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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

Is he spending too much time on hobbies?

42 replies

Aquaphant · 17/08/2023 21:11

Help me settle a dispute with my husband.

I think he's spending too much time on his hobbies and leaving me alone on most weeknights, and he refuses to accept that his hobbies might be excessive.

Here's a typical week:

I work in an office 9-5, whilst he works at home and I usually get home at 5:30.

On Mondays he plays football and is gone from 6:40-8:15 (he'll pass the time from when he finishes work at 5:30 to when he leaves pottering around or playing games on his phone), comes back and has a shower and tea and finally sits down with me until around 10, when he goes up to bed. I'm a night owl so I stay up til 1 or so.

Tuesdays we go right from work to his mum's for tea and then he drops me off at home and goes climbing from 8-10, comes home and has a shower and then goes straight to bed.

Wednesdays be goes to the gym - he'll get home around 7:30/8, shower and tea puts it to about 9 when he is finally ready to spend time with me, and then he goes to bed at 10.

Thursday is games night where he plays board games and video games with some mates. He leaves at 7:30 and comes back at midnight/half past. Sometimes he goes to the gym before so he leaves for the gym by 6 and comes back for a shower and food before he's off again.

Friday is the one day he might not go somewhere after work, but it's still 50/50 if he goes to the gym or not.

Weekends usually involve F1 or football on TV for hours and/or video games with his mates, long naps and spending time studying for his career (coding but this is also a sort of hobby for him). Asking him to help out with the house or garden is always met with resistance and he gets annoyed if he has to do anything that wasn't already on his agenda for the day, like cutting the lawn.

I feel like he doesn't want to spend any time with me and that he's prioritising his gym time and hobbies over our relationship. I'm currently dealing with really horrible abdominal and back pain and can barely eat, and it feels like a hand is squeezing my organs all the time, so I'm not up for joining him on any of these activities. I'm spending my time either working or alone and in agony.

I've brought this up to him and he brushes it off and doesn't think he's spending too much time off doing his own thing. He also says I don't suggest doing anything so he thinks it's fine to go do his own thing every day. I don't suggest things anymore because he isn't fussed with anything I'd want to do, and I feel like crap most workdays and am happy to watch a film or chat. I'd play board games or something like that as well but I don't think it's 100% my responsibility to come up with alternatives to entice him away from his hobbies. He could suggest some things to do, so why is it all on me?

It feels very much like being a teen and having friends who only hang out with you when nothing better is on offer. Time with me feels like the last resort option. When I bring this up he tells me it's not the case but then also makes digs about how I don't do anything (I'm basically disabled at the moment, but even when I did want to do things outside the house he wouldn't want to spend money. Only wants to do free things).

Would this bother anyone else or am I ridiculous? I'm sitting on the couch alone right now as he's off again.

OP posts:
EarthSight · 17/08/2023 22:12

I feel like he doesn't want to spend any time with me and that he's prioritising his gym time and hobbies over our relationship

He is OP. He's showing what his priorities by his actions. Some very introverted people are like this, but he doesn't sound like one of them.

I know what it feels like OP when you feel like your partner prioritises doing everything else before they have to spend time with you, to be the last thing on their list when they've exhausted other entertainment options.

Some men just don't need or want that emotional connection with a woman in their life. Your role is to be a combination of pretty wallpaper, a comfort blanket when they need one, a bit of chat if it gets too quiet and sex. You are there to service their needs. They're not that interested in you as personality, as a human.

He sounds like he wants to live the life of a single man, whilst having you on tap whenever it's convenient for him. I bet you he'll be exactly the same if you had kids together - he'd be out all the time whilst you got no breaks at all.

SunflowerTed · 17/08/2023 22:15

PussInBin20 · 17/08/2023 21:19

Not much of a relationship is it? What’s the point being married, you may as well be single 🤷‍♀️

Totally agree

EarthSight · 17/08/2023 22:19

I don't think it's 100% my responsibility to come up with alternatives to entice him away from his hobbies. He could suggest some things to do, so why is it all on me?

This is very well put OP.

He doesn't seem to have any motivation to spend time with you. Because of that, he wants you to do all the hard work so his Royal Highness doesn't waste any of his precious time thinking of nice things to do with someone, that quite frankly, he's not that bothered about. Some men think that this kind of relationship admin is women's work.

The issues you mention is one of the reasons why I left my partner.

Gremlins101 · 17/08/2023 22:20

My husband was a little like this when we were first living together. I didn't realise at first as I was busy with my hobbies, but it continued til I was pregnant with our second child. One day I told him if I was going to sit any more evenings on the couch, waiting to spend time with him, looking at the back if his head while he played computer games, he wouldn't be there for the birth of his child. It's about 2 years later now and he is an absolutely changed man. He struggles with being present when he isn't doing something,which is maybe your husbands problem too. So we do things like crosswords or jigsaws and we watch telly together. And sometimes we let each other do our thing but we make sure it's not all the time. Basically, I'm saying everyone has their faults, but it's down to whether they want to do right by their partner, or if they are too inflexible to change.

Good luck, OP.

billy1966 · 17/08/2023 22:25

Thank god you haven't inflicted him on a child.

He has zero interest in you or spending time with you.

Focus on getting well and decide then if you want to waste your life with someone who clearly has zero interest in being married to you.

Lazy, selfish loser.

You definitely deserve better.

squeezyeasy · 17/08/2023 22:30

He sounds such hard work!

Daffodil63 · 17/08/2023 22:43

I think as a bare minimum get him to agree to a date night in the week so no hobbies at all and that is the day where you reconnect. Then agree that say Saturday mornings is chores -you do indoors, he does out doors and Saturday afternoon is free time, and Saturday evening you go out say cinema. If he doesn't agree and comes up with excuses I would be very concerned. Do you have his location tracked? Are you confident he is where he says he is? I mean board games each week with his mates-who does that? It's a nonsense tbh

WunWun · 17/08/2023 22:48

I don't think it's the 'selfishness' of it that would bother me so much as the fact that he just doesn't seem to enjoy spending time with you - what's the point of being in a relationship then?

RantyAnty · 17/08/2023 22:51

This isn't any kind of marriage you're pretty much a housekeeper with benefits and paying for it.

Redlorryyellowlorryblue · 17/08/2023 22:54

He’s not going to change, sorry. I would leave.

Shapemyeyebrows · 17/08/2023 23:00

@Aquaphant it’s way more than him spending too much time on hobbies, he’s not even participating in your relationship. If he chooses to not spend time with you then that’s what he would rather do. So what’s the point in forcing him to change as he will only be spending time with you because he has to, not because he wants to. He sounds very selfish and people like that won’t change. He is pleasing himself and acting like a single man so why not set him free. That way he has all the time in the world for his hobbies. And then you will be free yourself to find someone who is actually interested in you as a person.

Unexpectedlysinglemum · 18/08/2023 00:28

I'm so sorry that you're not getting support from your partner when you're feeling so poorly I'm not surprised you feel totally taken for granted. I would start being as selfish as you possibly can - consider a plan to ltb- you at every sensible to not have kids with a man like this but if you'd like them, give yourself a chance to find someone decent to have them with x

pizzaHeart · 18/08/2023 00:40

RantyAnty · 17/08/2023 22:51

This isn't any kind of marriage you're pretty much a housekeeper with benefits and paying for it.

This^ exactly.
I can’t even call it FWB because it doesn’t sound as you are friends, you just share a house.
Sorry OP.

Naunet · 18/08/2023 08:40

Well this isn’t a relationship, I’d ask him what he thinks he brings to your life and what he thinks you get out of being with him. I can see what he gets, someone to facilitate his social life by taking care of the house and having his meals ready for him, maybe sharing the bills which leaves him with more money to socialise, but what’s in it for you?

Greenwitchhorse · 18/08/2023 09:10

Do you have any hobbies? do you do any fun activities together?

To me it just sounds like you are not compatible: you want to stay at home and watch TV and play boardgames while he prefers being more social and going out.

I am not big on socialising but at the same time if I was with someone who had no interests outside the home I think I would feel quite smothered.

It also just sounds like he is not that committed to your relationship.

I think you need to leave him, spend time on yourself and your health and find someone who has a similar outlook on life that you do and who is able to be more supportive.

FinallyHere · 18/08/2023 11:32

Agree that this is t anything for you.

Unless, of course, he is covering more than his fair share of the household costs and you couldn't afford to live by yourself.

It doesn't seem to be to be a worthwhile trade off.

cardboardbox24 · 01/04/2024 20:53

@Aquaphant curious to know what happened in your relationship? Did things change?

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