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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

DH lied.

335 replies

ireallyshouldntbesurprised · 14/07/2022 20:24

DH has form for lying, he’s lied about tiny, insignificant things over the years, but he’s also lied about some big, shitty things too.

Each time he’s caught in a lie, I remind him of just how much I detest being lied to, he apologises and we attempt to move on - but it of course nibbles away at my trust each and every time.

Today, DH had meetings in London. I was told last night the meetings were a ‘big corporate spiel lasting from 9am to 5pm’. Anyway, I checked our tracking app that we have on our phones shortly after lunchtime, to see that DH wasn’t where I thought he would be (the HQ office), but was instead, in some random bar in a different area of London.

I messaged DH an hour or so later, asking him how he was getting on etc. He told me it was fine but a bit boring. I then asked him if his meeting was being held in the usual place and he stopped replying.

He got in this evening and I asked him what time the meeting ended up finishing, and if it’d been held at the HQ, to which I was told ‘yep, normal place, we finished up around half 4, was supposed to be 5 but they rushed through a couple bits so we could duck out a tiny bit early’.

Now, I can see from our app that he left the building where the meetings are held shortly after 2pm and was in a bar from then, until he left to get the train at around 5:30pm. When I asked him if he’d stayed and had any drinks, he told me that ‘once the meeting was finished, they left the HQ and he had one quick pint before getting the train’. I also asked him if the blokes from work were staying ‘out out’ for drinks after the meeting, and he told me they were apparently heading to a certain bar in Shoreditch. Well, I checked the app, and lo and behold, that bar that his colleagues were supposedly heading to ‘after’ DH had left, was in the fact, the bar DH had been sitting in for three hours.

For what it’s worth, the apps we use are never wrong. They might show you’re stood a few metres from where you actually are, but it would never show you as being MILES away from where you are, if you see what I mean. I can also tell when DH is lying by the level of (false) details he gives in answers.

I haven’t yet told DH that I know he’s bare face lied to me, but I am seething. He knows my stance on lying. He knows that above all else in life, I’m always, always going to be more mad about a lie than something he may or may not have done. It’s the lying. I can’t stand it. I don’t care that the meeting finished early. I don’t care that he sunk a couple pints in the midday sun. What I do care about is the fact he seemingly thinks so little of me, that lying about stupid shit is like a second nature to him.

Would you confront your DH if you knew he’d so breezily lied to you?

OP posts:
ireallyshouldntbesurprised · 16/07/2022 16:38

@girlmom21 @FartNRoses I'm obviously hoping that isn't the case, but in reality, how would I ever know what's happening while he's away, yknow?

The most frustrating part of all of this, is that if he hadn't of lied to me the other day, I likely wouldn't be questioning and doubting next week so much. I may have still had a niggle surrounding the odd hotel/b&b thing, but I wouldn't be steeped in as much suspicion as I am now.

OP posts:
girlmom21 · 16/07/2022 16:52

@ireallyshouldntbesurprised you're absolutely right. The only reason you don't trust him is because he's lying about things he shouldn't need to lie about - so now you're less likely to trust him on the big things, as he lies about the small ones.

I don't really see a way forward here unless he gets some help.

Newestname002 · 16/07/2022 20:48

@ireallyshouldntbesurprised

The one things that's playing on my mind though, is why did he bother telling me about the hotel situation?

He's planning a couple of steps ahead in case you get even the tiniest bit of info that he wasn't with everyone else in the event hotel. He can then blame whoever chose/blocked booked rooms at the hotel for their incompetence... 🌹

EvenMoreFuriousVexation · 16/07/2022 22:07

OK. In my experience liars of this nature very rarely change, because they have been brought up with this behaviour and they think everyone does it. (Is one of his parents an alcoholic/addict? Compulsive lying is very common in ACOA.)

There's an extreme strategy which might work to give him enough of a shock to change his behaviour, but it's very confrontational and it's not brilliant for children to witness.

Basically every time he says anything that includes information, you say "I don't believe you. Prove it." He says work are putting him in X hotel - OK let's see the email. He says his car needs petrol - OK send me a photo of the petrol gauge. He says he's taking the kids to the park - OK, video call me from the Park.

He had spent the last 10 years proving that he's a liar - so you're going to assume that everything he says is a lie.

This tactic is pretty nuclear. It's confrontational, aggressive, and infantalises him. But it has the advantage of giving him a clear message that his lying has long term consequences, not just the "whoops I've been a naughty boy" which has been the status quo to date.

Personally I wouldn't do this. I'd keep my powder dry and make sure I had everything set up to leave, then I'd pull the plug in the hope that we might be able to keep it amicable.

BTW. One thing to consider is that your children will very soon be old enough to start learning how to lie and they will see by example that lying has no consequences and is an excellent strategy for getting away with bad behaviour.

HaveringWavering · 16/07/2022 22:28

DH doesn't have the money to book his own hotel (accommodation and travel has been paid for by his work),

He almost definitely has a credit card you don’t know about. But also, how can someone with the type of job you describe not earn sufficient to have enough spare cash to cover a night in a hotel?

1VY · 17/07/2022 06:57

it's a horrible situation, you've got 3 DC you can't just up and leave, and you probably don't want to, but the unvarnished truth of this is that he doesn't sit at home worrying about you lying to him, but you do

Thats one of the many points of this behaviour, its another aspect of control. It means the OP can’t never relax, shes always trying to work out what’s true and what’s a lie, when to confront and when to let it go, where he actually is etc.

it means her focus is always on him and not on herself / the kids. He loves that.

Op he is also looping to you about money, if he tells you that he doesn’t have 80 pounds for a hotel room.

Oh and the poster who suggested telling him to prove everything - it wont work. He will jjst say the OP is paranoid / mentally ill / has trust issues and refuse to prove anything.

He will act all hours and play the victim, tell her friends and family he’s worried about her mental health . He may even threaten to leave, knowing how financially vulnerable the OP is.

crispsandnuts · 17/07/2022 07:31

Mumoblue · 14/07/2022 22:34

I mean, sounds like you know he’s a liar. And you know he won’t stop. The question is- is a relationship with a committed liar acceptable to you?

Little lies almost always turn into big lies. My ex used to lie about the odd thing and he ended up being a cheater. I ended up with a very easy formula for figuring out if he was lying: would lying make his life easier? If yes, he was lying.

Now I’m kinda done with dating but if I go back to it and a guy lies about ANYTHING, I’m done instantly. I can’t stand liars.

Yes I agree if they lie about smaller things then it's easier to cover up bigger things too.
My exdh was a compulsive liar, tracking him on an app would have been interesting as it turns out he went on several holidays with his deluded affair bint.
But yes, the app thing is odd, I'd hate to be tracked too, couples have managed years without it.

ELM8 · 17/07/2022 08:25

Too many details - like you say why even bother telling you about the hotel. Something is up. What are you going to do? Is it close enough for you to show up?

FluffingMarvellous · 17/07/2022 14:27

@iireallyshouldntbesurprised er OK, this hotel thing is a whole other level, not just silly compulsive lying about low level things. Sorry, but what company does that - they wouldn't just shove one person in a different hotel. Sounds like he's cheating on you I'm afraid.

ireallyshouldntbesurprised · 17/07/2022 14:39

@FluffingMarvellous The only thing I can think, is that maybe these meetings have been arranged for quite some time, and as such, the hotel will have been booked a while ago. DH only started working at this place 3-4 months ago, so was only included for the meeting a little over 6 weeks ago. I guess it is slightly possible that the hotel was then booked when his work tried getting him a room, but I'll be honest, I am finding that hard to believe. Not a single room left? Hmm. I don't know.

OP posts:
ireallyshouldntbesurprised · 17/07/2022 14:42

@ELM8 Far too far away for me to turn up, and I don't drive and will have the children with me anyway! As much as an incognito spying session - movie style - would be fun. Not that I'd ever do that, but the thought of skulking around in a floor length coat and binoculars has made me chuckle Grin

I definitely found it strange that he mentioned the lack of rooms at the hotel, he generally isn't very forthcoming with information so it feels as though he decided to tell me about it all for a reason. I'm just not sure what that reason is.

OP posts:
Ourlady · 17/07/2022 15:07

Can you ring the hotel and ask about availability?

ELM8 · 17/07/2022 15:13

@ireallyshouldntbesurprised that's a shame, agree the kids in tow probably wouldn't be very covert Grin

I second phoning the hotel though, it's really weird that he told you about it - sounds really dodgy I'm sorry...

OldFan · 17/07/2022 16:23

The one things that's playing on my mind though, is why did he bother telling me about the hotel situation? I'd have been none the wiser about which hotel he was 'supposed' to be staying in, so it seems odd that he felt the need to actively tell me that he's having to stay some place else.

@ireallyshouldntbesurprised All I can think is that he remembered the app thing on that occasion , so wants to be able to give a reason why he won't show as being where the others will be at night.

ireallyshouldntbesurprised · 17/07/2022 16:42

@OldFan that's entirely possible, however, I don't know where his colleagues will be, nor do I know where he will be 🤷🏻‍♂️ All I've actually been told is that he has a meeting in Birmingham and his colleagues are staying in one hotel, and he's in another. Which is why I found it odd that he felt the need to tell me that story, because if id decided to check the app next week, how would I have known that the place he's staying in, wasn't where his colleagues are? Do you see what I mean?

OP posts:
RaspberryHoney · 17/07/2022 16:55

Surely you can just check online if the hotel has available rooms for that night?

RaspberryHoney · 17/07/2022 16:58

And if there is a room available tell him that you checked for him, and there seem to be one so now he can stay with his colleagues. Just to see his reaction.

ireallyshouldntbesurprised · 17/07/2022 16:59

@RaspberryHoney but I don't know which hotel the colleagues are staying in, nor do I know where he'll be staying. If I ask him where his colleagues will be, I'll come across like a suspicious fruit loop as realistically, there's no need for me to know where they'll be

OP posts:
RaspberryHoney · 17/07/2022 17:01

ireallyshouldntbesurprised · 17/07/2022 16:59

@RaspberryHoney but I don't know which hotel the colleagues are staying in, nor do I know where he'll be staying. If I ask him where his colleagues will be, I'll come across like a suspicious fruit loop as realistically, there's no need for me to know where they'll be

Oh ok, could you just ask him, just small talk? Where was it your colleagues were staying again? Or does it say on their fb page/home page where the next conference will be held?

RaspberryHoney · 17/07/2022 17:02

But yeah, you’re right in that if you usually don’t ask then he’ll wonder I guess..

ireallyshouldntbesurprised · 17/07/2022 17:13

@RaspberryHoney I just tried to ask him and apparently he's now staying with the rest of the colleagues because work 'block booked' the rooms, despite the fact that just a few weeks ago, there wasn't a single, spare room for him? Hmm

He didn't/wouldn't tell me what hotel it was, nor whereabouts in Birmingham it'll actually be. He just shut down and stopped responding like he does all too often. Joy.

OP posts:
RaspberryHoney · 17/07/2022 17:27

ireallyshouldntbesurprised · 17/07/2022 17:13

@RaspberryHoney I just tried to ask him and apparently he's now staying with the rest of the colleagues because work 'block booked' the rooms, despite the fact that just a few weeks ago, there wasn't a single, spare room for him? Hmm

He didn't/wouldn't tell me what hotel it was, nor whereabouts in Birmingham it'll actually be. He just shut down and stopped responding like he does all too often. Joy.

It is strange he doesn’t want to tell you. My dh travel a lot for work, and he always sends me a copy of the flight and hotel booking. Just in case something happens. Could you ask him right out, not accusingly, that you wonder why he shuts down and doesn’t just tell you where he will be staying. That you think it is actually strange behaviour. He might throw it back to you, that you don’t trust him. And you can honestly answer that he is right, sometimes you don’t trust him but that is because he is sometimes lying for no seemingly reason at all. Like when you were ill and he lied. And that is not on you, it is on him and him alone. So yeah, he can tell you where he is staying and be as pissed off as he wants to. It’s up to him if he doesn’t realise how much it is effecting your relationship. Don’t back down, and stay calm.

RaspberryHoney · 17/07/2022 17:30

It might not be very important to him, but it is important to you and he needs to understand that once and for all. It is crucial.

ireallyshouldntbesurprised · 17/07/2022 17:33

@RaspberryHoney Oh, he shuts down all the time. It's a long standing issue in our relationship. He's a classic stonewaller. He actually went to therapy for it a few years ago, but it changed absolutely nothing.

If I keep pressing on where he's staying/for more info in general, it'll turn in to an argument and he'll accuse me of being paranoid or weird. Or, he'd just continue to ignore me. One of the two.

I find it strange that he isn't telling me either. He must know by now whereabouts it is he'll be, and what sort of hotel it is (ie; travelodge, holiday inn etc) as he's leaving early Tuesday morning! So for some reason, he's choosing to keep this information from me. I've no idea why. If I was going away, I'd happily tell him where in the city it was and what hotel it was too. Why would I hide that!?

OP posts:
RaspberryHoney · 17/07/2022 17:42

Well, you are not paranoid or weird. Is this something you are willing to live with? It sounds exhausting for you. It will probably end up with you not giving a shit what he is doing anyway, if he is up to no good or actually not might not even matter to you after a while because you are used to turning your feelings off to him..