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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 going crazy?? Or is my husband a c*ck?

137 replies

CalicoPony · 01/05/2023 22:10

Really struggling to validate my position and could do with some help figuring it out.

we are due to move to France in 3 months (husband is french, we lived there together for 6 years, we have 2 kids born in France)

Husband is very avoidant when it comes to anything important - fear of failure makes him sort of freeze up and he buries his head in the sand. We both know this and we (mostly me) try and mitigate it by planning ahead and breaking big tasks into smaller ones to make them less terrifying.

anyway, the move has him very very stressed and he is refusing to talk about it, do any planning, organise his work etc.

tonight I tried to talk to him about it, said we have 3 months left so we should start thinking about finding a place to live (we will rent while we look for a place to buy), think about packing, etc.

he is scrolling on his
phone and generally irritated that I’ve brought it up. So I ask when would be a good time to talk about it. He says he doesn’t know. Then I say how should I respond when you say that (I genuinely don’t know) - he says he doesn’t know. I ask when would be a good time to talk about it. He gets annoyed, bangs his hand on the table, says ‘Fine! What do you want to say?!’ I’m taken aback and pause. He carries on ‘Go on then!!!’

I say I’m not wanting to just announce something, just that we should have a conversation and do some planning, or it will be more stressful because everything will be last minute. He says it’s already too late, it will be a shitshow. Gets up, walks out of the room. I give him a couple of minutes then go in and calmly (I was very sure to be calm) tell
him that I think he’s being unreasonable and that his behaviour is upsetting. He laughs facetiously and mutters something like ‘what a surprise’ and leaves the house.

this isn’t an isolated incident, it happens pretty much any time I talk to him about important stuff. In fact pretty much every time I talk to him about anything.

i know he is stressed and I want to support him. I want us to be a team and work together through the challenges. But he always seems to want to set himself against me - like it’s easier for him to blame all his difficulties on me than to actually face up to life.

im trying not to black and white about it but genuinely feel that he doesn’t love me, doesn’t enjoy being part of our family, and just wants to be left alone with his phone.

for context, we both work full time and with two young kids, life can be pretty full on. But we’re not on the breadline and have a lot to be grateful for.

i have lost all sense of perspective on whether I’m being unreasonable or not. He seems convinced that I’m a nagging bitch and that he has done nothing wrong. But his entitlement and disengagement and ingratitude are really getting to me. Am I going crazy???

OP posts:
Bumblebee413 · 01/05/2023 22:12

No. He’s being a huge, childish cock.

HadalyEve · 01/05/2023 22:12

Why are you moving to a France? It seems like he doesn’t want to move to me.

CatDoesNotApprove · 01/05/2023 22:14

If I was you, I would be making no arrangements to move, and letting him move on alone. Absolutely no way I would be living someone I couldn’t have a simple conversation with. He sounds insufferable

Booklover40 · 01/05/2023 22:14

Are you sure it's a good idea to move to his home country lock stock and barrel considering he is such a nasty, abusive cock?

Leopardlives · 01/05/2023 22:14

cock

XLáBealtaine · 01/05/2023 22:17

I wouldn't move to France with him. Organise nothing stay where you are. Have you sold your house or resigned? Hopefully not. Tell him to figure it all out on his own.

TokyoSushi · 01/05/2023 22:17

Cock. Honestly, just leave him to it, I wouldn't do anything else at all.

CalicoPony · 01/05/2023 22:18

HadalyEve · 01/05/2023 22:12

Why are you moving to a France? It seems like he doesn’t want to move to me.

Mainly house prices. I’d like some land to grow veg, have some chickens etc and we’d have to be millionaires to afford that in this area

OP posts:
CalicoPony · 01/05/2023 22:19

I’m not so sure anymore. I did struggle last time we lived there but feel stronger now, more independent

OP posts:
Paperbagsaremine · 01/05/2023 22:19

How dare he?
Look nobody is perfect. If he apologized, and was making an effort to be something approaching a civil adult....
But you say he's not?
That's not brilliant.

If he was taken out of the equation (retreated to a monastery for five years, whatever!) what would you do?

CalicoPony · 01/05/2023 22:22

@Paperbagsaremine good question! Probably get a patch of land and put a caravan on it and become a crazy goat lady! I’m much less conventional than him

OP posts:
Shinyandnew1 · 01/05/2023 22:22

It real doesn’t sound like he wants to make this move! Does he?

Mortenharkettsgirl · 01/05/2023 22:22

Dear OP
The land, chickens and veg growing will not be much use to you if your h is such an absolute cock. I am so sorry that you find yourself in such a frustrating position. Your h sounds horrible. I'm sorry

FangsForTheMemory · 01/05/2023 22:23

Is he deliberately creating a situation where you have to take responsibility for everything?

Lysianthus · 01/05/2023 22:23

Coq.
Emmerdant, chiant, tétu....

Seriously, OP, tell him you will no longer engage with the move, the practicalities etc and it's now all on him as he seems to have it under control.
What's the downside if he does nothing? What about your job - are you resigning, do you have a new job lined up? Have you got schools organised? How did the decision to move come about? I'd be careful if I were you.

CalicoPony · 01/05/2023 22:23

@XLáBealtaine no, we don’t own a house. And I’m able to keep my
own job - have a decent wage (earn more than he does 😏)

OP posts:
Shortpoet · 01/05/2023 22:24

I wouldn’t be moving to France with him if he can’t have a simple conversation about it.

Make sure you a fully up to date in divorce and child custody laws should you move there and end up splitting up.
Im sure there was a king running thread in here about a woman trapped staying in France because she couldn’t get permission to bring her UK born children back to UK after divorce.

AubadeIsIt · 01/05/2023 22:24

F*ck that shit.

Leopardlives · 01/05/2023 22:25

Just say that unless you see him seriously engaging with it by X date you’re not doing it, as that’s the minimal notice you need to plan your bits of the move/commit/for it to be fun at all.

Gettingbysomehow · 01/05/2023 22:25

I'd be telling him to bugger off there alone then because you are sick of his bullish behaviour.

UhhhhhhhOK · 01/05/2023 22:27

What are the actual concrete plans/changes in addition to this "move"? You kinda need a checklist to work through like removalists, childcare, a place to stay, etc. esp. when you also have children to think about. It would be easy to move if it was just you 2

CalicoPony · 01/05/2023 22:27

@Lysianthus nice french
😂

We have school spots reserved here in the uk and are doing school applications for france this coming weekend. My job is secure wherever I am.
maybe I just put the ball in his court and see what happens. I suspect nothing…

OP posts:
Dotcheck · 01/05/2023 22:29

Have you looked more widely in the UK for land?

CalicoPony · 01/05/2023 22:29

@Shortpoet I hadnt even considered that - which is odd given I have a friend in that exact situation. Argh why can’t people just be reasonable?!

OP posts:
CamomileCream · 01/05/2023 22:29

Go to/ stay wherever you have the most support. He's a cock