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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

Am I overreacting?

50 replies

mumoftoddlerandteen · 20/04/2022 08:44

Long story short, me and DH been having a rough patch in our marriage. Around or shortly after my son was born (third child) I’d been telling him that I was feeling that I didn’t get enough effort from him in terms of our relationship ie never initiating dinner out, things to do as a family together - it always had to come from me. Gave me a feeling that he was just ticking along, happy to let me sort everything but I explained that’s quite a burden sometimes trying to keep everything going single handedly. Anyway, it got to the point where we started going to marriage counselling and we started to make more effort to focus on us as a couple and not just as parents - weekend away and dinner out more often etc. sex has always been fine, there was a dry patch a year or so ago but normally it’s great.

We went for dinner on our sixth wedding anniversary, on the way home he suggested sleeping together in the car - I told him I wasn’t comfortable with this because there were people around. Also feeling bloated a bit from the meal etc - said I wanted to get home. We then get home and cuddle on sofa etc. he made some attempt to initiate sex but it didn’t really happen.

Anyway, next day I’m in the shower and he’s text me saying he wishes I’d let him sleep with me in the car the night before. I’m a bit annoyed by this as I’d explained that I wasn’t comfortable doing that. I said I wasn’t comfortable and we then had this sort of text conversation about it. We kind of had to as the kids are always around so sometimes easier to talk on text.

Around 3-4 days later I ask him to borrow his phone to show him something on Google. Sometimes that happens because mines upstairs or out of battery or whatever. Anyway as I go onto the internet, I can see that he’s searched and visited the website ‘Chaturbate’. When I look at the day and time it’s the morning after our anniversary meal. Kids would have been downstairs, we would have been talking and chatting like normal that morning. I go mad at him. He tells me it’s just porn to him. we both have discussed the fact that we occasionally use porn if we’re not together when masturbating. When the sex is frequent then neither of us tend to use it. Or I thought.

this isn’t just porn to me. He swears that he wasn’t talking or interacting with anyone, that it was just porn and that he was frustrated because we hadn’t had sex the night before. So he was using it just to get/stay horny as he liked the feeling.

it’s just given me the ick to be honest. He admitted to using that particular site quite a few times. I just can’t shake off this disgusting image of him in the bathroom looking at it whilst me and the kids were downstairs. I always thought those sort of websites were for losers and I don’t want to feel that way about my own husband.

at the same time we’ve been together for 13 years. I think it hurts more because we were supposed to be working on our relationship and trying to get things back on track then he’s doing that.

we discussed it with the marriage counsellor but I don’t seem to be able to move past it.

am I overreacting here?! Some days I feel like I am being way over the top but other times I think have some respect for myself and don’t stay with someone like that!

OP posts:
Hiddenvoice · 20/04/2022 08:51

its a really tough one but it seems like you are both trying in your relationship. He wanted to try something new to maybe spice things up. Nothing wrong with him suggesting and definitely nothing wrong with you saying no to it.
i know it’s difficult to talk when the children are around and it’s good you’ve brought it up with the counsellor. I think you need to explain again how it makes you feel. Explain that it feels different to just watching porn if he is interacting with someone.
i know people watch porn and like you, I wouldn’t have a problem with jr but if he is speaking with someone to help his ‘frustration’ then personally I’d feel upset too.

mumoftoddlerandteen · 20/04/2022 08:55

Thank you for your reply.

I’ve told him how it makes me feel. That it’s not just porn to me, that it’s different because it’s ‘live’ and also, me and the kids were downstairs, I just find it a bit disgusting. He’s said he didn’t see it like that but now he knows that’s how I feel about it he won’t ever visit those type of sites again.

he lied about it when I first caught him. He’s told me a few other white lies along the way as well. Im struggling to trust him.

OP posts:
PoleaxedAndSome · 20/04/2022 08:55

at the same time we’ve been together for 13 years. I think it hurts more because we were supposed to be working on our relationship and trying to get things back on track then he’s doing that

I am a week in to finding out that my husband has been sexting another woman. I just wanted you to know that you aren’t alone and that I also feel exactly the way you’ve described above. I have a thread going.
maybe called ‘is it ever just texting’ which has had lots of lovely responses. Maybe some of them would also be useful to you.

💐 🍷

mumoftoddlerandteen · 21/04/2022 17:38

Thank you both. He swears he hasn’t messaged or interacted with anyone. I’ve been through his phone as thoroughly as I can and doesn’t seem he has an account or anything. He just said he watches the video streams sometimes like as porn. Maybe 2-3 times a week and then sometimes months go by where he doesn’t even look. Still bothers me. I don’t know why.

OP posts:
Watchkeys · 21/04/2022 20:43

Im struggling to trust him

Um, yeah. Trust isn't something you have to try to do. If you're trying, then it means that you instinctively don't trust him.

That's the issue. That's why it feels hard to specify what's bothering you: you think it's about porn but it's not. You stopped trusting him, because he lied.

Quite right, too.

mumoftoddlerandteen · 21/04/2022 20:49

Yes I think that’s it. Can’t stand a liar. Im
speaking to a counsellor on my own on Tuesday to see where I go from here. X

OP posts:
Mooshering · 21/04/2022 21:01

Ugh.

Men that try to pressure you into doing something you don't want, or guilt trip you afterwards for not doing it are disgusting.

mumoftoddlerandteen · 21/04/2022 21:05

Yeah I know. I don’t really know what else to say. Men can be completely disgusting arseholes.

OP posts:
Watchkeys · 21/04/2022 21:40

mumoftoddlerandteen · 21/04/2022 21:05

Yeah I know. I don’t really know what else to say. Men can be completely disgusting arseholes.

Don't put this down to 'men'. This is one person, not a representative. He could absolutely have chosen to be a decent person here, man or not.

mumoftoddlerandteen · 21/04/2022 21:41

Yes it’s all a choice isn’t it x

OP posts:
Discovereads · 21/04/2022 21:47

I don’t think you are over-reacting. I do think you two are not communicating very well. Text is the worst way to communicate as you cannot hear tone, see facial expressions or read body language. So doing difficult “I’m not comfortable” type conversations over text is imho setting yourselves up to mis communicate and to have misunderstandings and not really trust what you are reading as being true or faithful to what the person is thinking. I’d honestly start doing those conversations in person, face to face.

mumoftoddlerandteen · 21/04/2022 22:01

Thank you. I do think that communication is a big issue for us. It’s hard to know how to resolve that. X

OP posts:
Jumpking · 21/04/2022 22:42

Sorry to point out that you say you can't trust him, but you seem to believe that he doesn't have a Chaturbate account as he swears he doesn't.

The kick of Chaturbate over Pornhub is that you can direct the cammer to do your bidding. If you truly believe he hasn't yet set up an account, I don't think it'll take long before he does. Porn is the growing quiet addiction. People need to push the envelope more and more to get the same kick they're used to from the early days. Chaturbate is one step above Pornhub.

All the best on your journey with this OP

mumoftoddlerandteen · 22/04/2022 08:17

Thank you. I don’t know how to find out if he does have an account. I’ve tried logging in on his phone. Checking his bank statements etc for payments and can’t see anything.

OP posts:
needmorethanthis · 22/04/2022 08:50

Ugh. Why can’t he just use pornhub like everyone else! There’s thousands of videos on there.

mumoftoddlerandteen · 22/04/2022 08:58

I know!! He said it’s because he thought it looked ’interesting’ eurgh

OP posts:
Discovereads · 22/04/2022 11:18

needmorethanthis · 22/04/2022 08:50

Ugh. Why can’t he just use pornhub like everyone else! There’s thousands of videos on there.

Pornhub has been caught posting videos with underage girls- so literally videos of rape. It has also been caught posting revenge porn and deep fakes. Pornhub isn’t acceptable at all imho. Chaturbate I know nothing of, but if it’s all consenting adults and there is no video/actual sex, it’s just sexting then it is objectively more acceptable and involves less exploitation of women in my opinion than Pornhub.

mumoftoddlerandteen · 22/04/2022 11:33

It’s not just sexting. I had a look - wish I hadn’t. Think live videos of women masurbating.

OP posts:
Discovereads · 22/04/2022 11:46

Ugh. That is disgusting. Now I know more about chaturbate than I ever wanted to.

me4real · 22/04/2022 13:00

If it makes any difference to you @mumoftoddlerandteen , unless he's bought tokens, he's not been telling the women what to do, just watching their performances.

I get that it's a bit gross anyway though.

mumoftoddlerandteen · 22/04/2022 13:13

Yeah if he’d gone any further I wouldn’t be posting on Mumsnet I would have kicked the fucker out. I’m just trying to find out if he has. Still gross though. Still trying to work out if I can live with that.

OP posts:
Jumpking · 22/04/2022 14:52

mumoftoddlerandteen · 22/04/2022 13:13

Yeah if he’d gone any further I wouldn’t be posting on Mumsnet I would have kicked the fucker out. I’m just trying to find out if he has. Still gross though. Still trying to work out if I can live with that.

Hate to say it, but you don't need to buy tokens to interact with the cammers.

You can become a cammer yourself to earn them.

Nothing visible on the bank statement then.

Try looking at his internet history on more than one browser. See if anything automatically logs into Chaturbate.

Look on Gmail to see if there's a new set up account.

However, it could be he's just used a throw away email address and you'll never know.

Jumpking · 22/04/2022 14:53

Oh, and try any other devices too. Not just his phone.

mumoftoddlerandteen · 22/04/2022 15:01

need to have a more thorough check of bank statements - he’s offered to let me do that. Been on internet history and tried to log into the site using all the email addresses I know. He does have one more that I need to find because I can’t remember it. Nothing logging me in. No saved passwords for that website. It is saying he has a log in for Reddit though and I didn’t know what that was but I’ve had a look and could also be something dodgy. He has a tablet but it’s never charged so I need time to charge it and check

OP posts:
me4real · 22/04/2022 16:10

You can become a cammer yourself to earn them.

In theory, but most blokes wouldn't earn any from that. There's not much call to see the average guy wanking or whatever.

I suppose the occasional gay guy might use Chaturbate, but they would probably have quite exacting standards of the kind of guys they want to watch.