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Cynical after divorce

4 replies

Rainydayss · 29/01/2021 16:28

I'm divorced and dating a very nice divorced man. Thoughtful, kind and no drama.
However my cynical brain thinks if he was so lovely why did his wife divorce him? I think I'm constantly looking for red flags.
Or do men (and women) learn of their first mistakes in a marriage?

OP posts:
Jsku · 29/01/2021 16:48

You know everybody has their own story of what lead to a breakdown of a relationship.
Your relationship also didn’t work out - was there something wrong with you? Red flag?
Only using your logic here.

Personally, being divorced myself - and looking at other divorced friends - I think that relationships are complicated and its success or failure is not necessarily a reflection of a person. It’s also a life phase and circumstances.
And for many couples having children often leads to issues and build up of resentments that ends up in divorce.

So - maybe he is pretending and hiding a deeply flawed persona under his nice man appearance. Or maybe because you and him are in different phases of life - your relationship will work out.
Or maybe you two got better together than you did with previous partners.

Only time will tell.

Fanacker1 · 29/01/2021 17:19

I am twice divorced OP. 2 x long marriages. Both perfectly good kind men. They were not right for me, my fault, my poor choices. Long story short i am ambitious and determined, will give everything i am capable of to achieve and work hard/long hrs. Ex DH's more chilled, not bothered by moving up career / property ladder. I felt held back and frustrated. ( i came from nothing so wanted to be a success). I am better on own and have achieved all that i feel is important to me in terms of finance and material things.

My ex DH's are good men, great dads to my two children, their only children. You could argue that they could have done more while we were married, i did talk during each marriage, tried to make it work. They were really not that personality, i was expected to lessen my expectations instead of them increasing theirs. We were very different people with different ideas. I got tired of always being the driving force. It wore me down.

To other women, they are good men and extremely good responsible , kind and involved fathers to my/our shared children and they are good men. Just not right for me.

I know what you mean OP, i am suspicious always now. What people say they want and what they are actually prepared to do , often differ. Marriages break down for lots of reasons. Maybe you just need to go a bit slower and really get to know this guy, understand him more and why his marriage failed. Two sides to every story so bear that in mind when he is talking to you. His ex wife's story isn't going to be offered up. Take yr time. Just because he is divorced does not ordinarily mean he was a bad husband, maybe just not suited to his ex wife?? Take it slow.

unmarkedbythat · 29/01/2021 17:21

Lots of men are absolutely lovely people who I wouldn't want to be married to- there is much more to a relationship than whether or not someone is lovely. Maybe his ex wife didn't want thoughtful, kind and no drama. Maybe she wanted those things and something else he couldn't give. Maybe they just did not work out as spouses despite both being perfectly nice, decent people!

yetmorecrap · 29/01/2021 18:26

Like fanacker1 , my first husband is a nice guy, very good dad, very good looking too- but like fanacker I had same issues- happy to go to the pub(a lot ) , watch sport, very unambitious— we get together very young and 12 years later I kept thinking ‘is this it’ . For someone else of a similar nature he was perfect — and so it’s proved to be and he’s been married 25 years to a very lovely similarly unambitious lady. Sometimes it’s just circumstances.

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