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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

How to make DH accept his words are hurting me

236 replies

ringingthechanges · 05/10/2009 10:40

without him chucking them back in my face and saying I am the problem and I'm nuts?

OP posts:
traceybath · 05/10/2009 11:37

Could you re-negotiate your 'allowance' to cover household stuff? Does it reasonably cover clothes/food etc? Perhaps he'd rather give you a fixed amount each month to cover everything.

All sounds most odd though - if you're no longer in love with him I'd get busy photocopying bank statements and seeing a solicitor to discuss divorce.

GypsyMoth · 05/10/2009 11:38

what starwhorres said is good advice though!

he won't change.....YOU have to

onebatmother · 05/10/2009 11:40

"BUT because he wont get these things I see it as a lack of caring about my feelings and keeping me in some sort of controlling place"

By 'my feelings' do you mean 'my reasonable expectation that my husband won't speak to me with contempt'

or do you mean 'my desire for matching wine glasses'?

Both are fine, but it's good to be clear with yourself.

It sounds to me as though you might be, erm, over-focussed on 'form', and he's entitled to disagree with you on that. You can then argue your case like a grown-up.

What he's not entitled to do is to treat you with contempt and make you beg.

ringingthechanges · 05/10/2009 11:48

I do feel he treats me and speaks to me with contempt. I admit that if I felt loved and respected I probably wouldn't (even definately), wouldn't be so focused on getting my house in order . On the job front, I am in the throws of organising a charity work position for myself.

OP posts:
ScaryFucker · 05/10/2009 11:48

thanks for accepting my point rtc

I understand you are using examples in your daily life to illustrate how he treats you and considers your relationship to be purely on his terms

it does seem to me that you will have to force the change

you won't like this, but my suggestion is to leave him

you have already said this is a long-running, recurrent problem

he shows you no respect, doesn't appear to even like you very much and you will still be here 10 yrs from now

take the millionaire for half his millions, and go and find someone who will love you

you say you "look good", he doesn't shag you any more, lots of men will and make you feel good about yourself

and most of those men have no fucking interest whatsoever in soup spoons and the like

you really only have yourself to blame though if you stay and nothing changes

fgs, go and find a different life (unless you really rather would stay in the current one)

ScaryFucker · 05/10/2009 11:51

my definition of "getting my house in order" would be to make sure the partner I am with treats me with the respect I deserve

if he doesn't, he goes

because there are a lot of people who will

SolidGhoulBrass · 05/10/2009 11:53

I do hope people don't start pissing and moaning about the amounts again. I think the problem is that this man really does regard the OP as a kind of pet or domestic appliance and what's more, he expects perfect service but won't pay for it. ie the OP has to beg for every penny yet he complains if things aren't good enough.
(I remember the previous thread as well).
OP this is really not a healthy way to live. This man is abusive and controlling, he really doesn't see you as a human being at all. I think you have maybe got conditioned into living the life of a pet because he has been treating you like one for so long and probably frightening you about how 'awful' it would be to move out and live on benefits/low wages, but it wouldn't be as miserable as the way you live now. For one thing, he would be legally obliged to pay you a fair sum of money for care of the DC (and no, he can't throw you out without a penny and keep custody of the DC, whatever he says about you being 'mad' and 'ungrateful') and you would be able to choose what to buy without having to answer for it all the time.

onebatmother · 05/10/2009 11:53

what sf said. Leave him - even if you don't get half the millions, you will be infinitely happier (you might have to stop worrying about matchy-matchy glassware though.)

Goog luck rtc.

ObsidianBlackbirdMcNight · 05/10/2009 12:27

It's not about where they buy their wine glasses from. It's about him having control. It isn't right that you live within a tight budget and don't have the control to spend extra money on things you need when the money is there, but he thinks of it as his. I bet you don't have much to spend on yourself do you?
If he is that horrible, and that rich, I'd be tempted to divorce him. The courts would decide a reasonable living allowance for you dependent on his earnings and outgoings and you could spend it how you wished. You would be free of his control which would be far better for you in the long run. Either that or you find a way to negotiate a bigger allowance so that you can budget for things that don't fall under the normal budget, as well as some play money for yourself. But it doesn't sound like he'd willingly do that.

starwhores · 05/10/2009 12:43

Sorry, but you have to (excuse Dr Phil here) love and respect yourself first. The reason you haven't left is because you must think you deserve his treatment, we all have our line I suppose and yours seems further down the line.
When you're a SAHM (like me) you have to have a very strong and equal partnership to retain some self esteem, your H is robbing you of yours. By controlling how you spend 'his' money he is reminding you that it is his. If he felt you had an equal partnership you would neither seek his permission to spend money on things you can easily afford and he wouldn't think he had any permission to give. I wonder if you had any say in his last purchase, big or small.
As for the way he treats you I think it sums up the level of respect he has for you. Sorry to be harsh. Either get him to relate (which you can afford) or get rid.

thetattooedmagpie · 05/10/2009 12:45

Fundamentally do you love him enough to carry on living like this ?

To me the lack of respect and the lack of affection and sex would be a deal breaker. He won't be able to change - rich and powerful men have people fawning around them telling them how fucking ace they are all day. He'll believe this to be true. This is how he will be for the rest of his life and this is what you will have to live with for the rest of your life if you stay put.

So in answer to your question 'How to make DH accept his words are hurting me ? ' - I'd say, you can't and he sounds like he doesn't care even if they are.

You sound ground down and depressed - this is not about the money. Its about someone undermining your confidence and self esteem.

In your shoes I would speak to a solicitor and see what you are entitled to and then, when you are ready, I would get rid.

Tryharder · 05/10/2009 13:02

Agree with others - it's not about the amount spent on cutlery or whatnot, its about the fact that the OP has to beg to be allowed to buy it and the money withheld like she's a wayward teenager.

It's a bit daft for some posters to say, well buy at ikea then. If this man is rich enough to buy a private jet, I cannot see the need for him to quibble over a few fecking wine glasses. It's all about control and keeping the OP down.

Fuck it, if my DH was rich enough to have a private jet, there would be no way we would be shopping at Ikea.

I still think he's having an affair. Hire a private detective. Agree that OP needs to get her confidence back but disagree that she should get a job in an old folks home or something. Come on ladies, lets keep the jobs for those who actually need them, no? How about further education or university or indeed training for a profession?

starwhores · 05/10/2009 13:06

How do you buy anything?

ScaryFucker · 05/10/2009 13:08

agree totally, TryHarder

WhenwillIfeelnormal · 05/10/2009 13:14

I remember your old thread too and I agree your DH's parsimony is not the real issue here at all.

I have seen something similar happen with acquaintances I used to know. Despite her being a bright, intelligent woman who had much to offer a workplace, she bought into the whole SAHM thing while HE earned a fortune. They had a very old-fashioned marriage where he gave her an allowance. He didn't seem mean with the allowance and she could spend it more or less as she saw fit, but I remember he used to joke in that irritating way about her spending habits. To be honest though, she was equally irritating in a Hyacinth Bucket type of way - everything had to be "done properly" and she was pretty critical of others' slovenly ways.

I noted that everything seemed to be about appearances - and that there was zero passion or intimacy in the way they communicated with eachother. Most of the time, they seemed to treat each other with thinly disguised contempt. Hence, they were not easy company and their life was a million miles from ours, so it never developed into a friendship.

If I'm honest, I just couldn't relate to her values or lifestyle. She also seemed a bit brittle iyswim. In the end, I concluded that all this "appearances" nonsense was masking deep unhappiness, but I wasn't close enough to gently probe if that was the case - and I suppose my DH and I decided that we didn't want to get that close either.

I've always earned my own money but our approach has always been that money goes into a single pot and we make buying decisions jointly. It's all relative too - it wouldn't occur to me to ask DH if I bought 6 wine glasses from M&S, because a spend like that would be proportionate to our income. On your family income, it shouldn't be a big deal to buy at John Lewis or Harrods.

Your situation reminds me of those acquaintances, except you've told us what I suspect this woman might have done if she'd had the opportunity.

In a nutshell, it really doesn't sound as though you are getting anything out of this relationship, other than financial support and status. I've no idea how old you are, but life's too short to spend with a man you appear to hate, with no sex and outside stimulation. None of us can say on here where all this contempt started - and not resorting to name-calling does not mean you aren't guilty yourself of displaying contempt incidentally. You might say it's justified, but I'd wager that you're being equally contemptuous, just in different ways.

If leaving this marriage is not an option for you, then all you can both do is try to make it better - and really commit to that jointly. Perhaps ask him what HE's getting out of this marriage - and whether it's meeting his needs too. And in the same conversation, tell him what your REAL needs are. Glassware and cutlery shouldn't feature in this conversation at all.

It's too simplistic to say that your H is getting his needs met by having the trophy wife, the big house and the external indicators of success. There's not much there to feed the soul - and so he's either having those needs met elsewhere, or he's as unhappy as you. Men and women both need intimacy, so in that sense, you're probably both in the same boat.

starwhores · 05/10/2009 13:17

In my crystal ball I see him leaving you for another woman anyway, so you may as well get yourself a future without him.

A man who has a sexless marriage does not stay faithful for years, unless there's a real companionship.

bibbitybobbityCAT · 05/10/2009 13:24

Ringing - do you believe he could or would change?

The money, the meanness, the control, the john lewis cutlery, the white wine glasses, the lack of job, the two hour school run, the millions of pounds in the bank - are all red herrings.

You sound absolutely miserable and I don't blame you. If you divorce you will be extremely comfortably off and can spend the money as you wish.

What is your reason for staying with him?

starwhores · 05/10/2009 13:25

Just noticed this is in relationships and not AIBU and so I apologise for my sharp tone.

abedelia · 05/10/2009 13:49

I'd be tempted to buy some absolute crap - you could get some of those 'free with six Esso vouchers' wine glasses from the nearest charity shop or Ebay and make him eat / drink from them (especially when he has friends around), in order to shame him into being less of a tight bastard.

On the other side, though - things are not right and no amount of unhappiness is worth the money, particularly as if you split you'll still be very comfortable (and a damn sight more fulfilled). I thought the benefit of being a rich man's wife and having to give up everything to pander to their needs was the fact that you didn't have to stress about stuff like this?

ScaryFucker · 05/10/2009 13:50

WWIFN, I think I have told you how wonderful your posts are before

If I haven't, then they are

OP, listen to WWIFN, she said what I didn't have the patience and manners to say

WhenwillIfeelnormal · 05/10/2009 13:54

Ah, thank you Scary! At the risk of this becoming a mutual appreciation society and therefore a thread hijack, I appreciate your wisdom on life too - and your sense of humour really appeals to me!

ScaryFucker · 05/10/2009 13:55
Grin
emblestrembles · 05/10/2009 14:43

I am not sure that it is a given that he will dump you for another woman.

For him it is quite empowering to have you in his control. If he went for another woman he would have to work hard to make her feel unsure of herself and it would take years to get control over her so that she felt that her life was reduced to focussing on household stuff just to give her some self worth.

Isn't that depressing?

I know he is the one who is doing this to you. But you are the one who has to make a stand so that it stops.

Do you wonder if he might respect you more if you stood up to him? What would happen if you demanded a joint credit card? what about if you sat him down and said "I want joint control over the money but that doesn't mean that I will spend willy nilly. I will consult you about glasses and and I want you to consult me before you buy a jet."

Maybe it is worth a shot if you want things to change?

ringingthechanges · 05/10/2009 15:23

I din't say goodnite when i went up to bed last night, i was so upset with him, nor did i say goodmorning when he was in bathroom and i went in to get something. He left for work without a kiss or goodbye . Don't know how to act tonite, am fed up having 'talks'

OP posts:
starwhores · 05/10/2009 15:55

I can't imagine how lonely you must feel with all this money around you that you're not allowed to spend. By the sound of it I have more freedom to spend more money than you and we certainly don't have a private jet. Seems like you are poor after all.

Give the man some ground rules and make him stick to them.

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