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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

DP called me a dickhead because I woke him up

70 replies

WelcomeTo2024 · 01/01/2024 12:44

I never stay up for NYE and DP always does. Last night it was the other way round, DP was really tired and cranky so went to bed. He asked me not to wake him up.

I went to bed just after 12, was careful to be quiet. I cuddled into him which woke him up and he got angry and called me a dickhead.

I’ve just spoken to him (he’s at work) and said I feel he owes me an apology. He is still in a foul mood and has grudgingly apologised but says I am always the victim and I should apologise for waking him up.

OP posts:
thefallen · 01/01/2024 13:50

If someone woke me up on purpose after I'd asked them not to and I had work in the morning I'd be livid and disappointed that they didn't respect my wishes.

EarthSight · 01/01/2024 14:00

I think the reason why being woken invokes such a visceral reaction is because if you're tired on a regular basis or suffer from insomnia, it feels like cruelty or some kind of assault to be woken. I've come across some very angry posts from women woken up by men who've kissed them very early in the morning when they were leaving for work, and to then not be able to sleep at all because of the disturbance, when they were already very tired and needed the sleep.

Some people are not easily woken or float back easily to sleep, but surely you know him well enough by now to have known that cuddling him like that would risk waking him up? It just sounds like you prioritised your comfort over his wellbeing and it was a bit of a shock when he snapped at you for doing so.

pillof · 01/01/2024 14:05

You were a bit of a dickhead. I would call my partner a dickhead if he woke me.

Amused by the pearl-clutching about 'abusive language'.

Hoglet70 · 01/01/2024 14:49

pillof · 01/01/2024 14:05

You were a bit of a dickhead. I would call my partner a dickhead if he woke me.

Amused by the pearl-clutching about 'abusive language'.

Haha me too. I would call DH much worse if he woke me up!

Burntouted · 01/01/2024 19:05

"DP was really tired and cranky so went to bed. He asked me not to wake him up.

I went to bed just after 12, was careful to be quiet. I cuddled into him which woke him up and he got angry and called me a dickhead."

You intentionally woke him up...probably because you were annoyed and perhaps angry that this particular year he wasn't up and you were. You were hoping that he'd be up with you.

He was angry, cranky, and tired beforehand...and you thought that cuddling into him (without his consent) was the appropriate thing for you to do in this situation??

You disrespected him intentionally.
He disrespected you out of anger and being disrespected. Maybe he wasn't fully aware of him saying it, and it slipped out..

Even though he probably didn't mean it, he's apologized for your sake.

Why won't you apologize to him?? You were also in the wrong.

You are also in the wrong to discuss these things, be demanding, and in anger call him at work. It could have waited, and you or the both of you weren't in a position to calmly communicate.

It's unacceptable if the both or just one of you regularly are pushing each other's buttons, disrespectful and abusive towards one another. That is something that needs to be worked on, if it can be.

Tbh, if I had been you, I would have went and slept in another room (if possible), if not...there's no way that I would have touched him. Simply turn over and stay on your side of the bed next time.

If you are like this a lot, he needs to leave you... I guarantee that you are a large source of his anger..
If he is like this a lot, you need to leave him.
Combination...you both need to leave.

Tinkleberryz · 01/01/2024 19:11

Is he chronically tired op? I was like this with DH when I was knavkered, the word is crap but is he knackered?

YouStupidGirl · 01/01/2024 19:15

You shouldn’t have cuddled into him.

He shouldn’t have called you a dickhead. In happy/respectful relationships people do not call their significant other nasty names.

BCBird · 01/01/2024 19:20

Getting in bed quietly and him.waking up is different from cuddling into him.and waking him.up. I woukd not be happy if someone did this to me. Not nice to be called a dickhead I agree

RowanMayfair · 01/01/2024 19:22

You kind of were a dickhead TBH. I'd have been furious if DP did this to me.

ETA I wouldn't have called him a dickhead. That's nasty.

Branleuse · 01/01/2024 19:22

If you really love someone, you let them sleep

GrumpyPanda · 01/01/2024 19:24

Whole lot of people on this thread who urgently need separate bedrooms 😁😁

EarthSight · 01/01/2024 19:25

@GrumpyPanda Or just different partners....;)

Branleuse · 01/01/2024 19:58

GrumpyPanda · 01/01/2024 19:24

Whole lot of people on this thread who urgently need separate bedrooms 😁😁

God that would be amazing

Mywhoopdeedoo · 01/01/2024 20:03

I wouldn’t have said ‘dickhead’, I’d have said ‘fucking dickhead’

inquisitiveinga · 01/01/2024 20:09

This sort of thing happens alot between me and my DP (usually me waking him up asking him to either be quiet or give me a cuddle).

He can get quite cross but we laugh it off in the morning every time 😅

2Old2Tango · 01/01/2024 20:11

I think it's irrelevant what you "normally do". You knew he was tired and cranky. You knew he had to go to work today and he'd specifically asked you not to wake him. You shouldn't have cuddled into him and disturbed him. I would have cursed too if my OH did this to me. It was not good he called you a dickhead, but would have been far worse if he'd called you a cunt or something, so it was pretty mild considering.

Your DH has apologised, albeit grudgingly. It would be good if you apologised too, for the sake of harmony.

RowanMayfair · 01/01/2024 20:12

inquisitiveinga · 01/01/2024 20:09

This sort of thing happens alot between me and my DP (usually me waking him up asking him to either be quiet or give me a cuddle).

He can get quite cross but we laugh it off in the morning every time 😅

You wake him up asking for a cuddle even though he gets quite cross? Why on earth do you do that?

tescocreditcard · 01/01/2024 20:13

WelcomeTo2024 · 01/01/2024 12:49

I didn’t deliberately wake him up, we usually cuddle at night

Yes.

On this night though, he asked you not to wake him.

MyGooseisTotallyLoose · 01/01/2024 20:15

Absolutely dickish move, and one in a way that's so annoying "but I'm showing you affection!! How can I be in the wrong! I'm so upset now"...

Burntouted · 01/01/2024 21:24

Better him calling you a "dickhead", then him having an unintentional physical reaction and response to you waking him up. You could have been physically hurt. He could have been deep in sleep, thought he was being robbed or something and hurt you unintentionally..or perhaps had a heart attack or something...

This is why it is advised in normal non emergency situations to not intentionally wake anyone up.

Feeling like you were just being intentionally spiteful because he wasn't up on NYe like you'd probably preferred him to be...

if you weren't, the whole it being NYE and you're usually asleep while he's up is irrelevant.

Nanny0gg · 01/01/2024 23:30

WelcomeTo2024 · 01/01/2024 12:49

I didn’t deliberately wake him up, we usually cuddle at night

~When one of you is asleep?

WhatNoUsername · 02/01/2024 00:03

If my DH woke me up by cuddling me when I had work in the morning and was v tried and had specifically asked him not to, I'd probably call him a dickhead (or other choice turn of phrase) too!

Itslegitimatesalvage · 02/01/2024 00:09

I actually think it was fine for him to call you a dickhead. You were. I’ve called partners stuff like that when they’ve done something a dickhead would do.

He told you not to wake him. You went and woke him. It doesn’t matter that you were trying to cuddle him. He was sleeping and you decided that your needs were greater than his. Just back off and give people space when they tell you so. I hope you’ve apologised and realised that you can’t cross boundaries just because it’s veiled in “affection.”

betterangels · 02/01/2024 00:14

WelcomeTo2024 · 01/01/2024 12:49

I didn’t deliberately wake him up, we usually cuddle at night

He was sleeping because he had work. I'd have been pissed off too.

blackpanth · 02/01/2024 00:20

Hardly abusive calling someone a dickhead. I've called my partner a dickhead before lol

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