Husband's exaggerations

[Ouch4321]

This may seem minor in the grand scheme of things, but I'm a grumpy old woman and it's really driving me up the wall.

My husband has a habit of exaggerating EVERYTHING. For example; it's never just raining, it's "pissing it down" and, from today, starts his story with "the police were in work today random drug testing and 6 people failed" and then, on further probing, turns out it was just an ex police officer who runs a private testing lab visiting to do company policy drug tests, and no one actually failed, just were unwilling to do it.

In certain situations, it's really inconvenient. The traffic will always be "rammed" and will take hours to get anywhere according to him - this will impact plans and his whole day will be planned around his extremely exaggerated forecasts of traffic or extreme weather.

How do I just make him bloody stop?!

“I’ve told you millions of times not to exaggerate” 😂

I have no suggestions but these examples made me chuckle so I'm following for more details...!

Yanbu for being seriously irritated!

minimise Everything he says.

“it’s pissing it down out there” - reply with ‘it’s wet then’

”traffics rammed” - say ‘take it the lights were against you then’

When questioned about it - tell him it’s to offset his wild exaggerations and shrug your shoulders.

I feel like I already do try to be more realistic with him, but maybe I need to be firmer!

Another example I just thought of - this weekend, he had taken the kids to a soft play. He texted me saying "the queue is MASSIVE, the biggest I've seen". Yet, he was in 10 mins later sending me a picture of his coffee.

Is it just his personality? Can I even live with this?! (Only slightly tongue in cheek...)

I couldn’t stand exaggerations because it was all a self made drama. Any slight negative interaction out and about, no the person ‘was staring daggers’ at him. Misstep off a pavement ‘nearly got hit by a bus going 60 miles an hour through a 30’. He never vomited when ill, he was ‘violently sick’. Never felt a bit lightheaded - ‘nearly fainted’ (sliding to the floor off a chair for effect). I used to ask ‘is that what actually happened/is happening’ and often the answer was no, he was probably adding flavour to it all.

You're spot on @Gerrataere - it's infuriating. A lot of the time I just feel like I don't have enough time for his shit - and take everything he says with a pinch of salt!

Did you ever make any headway with getting it to stop?

Yes, my own house a mile away. Sorry not helpful 🤣. But I’ll add there was so much more than just that which made me leave. I also suspect he’s neurodivergent and exaggerating was a part of repetitive speech.

Honestly the best you can do is simply ask him to stop being so melodramatic all the time because one day he’ll be in a real pickle and you’ll think he’s just being his usual exaggerating self.

My husband is a tiny bit similar. For example, if I say i'm feeling a bit warm he'll say "Ah, boiling, eh!" or if I say i'm a bit cold he'll say "oh no, freezing, eh!".
No... Just a bit warm/cold! 😣
I think it's his well intentioned way of making me feel validated. It's very annoying though, so christ knows how you cope, cos yours is on a different level! 🤣

Pointedly tell him about The Boy Who Cried Wolf

I feel your pain. My DH does this, not all the time, but enough for it to be a problem. I find it really annoying, I prefer straight up facts.

Send him this every time?

https://giphy.com/gifs/chuber-drama-llama-26AHN1RF9GewMA9Da

My husband does this.

I'm trying to think of examples but I've had enough.

There's a massive scratch down the side of your car = small scratch

There's absolutely millions of dog poos in the garden = 3

You've been ages = 1 hour

There's absolutely nothing to eat = smaller number of options than usual pre weekly shop

You went mad about that = quietly expressed disapproval - I never "go mad" that is a territory/right reserved entirely for seemingly everyone else in this family but me

All this fruit is rotten = one bruised apple

@Ouch4321 can you ask him ‘darling DH - where do you think your need to exaggerate and embellish every situation comes from?’.

what are his parents like? His childhood?

Im wondering of the children will pick up
on it and start and then it will be you with a household of them… shudder.

Because some of those aren’t so much exaggerations as somewhat fantasy and embellished situation’s (like the drugs test).

My exH did this. Leaking kitchen tap = apparently masses of water damage resulting in us having to tear down the entire extension. Minor electrical fault in radio in new car = the car is a write-off. Those were the more extreme examples but he did this with everything 🙄 it was exhausting. He's an ex now so no longer my issue but I feel for you.

I’ve just had to spend an hour with my ex and it all came crashing back. He bumped his head at one point and acted like he’d cracked it open on concrete the way he was carrying on. I’d emptied the car (admittedly it was a tip) but a couple of kids bits had remained. He told me ‘gosh it’s still absolutely full of stuff in here isn’t it’ - about 3 items or so. Had to wait 20 mins or so and it induced so much sighing and ‘this is taking so very long’, I almost shoved the phone I was staring so very hard at down his throat…

God my ex did this. It was unbearable. My mum also does it. They both have similar traits actually, something I'm trying to work through both of them are prone to dramatic exaggeration. I saw a quote somewhere, if I've been to Tenerife, they've been to Elevenerife, fits them both to a T. They must just like the attention I guess? I can't think of why they'd bother otherwise. I try to grey rock and not rise to it mostly.

Thank you everyone for the empathy.

Tonight's declaration was that the oven pizza was "totally fucked", brought through to show me in a dramatic manner, as it was stuck to the pizza tray.

It was not, dear reader, stuck at all. In fact, it was perfectly able to be cut and plated, except the small sliver of cheese that had escaped and created a small bit of tension between pizza and tray.

Sigh.

@Ouch4321 how is he not under a patio yet?

I know a pig farmer if you aren’t in the market for a patio.. all women should know one. It makes the men folk nervous.