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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

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Tick tock: the one where Geller discovers Polly is no longer a doormat

995 replies

StuckInPollyannaMode · 04/03/2022 22:23

AKA Co-parenting: I do not think it means what you think it means

Here we go again my lovelies! Will this be the one where I finally get divorced?!

Previous thread here

I have clock news! Turns out, no one wants it. Quelle surprise. Could I sell it? No, sez I, it’s worth ha’penny tuppence on a good day. Plus, no time.

Ha ha.

I suggested, because I am a kind hearted soul and because it’s already in a box and I don’t know which one that they keep the clock face and I get rid of the mechanism and the case. That appears to be a reasonable compromise. Pass me an axe.

The reason for the clock conversation? My brother phoned. My mother has given away my grandfather’s WW1 medals to a museum. WTF?! We’re going to try and get them back. She can’t see what she’s done wrong.

Solicitors on the other side for the house purchase are useless. Estate agent spoke to them today. They are awaiting proof of ID and funds on account?! WTF. I lost my shit a bit. I’d just come back from having a filling so I sounded three gins down, which I’m sure added to the effect.

Oh, and I haven’t stopped laughing for the last hour. A friend has found Geller’s profile on a dating app. It contains such gems as ‘addressing climate change one word at a time in my career as a professional’ and goes on to claim he ‘always has time’

Given me the best laugh I’ve had since my solicitor said she’d call me just to be sure that I wanted to file for absolute once the finance order is made…

Anyway, buckle up loves. It’ll be a ride, as ever…glad you could join me.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
7
Feministwoman · 03/04/2022 21:49

Glad you had a great time!
We have a Greengage tree in our smallholding. Makes fab jam, chutney and flavoured vodka (hate gin!)

pointythings · 03/04/2022 22:00

Polly I'm old enough to remember Lou! She had a really tough time and I contributed to her Amazon wish list. Last I know she was doing well with her baby and not needing her Chutney twat at all.

So glad you had a good time, and yay to boundaries.

Fraaahnces · 03/04/2022 22:29

I remember her too! So pleased she is doing well! (Just realised I did a NC for personal reasons. Did I tell you all this? I’m the Aussie who’s been following Polly since the beginning. Previous name started with J)

LadyDanburysHat · 04/04/2022 10:11

I'm so glad you had a wonderful relaxing holiday. You completely deserve it. I hope you have a wonderful Easter break with the dollies too.

And fingers crossed for all of the house stuff. I am currently in the middle of selling and buying and it is so stressful.

comfortablyfrumpy · 04/04/2022 10:27

Glad you had a great time, Polly.
Hope Geller managed to hold off his incessant completely unnecessary comms.

Fingers crossed for exchange v v soon!

friskybivalves · 05/04/2022 01:18

We have both Reine Claudes and Mirabelles - tiny bright yellow plums the size of cherries that burst with juice and sweet flesh. God so delicious but you need to cram trillions in as they're so small. I always end up swallowing the stones and my DCs say I will get appendicitis but it hasn't happened in 30 years of eating fruit stones so [shrugs].

You're teasing us, Polly, with dropped hints about the back story to the holiday. It's like sitting in a 19th century Olde London coffee shop, waiting for the next instalment of a Dickens page turner to be rushed in by a poxy Victorian waif.

Fraaahnces · 05/04/2022 07:34

I am drooling with jealousy here

IggyAce · 05/04/2022 10:03

Wow you are amazing, I’ve spent the last 2 days catching up on the last 2 years of your life. You have done so well and come so far hopefully the divorce & house move will be completed before summer.
I’m very jealous of all the amazing trips you have taken.

RonSwansonsChair · 05/04/2022 23:36

Lovely update about the hols and the dollies, keep up the positivity 💐💐

BornBlonde · 05/04/2022 23:57

Awww great update!

BobISMyUncle · 06/04/2022 16:19

Sorry. Hijacking again. My two sisters have gone, I should have known. They were twins, and one visited the other, but when I asked, why are you here early, she smiled and said no reason. It's like they were saying good bye to each other. Sorry. I'm being rubbish at this.

BigSkies22 · 06/04/2022 17:35

I don't understand your post, Bob. Can you explain?

StuckInPollyannaMode · 06/04/2022 18:56

Came on to be less Dickensian, b I’m worried about you @BobISMyUncle - you ok?

OP posts:
StuckInPollyannaMode · 06/04/2022 18:57

Obviously that should be but. And for some reason my post didn’t say the second part I put in, which was that don’t worry about hijacking, we’re all friends and a support group, here if you need us.

OP posts:
unfortunateevents · 07/04/2022 12:55

I'm a long time lurker on this thread and just popping on to say (apart from fabulously well done in general Polly!) that I also contributed to Lou's Amazon wish list and that baby is turning 9 next week! She still posts here in the quiet section of the site.

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 07/04/2022 12:58

Maybe @BobISMyUncle has posted on the wrong thread? Confused

I'm glad your holiday was such fun, @StuckInPollyannaMode - I've never been skiing, but I'm sure if I did, I'd spend the entire time either face down in the snow, or in the local A&E.

StuckInPollyannaMode · 07/04/2022 14:13

Here goes. Coming out of the Dickensian fog to reveal all.

Today’s update, my loves, has 2 key points that I really need your help on. Bear these in mind as you read – as ever, your advice will be invaluable.

  1. What are Westley and I going to do?
  2. How the FUCK do I deal with Geller? I need a Foolproof Fuckwit Strategy.

So, in relation to Westley.

He’s lovely. He really, really is. We are having such a nice time together and I’m still adjusting to being in a relationship which isn’t with a wanker. I’m still working on myself a lot and learning to respond not to react, and he’s being super patient with me. We had one issue to sort out at the start of the week and he handled it, and me, brilliantly. I feel totally secure. Except for the one problem, which is all tied up in the greater issue which I haven’t told you because it’s his business not mine. But he’s now admitted it’s what has been holding him back emotionally.

He's got a job abroad, for 3 years. Like, 15 hours flight away.

He was offered it before Christmas and immediately discussed it with me. I said that it was his dream job, if he wanted to do it he should accept it and we would work it out. We talked about it long and hard. But he accepted, which I think was totally the right thing to do and I have been very supportive. However, what has come out is that he basically has put himself emotionally ‘on ice’ since finding out and has been burying his head in the sand. Neither of us know what to do. We’ve been putting it off and putting it off. But it’s starting to get real now that paperwork is getting going and stuff. It came to the forefront this week and we finally talked about it. And I finally told him I loved him. He didn’t say it back, which I was expecting, I knew he wasn’t ready. But I’m happy I’ve told him how I feel and I’m confident enough to have done so.

We don’t know how it’s going to work. I’ve got the Dollies, it’s not like I can up and off. If I didn’t have them I could go out there and stay for a month at a time then come back here. But I do, and I can’t change that! Equally I can’t move with him and the Dollies, that’s insane – a solution which was mooted by one friend!

There’s a time difference which is 6 hours, which is hard work. He’s concerned about putting both of us through what he calls the pain and hardship and grief of a long distance relationship. The background to this is that he was in a LDR which didn’t work out and I think he is very scared that will happen again. I have said that he’s not the same person he was then, I’m not his ex, we’re going into this with our eyes open. That relationships and connections like the one we have don’t come along every day and that he mustn’t let his past dictate his future. But whatever route we take, we have to be committed to it. I’m prepared to do so.

He doesn’t know what he wants. He’s clearly scared. The logistics and the practicalities are fucking terrifying. He’s concerned that I’ll be at home doing childcare and house stuff and he’ll be off doing exciting things in new places and there’ll be resentment on both sides. However, if we’re onto a good thing why would we throw it away without even trying? What if this is a potentially long term thing and actually 3 years in the grander scheme of things is nothing at all.

Then you add in the Dollies. DD1’s issues. How would they cope with me going away for a couple of weeks at a time? Like, once every three months. Or with Westley coming back and staying for a bit and then going again. They’ve not met and this job is the main reason why – knowing he was going neither of us wanted to do the wrong thing and let them get attached. And what if I want to take them over to where he is going to be for a couple of weeks in the holidays otherwise I won’t see him for ages?

Am I being completely selfish to even consider this? Should I end it for the sake of the Dollies?

And that leads me onto point 2.

Geller was a fucking pain in the ass whilst I was away. Did everything that he could to make it difficult and make the Dollies upset. He will block this with every sinew in his body.

I NEED to get him and his incessant messaging to stop. I NEED him to leave me alone. He doesn’t respect my boundaries, doesn’t respect that I was away, appears to be incapable of managing the Dollies without constant fucking messages. Which of course I couldn’t ignore as I was away. The more I ignore him, the more he messages. I NEED to get this sorted. I got really upset a couple of times whilst we were away and Westley has said that he found it very difficult to see me dealing with so much shit and basically being harassed.

Frankly, if I don’t get Geller sorted I can see it will completely screw up what I have with Westley. If he was staying nearby then time would be on our side. As it is, it isn’t. He goes before the end of summer. I have said to him, and he realises, that I’ve been putting up with this for a long time and I’m trying my best, but like anyone coming out of an abusive relationship it is hard.

I need a Foolproof Fuckwit Strategy to make Geller grow up, back off, parent capably. One that will allow me to go and see Westley for a couple of weeks at a time given the distance involved. One that will make him realise I’m an individual and allowed to have my own life. He’s never going to stop hating me for the divorce. But now that the paperwork is so close to being sorted, once it’s signed then I can let him have it both barrels.

What I need is your advice, once again, dear friends in my keyboard. And, if you got through all that, a gin to reward yourselves.

OP posts:
noirchatsdeux · 07/04/2022 14:22

The only person's actions you can control are your own.

You can't 'make' Geller suddenly wake up and be a good parent - if it hasn't happened in a decade, it's not going to happen. This is going to be the reality of being a parent with him until your daughters are adults and you no longer have to facilitate a relationship between them and their father.

A friend of mine met a man 11 years ago, when her son with her ex husband was about 8. Her new man got a job working in another European country, she was all set to move to be with him...until the ex husband said there was no way she could take her son with her. Her and the new man made the LDR work for 10 years, they finally got married last year when her son turned 18. They only started living together in the same place this year.

Divorce was never going to stop Geller from being a shit parent. The benefit of it was that you and your daughters only have it 50% of the time, instead of 100%.

pointythings · 07/04/2022 14:32

I'm with noirchatsdeux. You and Westley clearly have brilliant communication, are both rational, capable adults and care about each other. It would be a shame to throw this away, especially as the job is for 3 years. My late husband and I were LDR for 5 years before we lived together - admittedly no kids involved and less distance, but still. We wrote each other letters - those are some of my most precious memories, even though the marriage ended up going horribly wrong 20 years later.

So that is the part you can control. You can never make Geller not be a shitbag. All you can do is hang tough until all the paperwork is done and you don't need him for that - then you can be as brutal as you like. And you will need to be.

Sadly he will never be the dad that your Dollies deserve. Do keep an eye out for them - but it isn't actually all that long until they get a way in whether or not they want to see him, and they are smart cookies who will realise what their father is really like.

There aren't any guarantees; LDR with Westley may not work. But I don't think not giving it a try is an option because it's a choice between guaranteed heartbreak and sadness now and potential heartbreak and sadness that may not happen at all later. Don't throw away your shot at a really good healty relationship.

ChameFangeNail · 07/04/2022 15:34

Been following and lurking and cheering you on from behind the screen.

Just wanted to break cover and put in a word of caution about Westley.

It sounds to me like you’re doing an awful lot of the heavy lifting here. Telling him you love him, doing the emotional and cognitive labour of working out how you could make a LDR work, etc.

From what I’m reading, he’s basically telling you he doesn’t love you and doesn’t want to do another LDR.

Instead of tying yourself in knots trying to change reality, listen to what he’s actually saying to you.

If he was telling you he loves you and feels the same about wanting to commit to a LDR, I’d be saying go for it. But it sounds like he’s not on the same page as you and doesn’t want to put in the effort necessary to get on the same page?

Sorry to be a Debbie Downer, but I don’t want to see a good woman get free of one dick head, only to have her heart messed around by another, albeit less toxic one.

zippityzip · 07/04/2022 15:35

Worth considering if the Dollies even want a 50/50 relationship with their dad. Why can't you do and have an excellent life with Westley - and their "dad" be the two week holidays visitation type arrangement. It's not like can cope or even enjoys it.

Pashazade · 07/04/2022 15:40

I too think you should give the LDR a shot. Yes it's frustrating, time difference is a pita, but you seem to have something solid and as others have said you are both adults going into this. I also think it is not a such a bad thing to give the Dollies time to become older, as your relationship matures and in some respects give you alone time to become more consolidated as you the amazing Polly.
As for Gellar, once everything is signed, you go grey rock, you write out a schedule for visits that's in black and white for at least six months. You give the girls their own phones (big standard call or text only) so they can contact you if they get really distressed. Rest of the time give him a sim only mobile number that check once a week or set up a different email address for contact and block him on the old one. Again check once a week. But if he's being so awful the girls may well start refusing to see him, so be prepared for court as I think mandated contact may well be where things end up as obviously I know you won't make the girls go.
Sorry Gellar's being such a shit but kinda pleased that you and Westley seem to have the foundations of something good.
Oh and just a thought don't borrow trouble from tomorrow with regard to visiting Westley etc. That is still a way in the future, things may yet evolve and change, you may find an effective way of shutting Gellar down once everything is signed off. Good luck!

prettybird · 07/04/2022 15:45

Which of course I couldn’t ignore as I was away. The more I ignore him, the more he messages.

Yes you can ignore Geller. In fact, you must ignore him.

Geller has to learn to parent on his own. If you keep baling him out, he can continue to "blame" you for problems send to transfer responsibility onto you. Sad It's his ongoing weapon to manipulate you - so you need to break the chain.

Do you have anyone who can act as a buffer (let's call them Person X)? So that when he has the Dollies, you tell him that you will only be checking your phone once a week (say). If there is anything urgent, he is to contact Person X with the details of the "emergency" and they will decide whether it is indeed an emergency and whether to pass the message on.

I suggest getting a new phone and number and letting everyone but Geller know the new number ( and block his number and the Poison Dwarf's number on the new phone. Only turn your old phone on once a week or at whatever interval you tell him). Your old phone can also be the one that you use to call the Dollies if you want to talk to them while he has them. Let them know when you will be ringing. That way he can't manipulate them to get your "new" number.

Re Westley, I think you're both being very sensible. I think a long distance relationship could work as you have mutual respect but you must work on methods to build the boundaries with Geller.

Mix56 · 07/04/2022 15:57

I agree that G is never going to be anything other than a pompous whining needy fool. But once you have divorced you can actually say.
In big capitals, "Actually G, just fuck off with your snivelling. Do your parenting or don't, if you can't hack it, just go away & leave it to me."
Also as the girls get older they should understand your relationship with W.
There is always the possibility that they become demons from hell when you try & install W into the family. It happens.
To be honest, as they have not even met him, you have No idea how that shit is going to go down.

as for LDR, I wonder if you can say to Westley, 3 years is a long time to be faithful, to have to justify your (both) whereabouts & be alone. & that you dearly hope that that it will work out, that you can both visit as often as possible, that you need to be truthful & accept that temptation, loneliness will be in your (both) way. But, you have the Dollies & he has new challenges with his job, & there are things that just need to be done. If it works then it will be a sign of how deeply you really connected. & if it doesn't then its another episode added to your life experiences, but swear to be be truthful, if someone else comes into the mix, tell the truth.

BatshitCrazyWoman · 07/04/2022 16:05

@ChameFangeNail

Been following and lurking and cheering you on from behind the screen.

Just wanted to break cover and put in a word of caution about Westley.

It sounds to me like you’re doing an awful lot of the heavy lifting here. Telling him you love him, doing the emotional and cognitive labour of working out how you could make a LDR work, etc.

From what I’m reading, he’s basically telling you he doesn’t love you and doesn’t want to do another LDR.

Instead of tying yourself in knots trying to change reality, listen to what he’s actually saying to you.

If he was telling you he loves you and feels the same about wanting to commit to a LDR, I’d be saying go for it. But it sounds like he’s not on the same page as you and doesn’t want to put in the effort necessary to get on the same page?

Sorry to be a Debbie Downer, but I don’t want to see a good woman get free of one dick head, only to have her heart messed around by another, albeit less toxic one.

Sadly, I agree with this, Polly.
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