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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

Ball and chain partner

37 replies

YellowBlueDaisy · 03/07/2020 10:32

I met my partner over three years ago. About 18 months into our relationship, he proposed. I must admit, it caught me by surprise. I wasn't expecting it.

Early last year, I realized our sex life had dwindled into very, very little. I think he might have a death grip. He was able to get erections and maintain them for his hand only. Never for sex with me. We would start usually by me giving him a BJ and that would get him hard. We might have some sex but there was never a finishing with us. After a few thrusts with me on top, he would guide me away and take over with his hand. We had sex 2 or 3 times last year.

We don't live together. The lockdown was the best thing ever for me. He used to come over and stay the night about 2 times a week. He stopped coming over and we stopped sleeping together because of the lockdown.

It was the best thing ever for me. I started making more time for me. I started making time for exercise to lose weight. I'm now down 2 stone since the start of lockdown and I feel fantastic. I love having some free extra time to myself. I remember before, he used to come around on a Tuesday or Wednesday or Thursday night. I would get up early in the morning for work. I would have a variable finish time. It could be 7 or 8 or 9 at night. He would then come around. I never even got 5 minutes to myself. The lockdown has brought about time for me.

I started sleeping better. I started going to bed on time. I started to rise early for about 5.30 am or 6 am to get a home workout done before cooking breakfast and before starting a day's work. I never had that time before.

Anyways, there I was working out this morning in my sitting room. I was having fun working out, listening to the phone music with earphones and my phone starts ringing. It was him. I decided not to answer because I was in the middle of a work out. I decided to finish my workout and start cooking breakfast before I would phone him back. In that time I got 3 calls from him that I didn't answer. What was that all about? I eventually rang him back and it was 8 am so it wasn't long after his first call and he had no news or nothing much to tell me. You would swear with the calls there was someone on their deathbed or something but no. He was phoning to say hello.

He knows the drill now. He knows my routine where so like to get up early and start a workout.

What was he doing phoning me, not once, not twice but three times. There were other times he can be obsessive with calling me too. For example, he knows I have variable finishing times with work and he can phone me from about 7pm and keep doing it until I pick up. There are sometimes when I don't have that time to answer his call.

He's the most nicest kindest man ever and he's so considerate but he's giving me an absolute headache with his calls. Our sex life is nothing. The pandemic has showed me, I want to be single. I want to be free. I would get more excitement taking a book to bed.

Any advice on how to approach this with my partner and for dumping him? Or will I go about it in a backwards way by becoming less and less available for him until our relationship is down to nothing. Do it slowly over a few weeks. Then wait for some sort of a blow up fight or argument and then bang, finish up.

OP posts:
RLEOM · 03/07/2020 10:36

It's better to be honest with him. You'll hurt him more by slowly pulling away - that's no way to treat someone who loves you.

PinkMonkeyBird · 03/07/2020 10:55

Be honest with him and tell him directly, either via phone call or face to face in a neutral space. Tell him you don't feel compatible anymore and the you have come to this conclusion through lockdown as it has given you the space to think more.

He will probably try to talk you round, but keep firm. I'd just tell him you think he is a lovely person, but you are not right for each other.

redcarbluecar · 03/07/2020 11:03

If you’ve enjoyed not having to see him, that probably tells you what you need to know about the relationship. Ending it directly is the best approach.

AnyFucker · 03/07/2020 11:05

Don't ghost him, that isn't fair.

See him face to face and tell him this is no longer working for you and you have made up your mind.

BurtsBeesKnees · 03/07/2020 11:14

You sound so much happier without him. Just tell the poor bloke it's over and start your new, happier, life

Chamomileteaplease · 03/07/2020 12:38

Remind yourself you are allowed to finish a relationship! And just do it. But definitely don't drag it out - that's cruel.

Delbelleber · 03/07/2020 12:47

Well done losing 2 stone OP. Sounds like you are better off without him for sure. Tell him in your own words it's over and don't let him work his way back in.

NotaCoolMum · 03/07/2020 13:19

There’s no easy way to break up with someone but the kindest way is to do it quickly 💐 good luck and congrats on 2 stone lost!!

StrictlyAFemaleFemale · 03/07/2020 13:33

Hey x this lockdown has made me realise that this relationship isnt working for me and that actually I dont want to be in a relationship with anyone. Thanks for the time we had together but its time for me to move on.

YellowBlueDaisy · 03/07/2020 13:36

We shared so much over the past few years but I feel we are at the end. If it wasn't for the sexless relationship I think we would have been able to overcome the lockdown. The moment that man out a ring on my finger the sex dried up between us. I don't desire him any more. I feel smothered and this morning brought it home to me. 3 missed calls in the space of 50 minutes from him. He rang at a time when he knew it was my time. It was my time to exercise before I go into a day's work where I might not be allowed to finish again til fcuk-knows-when o clock time. When I eventually got around to calling him back, he had nothing important to say. What was I supposed to do? Stop my home workout for a call? Notice how I'm not allowed a little bit of time to focus on myself for once. The relationship is dead between us.

I don't intend on ghosting him. My natural instinct is to zone out and pull away quietly.

OP posts:
WellIWasInTheNeighbourhoo · 03/07/2020 13:40

Send him a text saying lockdown has made you realise the relationship is not working for you and offer to discuss further on phone if he would like. That will give him a chance to process before talking if he wants.

Does he watch porn? It is responsible for ED in young men in most cases these day. There has been a massive 37% increase (from 1% 15 yrs ago) in ED in young men, the porn industry is responsible for so much harm. A difficult addicton to overcome and not at all possible unless he is honest about it, which I suspect he is not. He will be enjoying porn and his hand for sexual gratification while you have to put up with the consequences, so dont feel bad about moving on.

YellowBlueDaisy · 03/07/2020 14:02

I don't know if he watches porn. I suspect he does. There was few things that gave it away to me before that he watches porn. He never admitted it to me but I strongly suspect he does.

OP posts:
YellowBlueDaisy · 03/07/2020 14:03

Thanks wellwasintheneighbourhood . I will go down that route of giving him a little warning text.

OP posts:
YellowBlueDaisy · 03/07/2020 14:15

First of all, my schedule for work come July is crazy. I'm due 10 nights in work. 10 nights straight. I will be lucky if I will be allowed time to go to the toilet for them nights. When I come to the end of that, I'm going to be exhausted and quote possibly going off the rails with some bottles. It's going to be very intense. So that means we won't be seeing each other during that time. Hopefully things will settle down after that.

I can't believe what he's doing come August.

We might have had some sort of change of rekindling something but not now. Not any more. We are living in Ireland and travel abroad is advising against and any travelling, people have to self isolate for 14 days after traveling. He has planned a trip over to the UK to visit family. When he comes back he will have to self isolate because those are the rules because of the virus. So that means spending any time with him or even trying to start up overnight stays again in August will be written off for us. I want to be done with this relationship. It's nothing more but a headache for me now.

OP posts:
Sooobooored · 03/07/2020 14:20

Why zone out and pull away? You’ll never get rid of him. Why don’t you end it definitively? Tell him honestly and directly it’s over and stick to your decision.

trappedbytheangel · 03/07/2020 14:36

Zone out and pull away = ghosting.

NooneElseIsSingingMySong · 03/07/2020 14:43

You can’t gradually pull away with a guy like this. The more you pull away, the clingier he will get! The morning phone calls gave you a taste of that.

Just arrange to meet him, tell him you care about him but your feelings have changed and you want to end things. Do it before you start the nights, it’ll be a weight off your mind.

Splitsunrise · 03/07/2020 14:45

Why would you send him that text? Why not be an adult and meet up with him, tell him you don’t feel it’s working, you’re not happy and you’ve decided you’d like to break up? What you’re describing IS ghosting, which is a shitty thing to do

AnyFucker · 03/07/2020 15:32

Be the grown up. Do it properly. You don't "zone out" from a serious relationship unless you are a shitty person.

FifteenToes · 03/07/2020 15:48

What interests me is that it's much more common on here to read women bemoaning the fact that their partners don't call them enough, or don't pick up enough when they're called. The fact that you're finding his calls intrusive, on top of enjoying not seeing him in the first place, is your answer really.

You don't mention children so I assume you don't have them.

I think you know that it's over. I agree with others that you should do it properly and tell him. Stringing it out is just cruel.

madcatladyforever · 03/07/2020 18:08

Stop messing about, just call him and say this isn't working for you any more and it's over.
It feels great when it's done.

YellowBlueDaisy · 03/07/2020 18:25

I'm not messing him about.

Before the lockdown, there were days when I didn't even have 5 minutes for myself. Get up in the morning, get ready for work, go to work, finish late at 8 or 9, come home, help my mother if she needs jobs to do, partner comes around for a sleep over. There were far too many people grappling a piece of my time, every single day. I neglected myself far too often, racing about helping and looking after everyone else.

The lockdown was fantastic. It gave me a better work life balance. My partner was stopped from coming over and I started looking after myself. Win-Win. I don't want to go back to the old ways.

It was this mornings calls that had me going 'wtf is this?’. I was working out. I was telling him recently about my new routine and there he was phoning me 3 times in 50 minutes, probably knowing well that I was working out. There was no excuse for phoning me three times. He could have left it at one call.

It's just that coupled with the sexless relationship that we had before lockdown.

I wasn't messing him about. I'm I'mying to get my head around things.

OP posts:
Crispsnatcher · 03/07/2020 18:32

Eek OP, you definitely sound like you are happier being single. I think you just need to tell him straight that it isnt working for you any more. He will have time to get used to it if social distancing keeps up. Good luck.

Dery · 03/07/2020 18:52

It sounds as if you have some lingering conflicting feelings over this.

On the one hand, the relationship is very obviously over for you - the fact alone that you found it fantastic to not see him during lockdown really tells you everything you need to know about how you feel. You are engaged but you refer to him as your partner, not your fiancé, which also makes you sound somewhat detached from him. You say the proposal took you by surprise; he proposed 18 months into the relationship but more than 18 months later, you're still not married. You've never had the sex life you would have liked to have with him and now it has dwindled into nothing. At the same time, you refer to the fact that you might have rekindled things but for his plan to visit England in August. But rekindled what, exactly? It really doesn't sound like there was much there to rekindle.

It sounds to me like you've always been a bit 'meh' about him but somehow didn't think you deserved more from a relationship - like you didn't deserve to feel really excited about the man you were marrying and the future you would have together. In fact, it sounds like you were ready to settle for very little indeed from the relationship and this time apart has brought home just how little you were settling for. You might want to look into why it was you weren't demanding more for yourself.

You don't owe him a relationship. You do owe it to yourself and him to put an end to a relationship which brings you no joy. And you owe it to him to do it properly. You can't just fade out your fiancé. Apart from anything, as PP said - it won't work. And it's also unkind and disrespectful. No doubt he will be very hurt and disappointed but in the end it's better for him also and the sooner it's done the better.

Good luck with telling him, OP. Onwards and upwards.

YellowBlueDaisy · 03/07/2020 19:33

The reason we weren't married is because we wanted different things from a wedding. He wanted a big wedding day. He was hoping on getting a lot of money in cards and using that to finance a wedding day. I lesrned, it doesn't work like that. For a lot of stuff a substantial deposit had to be paid in advance of the wedding day and that's for everything - hotel, band, flowers, everything.

I didn't want any fuss. I would love a small wedding day. Just me and him and some family members, maybe keep it to about 50 or 60 people. I really don't want a big day. If it was really up to me, it would be me and him, going off abroad and forget about including the family. Have a buffet when we get home or something.

Thankfully we didn't have any plans made because 2020 is gone to rubbish.

OP posts:
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