to me if it’s bothering me. I said it wasn’t bothering me but it just may not be right. He said if I wanna talk great but he’ll stop instigating it. Just hubby to sort now Confused

OP posts:
CursedDiamond · 13/09/2019 17:37

Good luck OP. i think whether the other guy actually is or isn’t flirting with you, it takes up head space. That’s where I got with mine. We were both escaping from problems in our relationships in an unhealthy way and it wasn’t helping either of us to sort them out. Plus we realised we were going to fuck up a friendship in addition to two relationships. We were adults about it eventually...just about.

Swipe left for the next trending thread