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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

I don't know if I want to be with my husband anymore...

37 replies

Rosie215 · 06/10/2022 16:16

I've been married to my husband for 4 years (together 8). I'm 27 & him 29 so obviously we met & married pretty young. He is not a bad person at all and this is why I'm struggling. I feel like I want 'more' but it's hard sometimes to put my marriage into perspective.
Lets start with the good parts...He is very loyal, I trust him completely and he makes me laugh everyday. He is very kind and everyone that meets him thinks he's great and he's fully part of my family who all seem to adore him. He is all I've ever known really. He will compliment me etc, and we hold hands, normal couple stuff. We enjoy spending time together for the most part & have a busy life doing things together.
However, I've also had a few niggles shall we say, and over the years I feel like they've built up to the point now where I'm questioning if this is actually the man I want to be with. He is a very placid person, I wouldn't go as extreme to say lazy but I do have to always ask him to help me with everything around the house. If I don't take the initiative and ask for help with something, I wonder if it would ever get done. He would never willingly go & empty the dishwasher for example or plan a food shop, do a washing load, or clean the house.
I plan our entire life, days out, holidays, finances (he doesn't even know how to see our online banking despite me telling him what he needs to do so never knows what money we have each month left over), so I feel like all of life's burdens are on me as he has no clue about anything. He would never randomly book a surprise trip for us, plan a meal our for a special occasion or buy me flowers, the thought wouldn't' even cross his mind.
The other major niggle I have is his drinking habits. He is not an alcoholic or violent or gets nasty with drink whatsoever, but he seems incapable of going just 1 evening without a beer. I often get home around 45 minutes after him and he's sitting in his pants gaming with a few cans of beer around him. Every night it's the same and he will continue having cans of beer until bed time. If we plan a meal out somewhere he doesn't really want to go if he can't drink so I drive which again makes me resent him.
The gaming is another niggle. Although in the same room (he has a separate TV) he games all night and I watch TV. He doesn't seem to want to watch anything together as he says TV doesn't interest him. We end up filling our evenings up with going to the pub with friends, seeing family, going out for dinner as I find it so boring being at home all evening feeling alone.
...now all this has built up and we are now at the point where kids is the next step and I know people around us are expecting this. I do want kids but I just can't imagine having kids with this man currently. I feel like I'll always have to ask for help with things, he will continue gaming and my life won't be any easier with him in my life...also just to add that we also haven't been intimate for nearly 6 months as I just have no desire to and he hasn't really initiated anything for the past few months either...
I have no idea if I can look past these 'negatives' or if he will eventually be on the same page with me, or if I'm being too harsh as he is such a lovely man. Any advice would be gratefully received. I honestly think I may have fallen out of love with him which does make me sad.

OP posts:
brunettegal · 06/10/2022 21:02

You are not alone I feel the same with my partner

bigblueyonder · 06/10/2022 21:11

Out on interest did he move out of his parents place and straight in with you? No independent living in between? Because honestly it sounds like you have become\replaced his mother.

If you have kids with this man it will be rinse & repeat for quite some time.

BadlyArrangedToasties · 06/10/2022 21:14

You are so young! Don't settle for this. You are unhappy and that is what matters. You need to move on. A friend of mine married someone very similar at a young age. She is now miserable in her late 40s with two teenagers. Still with him. They separated for a bit but now back together and she is really unhappy. He did not improve, only got worse and he is a dick to the children as well. Please get out and live your life x

hellosunshineagainxxx · 06/10/2022 23:13

Please don't have kids with this man, you're basically his mother. You're young, find someone better to have kids with

Smileeriley · 07/10/2022 11:15

I would just say to him what you've written in your post and go from there.

Pumpkinsbeinghitbyfallingapples · 07/10/2022 11:24

If you have children with him you will end up doing every single thing you do now and all of the childcare/admin etc on top whilst he still does exactly what he does now

Any attempts to change him will just constitute more effort on your end

If it wasn't for the alcohol it might be worth the effort, but please don't bring children into a relationship where one of their parents is heading down a path of destruction if he doesnt stop soon

You are young, you have options, this does not need to be your life

inheritanceshiteagain · 08/10/2022 02:18

Man child. He's have to shape up in a major way or I'd end it. Talk to him, explain here all the issues and leave it up to him. If he can't change then that's the end. Don't waste any more years with him

coffy11 · 08/10/2022 04:31

It's so good that you've realised this and want more, especially before having kids. Sounds like the relationship has run it's course, time to move on.

EarthSight · 08/10/2022 20:45

Doesn't look like the OP is coming back.

Hawkins001 · 30/12/2022 01:36

All the best op

Walnutwhipsarenothesame · 30/12/2022 02:40

EarthSight · 06/10/2022 19:43

You have entirely legitimate concerns and I think you are being sensible by thinking about all of this. There are so many warning signs so this is going to be long post, hopefully one that will help you.

he doesn't even know how to see our online banking despite me telling him what he needs to do so never knows what money we have each month left over

A long time ago I had a lazy boyfriend who got me to do things for him by infantalising himself. By pretending he didn't understand certain things, or saying he wasn't good at this or that, I usually had to step in otherwise it wouldn't get done at all. He could navigate porn websites very well, but somehow couldn't book plane tickets, and getting the money back off him was always harder work than it should have been. I was very young at the time, so didn't really spot what was going on until I was out of that relationship. Years later in his mid 20s, he mentioned his online bank account. I was suprised he was using that, but after I expressed this, he corrected me and told me his mum was still doing it for him....... IN HIS MID 20S.

What he was doing is called strategic incompetence. Look it up - it's how a lot of men get their partners to do everything for them. Their partners end up being a mixture of a P.A or a 2nd mother. Usually, the partner is enabling the man to do this by doing everything for them, but to be fair, they are often unfairly cornered into this position. They often feel sorry for their partner, or are guilt tripped into doing things they shouldn't have to do for another adult.

To the outside world, people may look at you as a couple and think how lovely he is, what a nice guy he is. You might be seen as 'the dominant one', the one that gets things done, who decides things, who plans things.......but actually, the woman is not dominant in this type of relationship. In fact, it's this type of man who is the dominant one here.

I call this 'dominating from the backseat'.

To the outside world, it looks like you're driving the car (the relationship) and the one in charge, but actually it's the person in the back who's dictating where you're going. It's you who has to drive, because they simply won't. They get to sit there relaxing as you drive them around like a chauffeur. They may not be the type of overtly loud, domineering man who shouts commands at their partner, but they are good at making sure they get to sit in that backseat and put their feet up.

he has no clue about anything

That's where he has you fooled, and when you realise that, you'll get angry. He is and adult man. He's got you to believe he can't manage, that he's somehow helpess like an infant. He will continue this illusion because so far, it's working out pretty well for him, isn't it? You're doing everything for him. He's got a nice P.A at home.

This is entirely different from two people simply having different standards. In that situation, there can be conflict because one person always wants to get things done first, but this doesn't seem to be just a clash of lifestyles. That's a man who has been babied all his life and needs a serious kick up the ass.

Every night it's the same and he will continue having cans of beer until bed time

That's not a niggle. That's a major red flag. I note that you end up driving because it's the only way you can spend time together out in the evening. Remember what I said about dominating from the backseat?

If TV doesn't interest him, that's fair enough. Lots of people are not lucky enough to have partner who like the same TV as them anyway. What matters is they're interested in spending quality time with you and make an effort to carve out time to do that.

I do want kids but I just can't imagine having kids with this man currently

Yes. No wonder.

OP, I would think very carefully before having kids with him. If you leave him, I can imagine he might do a U-turn and be wonderful for a few months. However, in such a situation, please ask yourself - what evidence have I been provided so far that he will be father material that I want? I think he's already shown you who he is. A lazy gamer who drinks too much. I'm sure he has nice qualities as well, but he's got you doing everything for him. Your family probably like him because he seems friendly enough, he's probably quite placid, is not totally crazy or getting wrecked in nightclubs. He probably seems safe to them.

It's so tragic to me when I hear about young couples going without sex for months or years. Obviously it's not important for everyone but it doesn't seem like you view him sexually any more. He hasn't helped himself has he? It's not really sexy for a woman to feel like her adult male partner is a manchild.

Absolutely this.

Miajk · 30/12/2022 12:20

What did you decide OP?

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