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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

Husband hates Dd

143 replies

RiceBubbless · 29/11/2024 13:29

I have no friends so just offloading here. My husband has been grumpy/ unhappy for years and my dd (15yrs) has always been difficult. It's been another hard year with her. She's been in CAMHS all year but never opens up. Just last week I took everything she owned out of her room as punishment for not giving me her iPad and saying me trying to take it off her is abuse. When she is down she just sits on screen all day and gets more and more out of reality. Starts getting really crazy/ emotional. So on to the current issue. She has avoided school for a few weeks (has been doing this for years) and I think it is because of exams and her anxiety. She kept complaining of a sore stomach so I asked my husband to bring her to the doctor when I was at work. She refused to go as she said she was in too much pain, he tried to drag her out by grabbing her. She punched him in the side of the head. He now has wiped his hands of her and wants nothing to do with her anymore. He also is threatening to pull out of a major 5 week holiday we go on next week. She won't apologise as she says he was hurting her and I agree. He won't accept this at all. He just stays out or sleeps now. He says she is a horrible person who cheats, lies and manipulates. For the record, she doesn't drink, steal, stat out, get in trouble with the police etc. She just refuses to do anything she is asked or go to school. I think the consequences for her as too harsh. If she knows her Dad hates her/ refuses to go on the family holiday because of her, I think it will mark her for life. Also I have a very sensitive Ds who will be absolutely gutted. Is there anything I can do? The is no way I can financially leave him.

OP posts:
Meanwhile33 · 29/11/2024 17:46

The very beginning of your OP makes me think the source of both your children’s unhappiness and your isolation is most likely your husband. Has he made it difficult for you to have friendships? Is he their dad? If not, it’s cruel to make them live with him.

“I have no friends so just offloading here. My husband has been grumpy/ unhappy for years…”

sprigatito · 29/11/2024 17:49

Whatthefuck3456 · 29/11/2024 17:33

Maybe he’s had enough

He probably shouldn't have become a father then, if he's too fragile to persevere with a difficult teenager.

The struggling, unhappy child should be the priority here. Not him.

TizerorFizz · 29/11/2024 17:51

Who has 5 weeks to take family holiday at this time of year? School is not on holiday for 5 weeks.

BrendaSmall · 29/11/2024 17:53

RiceBubbless · 29/11/2024 13:29

I have no friends so just offloading here. My husband has been grumpy/ unhappy for years and my dd (15yrs) has always been difficult. It's been another hard year with her. She's been in CAMHS all year but never opens up. Just last week I took everything she owned out of her room as punishment for not giving me her iPad and saying me trying to take it off her is abuse. When she is down she just sits on screen all day and gets more and more out of reality. Starts getting really crazy/ emotional. So on to the current issue. She has avoided school for a few weeks (has been doing this for years) and I think it is because of exams and her anxiety. She kept complaining of a sore stomach so I asked my husband to bring her to the doctor when I was at work. She refused to go as she said she was in too much pain, he tried to drag her out by grabbing her. She punched him in the side of the head. He now has wiped his hands of her and wants nothing to do with her anymore. He also is threatening to pull out of a major 5 week holiday we go on next week. She won't apologise as she says he was hurting her and I agree. He won't accept this at all. He just stays out or sleeps now. He says she is a horrible person who cheats, lies and manipulates. For the record, she doesn't drink, steal, stat out, get in trouble with the police etc. She just refuses to do anything she is asked or go to school. I think the consequences for her as too harsh. If she knows her Dad hates her/ refuses to go on the family holiday because of her, I think it will mark her for life. Also I have a very sensitive Ds who will be absolutely gutted. Is there anything I can do? The is no way I can financially leave him.

You can’t financially leave him, yet you can afford a 5 week holiday!,

priorities!!

your poor children

Tittat50 · 29/11/2024 17:56

If dad is also ND it's going to potentially be difficult all round. To be fair, I've regularly cried to myself and said I've had enough. I've said to my child, I've had enough of this. I've said alot of unkind things when I am faced with a situation I can't manage. It's a fear reaction and extreme frustration.

This path is an incredibly difficult one. With PDA it's absolutely exhausting and soul destroying quite often. The dad feels like he has no control. That's a scary feeling. So he's lashing out.

Clearing the room is a very bad move. It's too much and will only make her worse.

Screens can be very regulating for ND kids and with nothing else to escape into, loss of every screen is quite cruel. Social media is dangerous, phones are a nightmare and dangerous but a TV or some gaming console I feel strongly is an important safe space for ND kids.

I'd seriously reconsider this holiday or let husband stay home to reset.

graceinspace999 · 29/11/2024 17:57

Gettingbysomehow · 29/11/2024 14:38

Your house sounds like my hell hole of a childhood home. When they leave home they will have nothing more to do with you and you'll be left with Mr Miserable.

OP ignore this - some people seem to lurk around here waiting for an opportunity to kick someone when they’re down.

You’re in a difficult situation and it sounds like you need professional support.

Look for support for yourself first of all and they will guide you in finding support for your daughter and as a family.

thatwasme24 · 29/11/2024 17:57

OP, I literally created an account just to comment on this post.

I was your DD. I didn’t have autism or ADHD, but instead I had extreme anxiety, depression, ocd & ptsd. I grew up with severely dysfunctional parents, a verbally abusive and “grumpy” dad who was quick to lash out at all of us whenever the wind blew the wrong way. I don’t know how many times he threatened to send me away, said he was done with me, hated me, etc. Telling you now, we never recovered from that, and my relationship with my mother was irrevocably damaged for her not intervening too.

I refused to open up in therapy because I truly believed everything was my fault and talking was no use. Talking wouldn’t undo my trauma. I also couldn’t trust anyone, as my therapist once mentioned something I’d said back to my mom about an argument my parents’ had had that I’d overheard. I spent the rest of the evening being lectured by both parents about how embarrassing it was to have someone know their business - even though I was literally in therapy to handle this business.

I also refused to go to school, because I believed I had to be at home to remain in control. I believed I’d lose everyone around me to death because I already had lost most people. I had also been SA’d as a child, a memory that was lost in the back of my mind until I was about 17. My parents still don’t know about that. So being outside of my home was literally (in my mind) as dangerous as a war zone. Everyone and everything was out to hurt me. I had bigger issues than schooling, and felt unfortunately that I didn’t have capacity for it because I was focusing all the energy I had on simply surviving.

I was constantly terrorized, traumatized, and ready to fight. Constantly suicidal, or disassociated. Can’t remember 2 whole years of my teenage years. Always angry. I would have easily swung at my father if he had tried to manhandle me - still would. That’s self defense. Just because your DD is his child, doesn’t mean he can physically grab her. You’re being way too lenient about that. My father was an asshole but he’d never do that, and my mother let a lot of things slide, but she wouldn’t have let that slide.

Taking away my things also never helped me. All it did was reinforce the idea that 1) everything was my fault and I was always in trouble and 2) what was mine did not matter, whether it was belongings, feelings, thoughts, etc.

As an adult, I am severely protective of my things, my freedom, etc. I worked through my issues alone because to this day, I still don’t trust anyone. I speak to my parents, but I don’t trust them all that much. I have forgiven but not forgotten.

DoubleMM · 29/11/2024 18:00

go on holiday with your two children. Have some fun. Let him stay at home if he is refusing to go. You wont miss him. might have a great time and have some good conversations with your poor daughter who is have such a hard time at school and at home.

ADHDspoonie · 29/11/2024 18:03

RiceBubbless · 29/11/2024 15:58

Getting an assessment or diagnosis for ADHD or ASD where we are is literally impossible public or private. However I agree that one or both are affecting her behaviour. Re the holiday - she will only miss one week of school and it is to see my family overseas.

Whereabouts are you? Feel free to PM me if you don't want to share publicly. I had my DC assessed privately this year through private health insurance and it took a couple of months, total.

renoleno · 29/11/2024 18:06

Is there any chance she exaggerated what happened between her and your DH - you said yourself she called you abusive for taking away her ipad? This could be why you DH thinks she's manipulative and isn't comfortable dealing with her alone. He can and should apologise if he did grab her, but that won't solve anything, you'll have the same outburst over something else. Punching someone is not a healthy response and should never be justified though, she needs to learn that. She must have made up the excuse of being ill to avoid school, hence why she didn't want to go to the doctor and lashed out when your DH tried to force her. Tbh its damned if you do or don't - if you believe she is sick and take her to the doctor she will lash out at being caught in the lie, but if you ignore her and do nothing, you are guilty of child neglect. I don't blame him for not knowing how to handle this - it's needs a professional to unpick her behaviour.

It's easy to forget there is another child here who is part of this dynamic and you both can't have all your energy diverted by one child for 15 years without the other being neglected.

Has being kind, caring, loving, attentive, not punishing her for the last 15 years worked because if it hasn't I don't blame either of you for being at the end of your tether. If CAMHS hasn't been able to get through, can you afford going private? 15 years is a long time for no one to have spotted ND or diagnosed it esp in this day and age...In another 3 years she's an adult. Does she have any friends, what is her relationship like with her brother? Does she understand the impact of her behaviour on him? Does she work or have hobbies?

The 5 week holiday - could your DH and DS go on it, and you stay with your DD and prioritise her care, spend quality time with her? Maybe DH and DD being apart from each other will heal the wound. I think depriving DS of the holiday will cause far more damage to him than anything you do to DD because he's just being treated as collateral damage.

Rowen32 · 29/11/2024 18:08

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AnonymousBleep · 29/11/2024 18:12

I found reading your post profoundly worrying, OP. Your daughter is struggling with mental health and being punished for it by both yourself and your husband. It's absolutely not acceptable for him to lay hands on her. It's equally unacceptable that he now wants to 'wash his hands of her.' He sounds abusive and not safe for her to be around, physically or emotionally. You may not feel like you're in a financial position to leave him but for your daughter's sake, you need to work something out, otherwise you'll ruin your relationship with her and also her and your other child's mental health on a more permanent basis.

NeverHadHaveHas · 29/11/2024 18:14

Taking all of her belongings out of her room is just as shocking as trying to manhandle her to the doctors. He isn’t the only problem. You both sound like you’re dealing with a ND child in an abusive way.

AnonymousBleep · 29/11/2024 18:14

graceinspace999 · 29/11/2024 17:57

OP ignore this - some people seem to lurk around here waiting for an opportunity to kick someone when they’re down.

You’re in a difficult situation and it sounds like you need professional support.

Look for support for yourself first of all and they will guide you in finding support for your daughter and as a family.

Actually, for people who've grown up in a similar situation to the OP's daughter, her home does sound like a hellhole.

LightTripper · 29/11/2024 18:16

RiceBubbless · 29/11/2024 16:45

Thanks for your comments. No CAMHS have not offered any family/ parenting help. I will ask them.

It might also be worth looking on your "Local Offer" website to see what is available - if you see something there that looks useful you can ask directly (GPs, Schools, etc. don't always know what's available, even if it's help you are entitled to). For example our local CAMHS offers seminars on parenting autistic teens that might be useful even without a formal diagnosis (indeed, even if she's not autistic at all the parenting approaches might still be useful - it's all just different flavours of humanness).

If you Google your local authority name and "Local Offer" you should get the page (unfortunately some are better than others but it's worth a look).

MellersSmellers · 29/11/2024 18:18

Dear OP, I read your post and see a family that is all struggling. Your daughter is unhappy and anxious, and both you and your husband are exasperated and at a loss for how to manage her. The difference is that he thinks he is able to walk away.
Clearly punishments like removing all her tech are making things worse. You need to adopt a different approach and you need some help as a family.

thatwasme24 · 29/11/2024 18:19

AnonymousBleep · 29/11/2024 18:14

Actually, for people who've grown up in a similar situation to the OP's daughter, her home does sound like a hellhole.

It sounds exactly like the hellhole I grew up in tbh, give or take a few details

graceinspace999 · 29/11/2024 18:26

AnonymousBleep · 29/11/2024 18:14

Actually, for people who've grown up in a similar situation to the OP's daughter, her home does sound like a hellhole.

’Actually’ I was raised in a hell hole too. My mother had zero support and no escape.

This is why I would prefer to see the OP supported into therapy and guided into making changes rather than being subjected to a barrage of pointless criticism.

Balloonhearts · 29/11/2024 18:28

I take it he is not her father? That changes things. As her dad, I would fully support him pulling her up and telling her to get in the damn car, you're going to the doctors or to school, take your pick.

If he is not her dad then he has no right to attempt to physically discipline her and she had every right to defend herself.

I also wouldn't be getting into escalating punishments. Her punishment for whatever transgression was no Ipad for 24 hours and if she won't let you take it, take the charger. The defiant attitude only lasts as long as the battery.

Personally I would have her completely offline. No smartphone, no tablet, no Internet for anything that isn't school. That will do wonders for her anxiety in itself.

You can't force her to engage in therapy. All you can do is make her show up. I know that is pants but you can only lead a horse to water.

Perimenopausalpenny · 29/11/2024 18:32

Nothing to add but wanted to say I feel for you. You are no doubt trying your best in difficult circumstances and I wanted to offer a handhold against the backdrop of all the finger-pointing mnetters. Well done on being open and responsive to the comments on here and I wish you all the best. It won't be a quick fix x

Toohardtofindaproperusername · 29/11/2024 18:33

Taking everything she owns out fpnher room as a punishment sounds like you have really lost any sense of proportionality, along with sensitivity and understanding.
Teenage years are horrible and trying to understand her, rather rhan punish her, would be a first step. I think the help needed is for you not her. How can you begin to start to understand your daughter?

Not underestimating the challenge, just wanting to shine a different light on it. Maybe it's not "her"

cestlavielife · 29/11/2024 18:34

You need some intense professional family therapy input.
Putting your child in a bare room will not cure the issues she has.
Get some help and advice.
Let your dh leave for a while if he cannot stop his anger and find better ways to negotiate with a teen
Forget a holiday
Spend the money on psychology help fior all separately and together

Plastictrees · 29/11/2024 18:35

@Balloonhearts I have to say, this is appalling advice from a neurodivergence and mental health perspective. It also concerns me that you think a man being a girls biological father makes a difference in manhandling her - it doesn’t, it’s wrong regardless. In fact her own father treating her this way is arguably more damaging to her, as she should feel safe with him. Making threats and demands is not the way forwards here and will just serve to worsen the clearly already very strained family dynamics.

OPs daughter is neurodivergent and struggling with her mental health- she needs understanding and support, not punitive approaches. OP needs to seek family input from specialist CAMHS clinicians. In the mean time the OP needs to advocate for her daughter and not make allowances for her husband who should know better!

GetMyCloak · 29/11/2024 18:43

If dad is also ND it's going to potentially be difficult all round.

Loads of mothers of autistic children are autistic themselves, but magically manage to pull it together to meet their child’s needs and advocate for them.

Not a dig at you at all, but I hate the way that ND men are allowed to get away with such low standards of behaviour with their children, when us autistic mothers who half kill ourselves to make our dc lives more bearable are held as responsible for their issues in the first place and our parenting (our mothering, to be more specific) is so often blamed. Not so the fuckers who provided the sperm! They’re congratulated just for turning up to one poxy meeting, and they get to be introduced by their name, not just as Dad, unlike us mere mum mortals!!

(Sorry, little rant there)

Gilead · 29/11/2024 18:45

One of my dds is only alive because they had charcoal on the ambulance. That was one attempt at many. She knew her Dad didn’t like her and blamed her for various problems. I did get away but not soon enough. Fortunately we are a few years along and she’s got a lot better. Realising it was his problem not hers.
I didn’t think I could leave either, but after his last arrest, I got strong.
Also, dragging your dd by the arm is abuse.
Your dd is I’ll, your job is to keep her safe.