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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

Please help me get perspective: DS1 broke DS2s heart tonight, and then it escalated with all 4 of us

44 replies

QuintessentialShadows · 10/05/2008 22:12

Me, my dh, DS1 and DS2 was enjoying a bit of huggy family time on our bed this evening, prior to starting getting the kids ready for bed.

Ds2 (nearly 3) was laying in the middle between me and dh, and DS1 was sitting up infront of DS2. Then DS1 said:
"It is so boring that DS2 is a boy. Why couldnt you have a girl, it would be much nicer. How can we change him?"

Ds2s was quiet, then his little face screwed up, and a long drawn out whine, before he started crying his heart out. DS1 just kept going arguing his case, Ds2 looked at him, getting more and more frantic. I stopped DS1 saying I did not want a girl, I wanted 2 boys, as it is so much better to have 2 boys. And DS2 is a fantastic and lovely little boy and I love him very much.

Dh got really angry with DS1 and lifted him out of the bed saying "how can you say this, what if we said we did not want you in this family, we dont like you and can you change" and put him down on the floor saying he was not welcome in the room with us, and he did not want to see him. Thereafter DH said to me, "you fat cunt, I am taking Ds2 out of here, and the two of you can stay here, if you havent got enough IQ to handle the situation, then leave and let me deal with it." And he went upstairs.

We have eventually managed to get both children settled and to sleep, but DS1 is now sad for what he said and how he can make it up to ds2.

I am sad for DS2, for what he heard, and wonder how it will affect him, if at all. Hopefully he will have forgotten tomorrow.

I am also furious with my dh. He wasnt handling the situation, aside from throwing ds1 out of bed, then calling me names and dividing the family making it a much bigger deal than it could have been. He has gone for a jog, hopefully he will stay out long, as I dont want to see him right now.

I just dont know what to think.

OP posts:
macdoodle · 10/05/2008 23:37

wow kids were being normal kids IMO...H handled kids badly - you don't teach a child not to be mean by being mean and then was more than mean to you - hope you are ok??

SixSpotBurnet · 10/05/2008 23:38

Glad you are okay .

Take care.

LittleBella · 10/05/2008 23:42

Your DH sounds completely out of control tbh.

Why did he over-react so much? DS1's irritating behaviour isn't that bad. How old are the DC's btw?

cadelaide · 10/05/2008 23:43

What DS1 said was normal.

What DH said was outrageous and, in the words of that bloody supernanny woman, totally unasseptable.

QuintessentialShadows · 10/05/2008 23:44

DS1 is 6 and DS2 nearly 3

OP posts:
northender · 10/05/2008 23:45

qs is it okay that he has "handled it wrongly?" I'd say it was far more than just handling it wrongly. He called you unspeakable names in front of your children. Imho that cannot just be solved by an apology. Does he have any respect for you?

PussinJimmyChoos · 10/05/2008 23:57

QS - am at what he called you. You need to make sure that next time he jogs, he goes down by that weird river you were posting about yesterday!!! A bit of a soaking should sort him out!

LittleBella · 10/05/2008 23:57

He didn't handle it wrongly, he didn't handle it at all. He escalated normal irritating 6 year old behaviour into a full blown verbal abuse episode. That's not wrong, that's just mental. Has he come up wiht any explanation as to why he suddenly started to verbally abuse you in front of your kids? I really think you need to get to the bottom of this, it sounds very odd that he suddenly just turned on you. (The reason I asked about the ages was because I thought maybe it was serious horribleness from your DS, but at 6 it is just minor irritating-ness imo.)

macdoodle · 11/05/2008 00:22

Sounds like he was pretty nasty to DS1 as well - I have taken some shit from my H the last 2 years BUT I would NEVER let him talk to my DD1 like that NEVER !

soapbox · 11/05/2008 00:29

I suppose it would be cheap to say that it seems abundantly obvious where your DS1 gets his abusive nature from!

What positive traits does this arsewipe have?

edam · 11/05/2008 00:47

He didn't just 'handle it wrong', he was bloody abusive and foul-mouthed to boot. How DARE he speak to you like that? Who the hell does he think he is, your lord and master?

You need to make it very, very, very clear that if he ever speaks to you in such a disrespectful manner again he is out on the street with his possessions in bin liners.

QuintessentialShadows · 11/05/2008 08:21

I spent considerable time talking to both my DS1 and my dh last night.

It turns out that he had picked up on a conversation with my mum and dad (we live with them at the moment) where my mum carelessly had said that "it would be nice for QS is she had a little girl too, now she is one girl to three boys." We had been in the attic and found my old walking talking doll, nearly the same size as DS2. Apparently my mum had said to DS1 in a joke, "come look at your little sister". My mum is hoping we should decide to go for number 3..... I feel too old for pregnancy and more babies.

DS1 said afterwords he just wanted it to be more even for me, to be two girls and two boys in the family.

My dh, on the other hand, is not so easy to excuse, he is a grown up, and what he said was a little worse than silly musings based on a sudden interest in gender.
Ok, he has issues with me being overweight and unhealthy, as he fears for our future and he want us to be able to fit and active and healthy (I had another thread about that) and he does have a bit of a temper, and he can say some hurtful things now and then. But he isnt an abusive man. Yesterday was way OTT, and I gave him quite a bollocksing for that. He came home from jogging thinking himself to be in the right, but he soon realized that he had made a terrible mistake and been outright nasty to me and our son.

We did argue about it for the first five minutes, till he went quiet, and said "oh God, I have really been terrible, havent I." He thougth he was sticking up for DS2, thinking that qs is always favouring DS1 and isnt coming down hard enough on him. We had a long and honest talk yesterday, and he thinks I favour DS1. That is not the case, but he is in school, and DS2 spends quite a lot of time with me, so when DS1 is home, it is only natural that I try spend some quality time with him.

It is just so typical how some men work such long hours, and just get the fun part of playing with their kids a little before bedtime. They miss out so much on their characters, their growth. My dh doesnt know the dynamics between our two boys, there is so much he doesnt know, because of his long working hours. It is sad.

But because we have left everything behind (lived in London until 6 weeks ago), moved to Norway to live with my parents (house not ready till Christmas), and we dont have our belongings because the removal agency has lost our goods, we dont have a car (borrowing my sisters) as we cant afford one, we cant afford a holiday this year to to see his mum, sister and brother, it is all pretty crap. He isnt blaming me, but he appears a little bitter, like "you got what you want, you happy now? well, I am not." Like he says, we had a house, a car, children settled in school and nursery, plans to buy an old campervan for holidaying with his family, and now we have nothing. But worst of all, it is affecting his work that I cant work as I have no childcare till august, and I am managing the finances of the company. He has taken over my mums study, and feel very much that we are threading on eggshells in my parents home. He is frustrated and I can see that.

We all make mistakes, I am not throwing him out for this, he is human, and most of the time a good and patient father, and a good husband too. We just have to get through this period, manage our time better so he can be with the boys more, and I can get some work done.

Soapbox I find what you say very offencive and way out of line.

I can easily defend the actions of my child, I know him, he is kind and caring, sharing and attentive and usually very helpful to his brother, his love for his little brother is very apparent. He has said something thoughtless, he has not been abusive. To label a six year old abusive over this, is just twisted.

OP posts:
MayPolerBear · 11/05/2008 08:37

sorry everythig is so miserable for you atm
how is your ds2 this morning? do you think he remembers the comment?

shabster · 11/05/2008 08:44

Sending a massive hug to you QS.

I personally think you are all trying to adjust to your new situation and 'emigration' is so difficult.

Im not making excuses for anyone - it sounds like it was a 'straw that broke the camels back' for everyone.

It made me because I remembered how awful I was with my brother!! I was so jealous of him because I had been the only child, grandchild etc etc for 4 years. I used to tell him that he was adopted...... and make him cry . We are best friends now, thank God.

lizziemun · 11/05/2008 08:50

Its sounds like you may need to rent somewhere to live for a while so you can settle and be a family without your parents around. Can you afford a secondhand car for the time being.

As for what your ds1 said if it makes you feel any better when my sister was born i was 4yrs and my brother was 6yrs he asked my mum to send me back as her a new sister now . It is now a family joke and it hasn't effected me and my relationship with my siblings in anyway.

greenday · 11/05/2008 09:11

I think it is normal for children to wonder about stuff like that. At best, it also shows that their curious minds are hard at work. At worst, they can hurt other parties. And this is where parents step in to rectify them. I think you have done a great job by trying to explain to DS1 calmly. But for your DH to call you that name is really out of line. Unless he is in the habit of calling you names and you are immuned to it, it definitely should be a wake-up call for both of you as a couple. Hope you find ways to work around your situation. It sounds tough but if there's a will for both of you, surely there'll be a way. Sending hugs to you..

edam · 11/05/2008 09:15

Oh QS, I'm so sorry you are having such a rotten time. Can't believe the ruddy removal company has lost your stuff - how on earth did that happen? Bastards. Is there any hope of it turning up?

soapbox · 11/05/2008 10:25

QS - the point of my post was not to label your DS as abusive, but your DH.

QuintessentialShadows · 11/05/2008 10:50

Our belongings were supposed to go by removal van all the way, I was told initially as we booked a "door to door services". Then it transpires that the firm had used a subcontractor, who decided to do it differently, and ship it on pallets by boat. Goodness knows how it is all held together. I spent the last two weeks on the phone trying to work out what was happening, and what the subcontractor had done, they hvae used another subcontractor, and last I heard it was supposed to turn up on a boat on thursday, it didnt. Now they are trying to find out where it is.

We cant afford to rent somewhere else. We are trying to let our house in London out, but so far no luck with tenants, it has been on the renting market with two agencies for over 2 months, we are considering putting it up for sale, but in the current climate? The agent said the rental market was better than sales.

We sold our fab car, a peugeot 307sw (estate) for £5000. That is the going rate for a five year old car of that make. The cheapest second hand car around these parts (which is not for parts or "projects") is around £12000, and that would be an old banger.... We paid half of the money from selling the car on the removal firm. So we have very little to put towards a new second hand car. And as we have moved out of the UK, bye bye tax credits.
We are not looking at buying new at all, in comparison, a new peugeot £307sw is nearly 30k!

But on the bright side, we do own a home, it just happens to be in the wrong country at the moment! And with any luck, it will get either rented or sold soon, so we can put the money towards the next house, and hopefully also decent second hand car!

Oh, and I baked two cakes yesterday, and today I will get to taste them, and that is good too.

Thanks Shabster, Edam, Lizzimum, Greenday et all, for kind words.

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