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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:
EarthSight · 02/05/2023 09:50

Toomanylatenightprogs · 02/05/2023 09:15

It really doesn’t sound like he wants to move to France.
Have you looked at cheaper areas of the UK? Rural Wales maybe? Get an allotment? You can grow vegetables in pots, in a greenhouse, on a patio, you don’t need a huge amount of land.

Yeah no thanks - millennials like me are already finding it incredibly difficult to get on the housing ladder without competing against even more people who want to move here. @Toomanylatenightprogs

randomusername2020 · 02/05/2023 10:49

This reply has been withdrawn

This post has been withdrawn at the poster's request due to privacy concerns.

randomusername2020 · 02/05/2023 10:55

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This post has been withdrawn at the poster's request due to privacy concerns.

QueenBitch666 · 02/05/2023 13:55

Nasty abusive cock
Why are you tolerating his thuggish behaviour?

TheseThree · 02/05/2023 15:17

After reading the newer posts referencing your previous statements, I change my stance. Do not leave still. Do not propose divorce though. Quietly do it, asap. Abuse usually gets worse - physical and emotional - when they find out they’re being left.

CaloriecountMay2023 · 02/05/2023 15:26

Is your company going to employ you in France through a French subsidiary?

I don’t think your DH wants to go at this time.

Your stress levels are going to increase and he is not coping now.

Maybe delay your plans.

perfectcolourfound · 02/05/2023 15:33

Sorry I haven't read everyone's posts so probably repeating what's been said here.

Either he doesn't want to go to France (or isn't bothered either way) and isn't telling you for some reason.
Or he does want to go but thinks you should do all the planning, organising, admin, decision-making, so he can play on his phone. That way he saves himself loads of time and effort, and he can blame you if ANYTHING goes wrong.

Either way I would question my relationship if I were you. You're meant to be 2 equal adults who both make the same effort for the relationship and the family.

I would definitely stop doing any planning, and see what he does. If he really wants to go, at some point he'll ask what's happening with the move and you can, reasonably, say 'nothing until it becomes a joint and equal venture, with us both agreeing a plan and both making it happen'.

In the meantime, think about how you could achive your dream without moving to France (I would worry about moving there, splitting up and being unable to leave with the children - too big a risk in your boots). Could you move elsewhere in the UK where property / land is cheaper?

Toddlerteaplease · 02/05/2023 15:35

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

This!

MattTebbuttsDenimShirt · 03/05/2023 01:40

This reply has been deleted

This post has been withdrawn at the poster's request due to privacy concerns.

Hang on a minute, I am the autistic one that brought autism in to this debate.

I said I hadn't read the full thread and then said reading posts about him being a nasty bully, then indeed do one.

Don't start bullshit about supposed autism apologists for wife beaters.

My earliest years I lived in violence (and in hostels) so I completely resent your tone with regard to my autism post (clearly stated hadn't rtft).

randomusername2020 · 03/05/2023 08:58

This reply has been withdrawn

This post has been withdrawn at the poster's request due to privacy concerns.

MattTebbuttsDenimShirt · 04/05/2023 00:53

I think you might want to go back and read my original post @randomuser2019

MattTebbuttsDenimShirt · 04/05/2023 00:56

Aargh @randomusername2020

I do apologise @randomuser2019 .

Yes 2020, untwist your big girl knickers and look at the original post. Or just do one. Either or. Matters not a jot to me.

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