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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

DH voicing his frustrations at me - is this right or wrong

365 replies

Tina6458 · 24/06/2024 00:00

We have had a really difficult year. Once again I feel like I am being gaslighted and manipulated and made to feel like a crazy person. I feel like we are at the end. He has spoken to his friends about this and feel that ‘ I have overreacted!’ . DH has been out of work for a year now. We are financially ok luckily because he had a big pay out and we are ok for a bit. I work 3 days a week as a doctor, work as a clinical lead and we’ve had major changes at work recently which I am leading on. I have also been studying and doing a course on one of my days off and Mondays I usually spend with my 3 year old DS - take him swimming etc.

He has been doing drop offs for school for both DS , 3 and 5, about half of the time and only recently most of the due to my hectic schedule. We have a nanny Tuesday - Friday who does after school, who picks up the little one and has been quite good at preparing food recently.

I cook most dinners.

so , on the Thursday , I had physiotherapy appnt early morning bc I had painful knees, rushed to work , worked non stop til 2ish , left work and then rushed home to get the shopping in from Ocado, I took it all in and put all fridge items away, I wanted to make some eggs quickly bc I was starving and then had a laser appnt at 3, so really tight for time. Maybe in hindsight I shouldn’t have had lunch. I usually feel faint if I don’t eat on time.

Meanwhile he had dropped kids that morning , gone to meet a friend for lunch in Covent Garden and then gone shopping and bought some sunglasses. He walked through the door about 9 mins after me and I asked him if he would drop me to the station because I was running late ( he puts his hands on his hips and looks at the ceiling and sighs ) . I then say’ please please please’ to which he says ok.

Next thing he says is ‘ could you not have put the shopping away for once !!’ I then said , but I have put loads away , I think half , I’ve put all the fridge stuff away’ . He goes into the hallway to pick up bags and says to me ‘ no you didn’t !’ ‘I’m always putting the shopping away!!!’

He looks so pissed off , so I said ‘ forget it don’t drop me to the station !’ To which he says - stop being ridiculous .

I got in the car to drive us, whilst in the car I said ‘ what shall I do , should I change the delivery time to another day where you never have to see it ?! ‘ I said ‘ why don’t you do the shop and then you can decide when it comes?! ‘ Anyway he got so angry that he started to repeatedly bang on the dashboard as if he wanted to break it and it looked like his face was going to explode. I got out of the car and I ran to the bus.

I got home that evening , he stayed in the loft and then got Deliveroo and ignored me. Next day same silent treatment. When I asked him if he was ignoring me he said ‘ when you apologise to me ?!’

Next day he only said he was sorry for his reaction in the car BUT he should be able to voice his frustrations without me turning it into a massive argument!

What is your view? Apparently he has spoken to his friends and I am in the wrong?! I feel like I’m going crazy 😭

OP posts:
GoneFishingToday · 24/06/2024 03:29

OP, I'm assuming that you maybe a GP, if so, and you had a patient come and see you, who told you that they were in this situation, what would your advice be?

NO woman deserves to live like this! As you said, life is short, please don't waste it on this arrogant, bullying, aggressive man. Stop making excuses for him, he's told you he's not going to change, so now's the time for you to take action and get rid of him, the sooner the better!

ageratum1 · 24/06/2024 03:45

The first sentence of your post was 'We have had a difficult year'. Your dh sounds very very wound up and tense. Is this the worry of being out of work, or other things? Why is he struggling to find snother job?

Starseeking · 24/06/2024 03:54

What it comes down to is that he is angry at himself for being out of work so long, and instead of doubling his efforts to get a job, he's taking his frustrations out on you, the person who is keeping the household functioning.

You have a good job, you have a Nanny and you STILL manage to do loads around the house. You'd be superwoman if you were doing everything your DH wants you to do; yet he could be doing it all as he's home all the time.

You could be saving so much money by not having the Nanny, as he could easily be doing what she is doing if he organised himself around the DC's day. Him going out for lunch and shopping etc and leaving you or the Nanny to it just isn't on when he isn't working.

This man is full of contempt and resents you; you need to leave him.

My EXDP was like this, but in our case his anger was because I earned more than double what he did. Instead of being pleased about it, he tried getting me to do all housework (he really didn't want us having a cleaner despite me paying for it, but refused to clean himself), and would try and sabotage my work meetings (during Covid times). The day I left him it was like a cloud of doom lifted from me, and the relief at no longer having to pussyfoot around him made me feel euphoric.

Take it from me OP, once things are at this point, and he doesn't want to work at the relationship (my EX refused to go to therapy), it's over anyway.

Once you split you will find all your anxiety disappear, and you will never have another panic attack again as the 15 stone lump that's causing it all will be gone.

junebirthdaygirl · 24/06/2024 05:03

I am wondering if he is even trying to find a job. This life suits him where he does nothing but is happy to see you running around.

EliflurtleAndTheInfiniteMadness · 24/06/2024 05:11

So you have a cleaner and a nanny and you do the shopping and he doesn't even do all the school runs and has a tantrum when the shopping isn't put away. All while not working and not too sick or too disabled to work. What's the point of him?

Eviebeans · 24/06/2024 05:21

You not in the wrong - of course he’ll try to push that narrative and of course his pals will tell him he’s in the right even if they think he’s being a dick
and meanwhile back in the real world it needs to be made clear to him that if he is not working outside of the home producing an income he needs to stop posing in his new shades in Covent Garden and get to grips with household and child related tasks at home.
is he actively looking for work? He should be - whether you stay together or decide to split.
Think about the payout he received (if it was substantial) as being part of joint assets in terms of divorce, before he spends it all.

IndigoIsMyFavouriteColour · 24/06/2024 05:31

He sounds awful. I think a very frank chat about how quickly this will descend into him leaving is in order before booting him out the door. Give him a chance to clean his shit up before making long term decisions.

flashtastic · 24/06/2024 05:33

Why the hell does your DH do so little to help? Is he from a culture where the men do nothing domestically, he's the king and the women run themselves ragged? He's asked to put some shopping away and kicks off? Boo hoo. Even if he did have a job he should be helping out but as he has available time he could lighten your load and act like a real husband and father. I just can't imagine why you'd want to stay with him!

Lampzade · 24/06/2024 05:46

He has become an emotional liability.
Op, you really need to bin him.

WuTangGran · 24/06/2024 05:58

He sounds like a miserable cunt. Get rid of him. Life’s too short to put up with this.

PBandJ111 · 24/06/2024 06:03

Leave. He’s just a lazy controlling miserable arse

user1492757084 · 24/06/2024 06:07

Very odd that he runs it all past his friends.
I think you should both agree to allocate three days worth of household chores/childcare to your husband each week.
Can you make all drop offs and decide what else will be his domain to organise and to complete?

The angry man is not civilised under any circumstances.

kitchenhelprequired · 24/06/2024 06:07

The only good thing about your current set up is that there's no way he can claim to be a SAHP. Make sure you have evidence of paying the nanny and all your interactions with her and same for the cleaner. It sounds like 'D'H still wants the life he had whilst working - what is he doing about looking for another job? You should not be running yourself ragged when he is doing so little, it doesn't matter that the payoff he received is still funding family life - if you burn out who's going to be paying for everything when that money runs out?

Wallywobbles · 24/06/2024 06:13

What's he doing to get another job or does he want to be a husband that lunches?

Mouthfulofquiz · 24/06/2024 06:20

It sounds to me like your husband needs to get a job and move out. He needs to move out anyway, before the job. Unless you and the children have anywhere else to go?

dapsnotplimsolls · 24/06/2024 06:21

It sounds like you'd be much happier without him.

Lourdes12 · 24/06/2024 06:42

This must be a joke! A cleaner and a nanny with him at home

Thomasina79 · 24/06/2024 06:42

I think you know the answer which is that this marriage is over. He gives nothing to it whilst you are running madly round doing everything and possibly heading towards some sort of breakdown because of stress. You are independent financially with a good job and have no reason, apart from maybe the children, to stay with this loser.

good luck.

DieLemma · 24/06/2024 06:47

He’s not working, yet you have a nanny?
If the tables were turned, would he expect you to look after your child and dispense with the nanny? Have you asked him this?
He’s 100% jealous of you having a job and an important one. He needs to pull his finger out and get a job if he’s not prepared to look after your child and get rid of the nanny.
You'd be better off without him as he’s not pulling his weight anywhere…

Billybagpuss · 24/06/2024 06:58

All he’s bringing to this relationship is negativity and anger. I think you’ve made the decision you want out. MN will help you find your strength, you can do this.

IpsyUpsyDaisyDoos · 24/06/2024 07:00

Tina6458 · 24/06/2024 00:32

@DontBuyANewMumCashmere your relationship sounds different to mine it sounds like a partnership. My motto is ‘ if stuff needs doing , just do it’ . The food shopping is for us , the kids me and him. I would probably do it all if I felt appreciated, and I did before when he was working , I worked less and we didn’t have a nanny. I would never speak to him in that way. Did your DH ever speak to you like that?

We had couples therapy at the beginning of the year and he got really angry in therapy and then would be angry at me afterwards. The therapist said it wasn’t the right time for us.

Today I said ‘ you need to change ‘ and he said ‘ I’m not changing , this is who I am.’

Today I said ‘ you need to change ‘ and he said ‘ I’m not changing , this is who I am.’

MN fave is "when someone shows you who they are, believe them". He's literally telling you he's a knob. So believe him. If you don't want to be with someone like him, don't be.

I'd also suggest to him that if he'd rather not be in charge of the house stuff, he could get a job...?

EveningSpread · 24/06/2024 07:03

Today I said ‘ you need to change ‘ and he said ‘I’m not changing, this is who I am.’

Please believe him when he says this. Agree with a previous poster that this is the death knell. If someone isn't willing to consider your feelings, or adapt to improve things, it's over.

But beware, when you finally say you're leaving he may suddenly act devastated and claim to be able to change! It will all be desperate lies as he thrashes around once the cold, aloof, superior Big Man act has failed him.

Also, he does know that he's treating you horribly. It's not that he can't see it. He's doing it on purpose because he doesn't value you.

He contributes nothing. He's a dead weight - free yourself from him!

Yalta · 24/06/2024 07:03

Quick answer to not putting the shopping away

Don’t order it in a the first place

Messy kitchen when cooking

Stop cooking. You, and dc eat out.

If he doesn’t like how you do something then stop doing it

Today I said ‘ you need to change ‘ and he said ‘ I’m not changing , this is who I am

Then believe him

Time to start taking over the school run and diarising everything each person does and getting evidence of everything that is a marital asset or including his personal pension, savings and investments and go for a divorce.

Then he gets to shop and put all the food away himself
and he can cook in his pristine kitchen 100% of the time

Yalta · 24/06/2024 07:08

Remember, if he does get a job and everything returns to “normal”. At some point in the future he is going to retire and this is the behaviour you will then experience with no prospect, short of his or your death or divorce to making it stop

bluebunny1 · 24/06/2024 07:09

OP, you sound like a really good person and a great mother, deserving of love in your relationship.

Divorce is obviously the solution, but I agree with your lawyer it would be better for your H to have a job so that he can’t claim more than 50% of assets / spousal maintenance from you. Is it possible for you to encourage it or will he just get angry?

Otherwise, keep your nanny and cleaner, it sounds like you have a perfect set up to parent without him / with minimal help.

Try to detach from him emotionally, he won’t give you what you need and will only harm your mental health.