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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 this an emotional affair?!

30 replies

TiredAllTheTimeMum · 10/06/2024 21:07

Please no hate. I feel very confused and really not sure about anything anymore.
Me and my partner have been together for five years, we have an almost 2 yo DS. For about the last 18 months I feel like our relationship hasn't been great although DP is oblivious and thinks we are okay I think..but I'm really not happy at all. He doesn't help with childcare or house chores or anything really. Hes not there for me emotionally or physically. I have an anxiety disorder and OCD and have done for many years so yes,I accept that on occasion I'm not the easiest person to live with. We haven't been intimate properly for quite some time, I would like to but most of the time I'm tired and have no energy after a long day and he is the same. It's like the spark is gone. Despite all this I do love him very much..

However.. I have a neighbour and he's os very much feeling the same way as me in his relationship, we are quite close, get on well and chat regularly, most days really. He's very good looking and an all round decent bloke. We have lots of flirty banter and there have been many comments passed between us about being with each other and even some sexual flirty remarks. I find myself thinking about him a lot and almost definitely in a sexual way. I feel terrible that I'm feeling like this.. I feel terrible because of said neighbour was to go through with one of his sexual advanced towards me I don't think I would stop it. Is this wrong? What should I do? I don't want to break upy family and I don't want to give into any list because I'm sure this is what it is. I'm not sure of I'm just frustrated sexually and is this why I can't stop thinking about him..I'm very unhappy in my relationship but I feel like I stay out of habit. We have a good life all this aside, financially stable, DP provides for us, he is just lazy in the sense of putting anything emotional or physical into our relationship. Do I just need to spice it up. Feel a bit stuck in an ekt and would like some advice. I don't have many close friends I could speak to about this.

OP posts:
MyPearlAnt · 12/06/2024 08:27

I think whatever was going on with your neighbour was disrespectful to your husband. The grass is not greener, you see this man he is a blank page that your fantasies will let you fill however you like and your mind is projecting qualities in him that he may not even have because you haven't lived or had a child with him. They are delusions and false impressions.

Nobody in the world can give you everything just right, perfect sex, perfect therapist, perfect housekeeper, perfect financial security. It's very unrealistic. You had been suffering with mental illness which can be draining for a partner to live with. If you had very little energy, he may have chose to not burden you with his struggles leading to distance and lack of communication. Men are generally not like women, they generally are not equipped to sit and listen, they want a solution and a resolution. Whether this is is cultural or genetic, it doesn't matter. Most men just aren't going to be like a therapist or a girlfriend.

I think it would be good to take responsibility and acknowledge your part in this marriage, relationship troubles are hardly ever a 100% on one party. If you are financially blessed, get some help with the chores he would have done. Go to a therapist. Go and do some hobbies so that you are not relying on your husband to be your entire world, the therapist, the entertainer, the housekeeper, the provider... It's too much on one person's shoulders.

Your child is very young still and your thinking is clouded by mental ill health, so I wouldn't break up a family over this. When couples celebrate 30+ years of marriage, do you think it was all butterflies, passionate sex and equal housework? Brenee Brown once said that it's not 50-50, it's between him and her they are a 100%. Some days one partner can only give 10% the other picks up 90% for the team. Don't break up your marriage and have your children ferried up back and fourth between 2 lesser off homes for the sake of fanny gallops, laundry and some romcom idea of emotional support. Try to see things from his point of view, working his arse off while his Mrs flirts with the neighbour, comes home after a hard days work to a heavy atmosphere at home, wife is always down, irritable or moody. If your medication or therapy isn't helping, focus on sorting that out. Even with a new man and a new relationship, it will eventually succumb to monotony, there is no magical ever after. Be realistic and appreciative of what he does bring to the table and take responsibility for your part in letting things get stale between you.

MyPearlAnt · 12/06/2024 08:35

I've made it clear that if he isn't willing to work with me here and can't/won't give me the attention and intimacy that I need them I will simply look for it elsewhere. Hes not.botjwred and km so surprised so I guess that's all I needed to know. I feel like he feels the same as.me.amdaybe it's passed being fixed and that's why he's not willing to work with me.

How do you expect him to feel after this? Depending on your tone and exact words it could sound like emotional blackmail and manipulation. I doubt he is not bothered, you've just dropped a bombshell on him. Even if this is not the first time you say this, it's still a horrible conversation. Some people withdraw inwards and say nothing to avoid saying something they regret or because they need to process it. Grand love gestures and attention is worth nothing if your bills aren't paid and you and your child have no roof over your head. You have a very immature view of relationships. He is probably exasperated and exhausted wondering whether this is your mental health speaking. How would anyone turn around and make you feel special, shower you with attention when you don't do the same for him? And maybe you do so a bit but then you stop when you don't get the result you want soon enough but maybe your husband needs more time to move on. You are not the only one with emotional needs. Ultimatums and threats don't solve anything, they actually put him on the defensive. It's not about him having to do all the work to impress and win you back, you too need to work on your marriage and how you speak to him and treat him.

TiredAllTheTimeMum · 12/06/2024 10:20

MyPearlAnt · 12/06/2024 08:27

I think whatever was going on with your neighbour was disrespectful to your husband. The grass is not greener, you see this man he is a blank page that your fantasies will let you fill however you like and your mind is projecting qualities in him that he may not even have because you haven't lived or had a child with him. They are delusions and false impressions.

Nobody in the world can give you everything just right, perfect sex, perfect therapist, perfect housekeeper, perfect financial security. It's very unrealistic. You had been suffering with mental illness which can be draining for a partner to live with. If you had very little energy, he may have chose to not burden you with his struggles leading to distance and lack of communication. Men are generally not like women, they generally are not equipped to sit and listen, they want a solution and a resolution. Whether this is is cultural or genetic, it doesn't matter. Most men just aren't going to be like a therapist or a girlfriend.

I think it would be good to take responsibility and acknowledge your part in this marriage, relationship troubles are hardly ever a 100% on one party. If you are financially blessed, get some help with the chores he would have done. Go to a therapist. Go and do some hobbies so that you are not relying on your husband to be your entire world, the therapist, the entertainer, the housekeeper, the provider... It's too much on one person's shoulders.

Your child is very young still and your thinking is clouded by mental ill health, so I wouldn't break up a family over this. When couples celebrate 30+ years of marriage, do you think it was all butterflies, passionate sex and equal housework? Brenee Brown once said that it's not 50-50, it's between him and her they are a 100%. Some days one partner can only give 10% the other picks up 90% for the team. Don't break up your marriage and have your children ferried up back and fourth between 2 lesser off homes for the sake of fanny gallops, laundry and some romcom idea of emotional support. Try to see things from his point of view, working his arse off while his Mrs flirts with the neighbour, comes home after a hard days work to a heavy atmosphere at home, wife is always down, irritable or moody. If your medication or therapy isn't helping, focus on sorting that out. Even with a new man and a new relationship, it will eventually succumb to monotony, there is no magical ever after. Be realistic and appreciative of what he does bring to the table and take responsibility for your part in letting things get stale between you.

Wow. Thank you. I think I really needed to hear this for some clarity

OP posts:
ClearObsticle · 12/06/2024 13:23

And remember, this neighbour, he is being kind to you for a reason, he wants results.

Some men do this, they act like the neighbouhood tarts who prey on insecure, bored and fragile women who have poor boundaries. It's a sport to them and you mean very lttle except for being part of a numbers game and for them to 'take their wives'.

This is so dissrespectful to your h, and he knows it, it is basically an act of war on your man, don't give him that opportunity to get one over on your h.

This is something that won't be forgiven or fogotten by your partner, helping another man to quash him.

OrlandointheWilderness · 12/06/2024 13:31

Grass grows where you water it. You've been watering your neighbours.

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