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DH Avoiding / Delaying

StepUltimate's picture

So DH would rather mope & be rude to me than keep his word & tell SS18 he has to move out. Today I got angry driving home from work thinking about it... DH's flip-flop last weekend, inability to tell SS to wash his own car & practice driving with that car (not our SUV), his refusal to hold SS to any level of respect about being an adult and contributing toward this household. So I really don't know what to expect. I'm mad that I hear about the new sports car "we're" getting, the next vacation we're taking, and the house we want to own, and even how DH's boss doesn't make the other employees do quality work... but little SS18 gets to have zero responsibilities around the house beyond tsking out the trash. He comes & goes whenev, no telling if he'll show up all night. Apparently they had a driving practice then went to the DMV to get the application for a drivers license... but who knows the outcome. All I know is that it's pathetic SS refuses to do this stuff himself and has DH jump in to do it for him. DH cannot see how that makes it hard for me to respect him... who grovels to get an 18 year old to do something they still won't do and then literally takes him there to wait in line & do it for him. I know I'm supposed to be detached but damn, Fall 2018 semester begins Monday and DH still hasn't even informed SS he needs to start packing (I cannot wait to clean that smelly room and make it nice). So I'm starting to resent this waiting game, and DH being bummed about it but still not taking action.

I'm sure SS will try to negotiate, guilt-trip, and anger DH - and I am sick of waiting for it to go down. I reported this weekend on how DH flipped positions and was telling me "I want to help my son." and trying to convince me we need to let SS continue living here. No! No, we don't. It's called enabling and I am SICK of it. So then DH flipped back and said he would keep his word.

Last night, this morning, and again tonight when I got home DH was acting a bit off, and I began to wonder if he was hiding something or waiting to tell me something. I suspect SS will try to get DH to commit to something I won't agree to, and have preempted that "Family Talk" by telling DH I am willing to listen to SS if he has something to tell me, but I am not changing or negotiating or lowering my standards for SS any more. So anyway, I stupidly got attitude with DH so now he's in a self-righteous not-talking-to-me mode. I left to get dinner but the place is closed for a remodel and I realized I feel too stressed about DH trying to re-triangulate by having me be the upset badguy. So I just went to our room & shut the door. Might even go to sleep; been working overtime this week and am exhausted. Just sick of the waiting game, and DH making it drag out becsuse the Guilty Daddee is still strong enough that DH wants his wife to just look the other way as SS continues living here & freeloading. No way, not for me.

So I'm angry, sad, nervous, tired, hungry... not a good time to talk to DH. So I'm venting here. Thanks for listening, feels better getting all this out.

Comments

StepUltimate's picture

Says I should divorce, tells me F*ck you, we're just roommates, etc. Blamed me, said I was inflexible, that I'll never trust him anyway, bla bla bla. I told DH I am tired of him being stressed out & rude to me becsuse he's too scared to keep his word and kick SS out; he didn't like that and swore in my face so I told him to stop being abusive to me, that he's apologized for the same thing before but is doing it again, justifying himself becsuse he'd rather be angry at me than at SS18. He'd rather blame me than himself for SS not handling biz and just partying instead. 

Just now DH grabbed the keys to storm out and I went to the front door and asked him to come back in. Told him I love him and don't want him driving off upset & tired in a vehicle that's in my name. He said it was in his name too and I was like, Maybe in your mind but not on the title. He also announced about SS18, "He'll be gone by the end of the weekend." Unsure if that neans DH already talked to SS or if he's just so mad at me now that he intends to. 

So apparently either way, SS will be gone next week. Unclear if DH is gonna try apologizing and staying married or if this tantrum was the real end for him. Either way, I love him but know I am not cut out to live with my SS snymore. I seriously regret getting into this conflict with DH; I'd been gritting my teeth and trying to maintain silence in spite of SS just using this place like a crash pad. DH is all upset accusing me of "... sending him (SS18) back to HER (BM)." I rejected the accusation - I'm not forcing SS to return to that vomit (she doesn't even want him). Nope. I didn't force him to lie and flake on driving and college. I'm also not absorbing the consequences by continuing to support SS18. If it's too hard to respect me and this house, he needs to go elsewhere.

Sick in my heart and stomach,

Harry's picture

Once SS is out of the house.  May take a few days, but the pressure will be gone.  I guest it’s now a power play between you and SS.  Have to tell DH it’s either  SS or you who going to leave 

StepUltimate's picture

... and even told SS he's "making me chose between my son and my wife" thereby announcing he's unwilling to see it as a parenting issue.

StepUltimate's picture

... to DH that if he needs more time to "help his son" I can rent a room and they can live together until DH csn get SS to launch. He was stilll making noise about wanting to be married and putting me first at that point.

fairyo's picture

I'm really sorry you're having to deal with this, and this gruesome twosome-it is a victory of sorts for you, so well done that there is going to be some resolution and I really hope it can be sustained once SS has gone...

StepUltimate's picture

I am praying for my husband. He was so traumatized by BM and she f*cked up SS by cheating on & divorcing DH when SS was 3. I do not want to be blamed for SS nor "required" to host him from this rental, which I invited DH to move into and helped him prep for custody and child support cases that he won. None of that justifies abusing me. DH yelled, "You knew what you were getting into. You knew SS is a troubled child" and I laughed that he pulled out that old standard, but said SS is an adult who is being allowed to live as a 13 year old full-time stoner, NOT an adult. DH mocked me numerous times, including my desire to be respected in our home... so he mocked me wanting to be treated respectfully. He said stuff just to hurt me, and compared what I'm doing to What if I kicked your cat outside and wouldn't let him in to eat, drink, cuddle... I pointed out we are not trying to teach the cat to be a self-sufficient adult human. No comparison DH, you're just trying to hurt me.

I need to try to go to sleep, then I'm going to work & gonna stay late. Do not want to come home to Raging DH. 

lieutenant_dad's picture

WHY do you want to stay married to a man who curses at you, accuses you, threatens to divorce you? You know, emotionally ABUSES you?

Sweetie, I'm not saying get divorced, but I am saying get out. Sign a short-term lease somewhere and file legal separation papers. You'll learn very quickly whether DH wants YOU, the IDEA of you, or YOUR ASSETS. Right now, he's behaving as close to a good husband as I am a unicorn.

He won't change because he is getting everything he wants, and the only "challenge" is occasionally beating you down to make himself feel better. Been there, done that. Pack your bags, live elsewhere, and see how he behaves once his verbal punching bag isn't there.

I'm so sorry you are going through this, but you have SO MUCH MORE to offer than this d-nozzle deserves.

StepUltimate's picture

I think you are right. I have to create a new checking account today. Both my dogs passed away in the last 1.5 years so it would be me & my cats. I do not want to be abused and treated like DH treated me last night and other times. DH mocked me when I told him to stop swearing and yelling at me.

susanm's picture

How much time do you have left on your joint lease?  It sounds like your cars are in separate names already.  A separate checing account can get your paycheck direct deposit setup.  If your DH can't afford to carry the entire rent payment and expenses for his son then he should have thought of that before freaking on you.  A few days in a hotel while you look for a place will tell you wheere his head is.  Just grab clothes for the week, toiletries, and anything sentimental that you can not live without in case he gets temporarily vindictive or his son feels triumphant and wants to celebrate driving you out.  If he actually comes to his senses in a week or so, great.  If not, you should have found a place by then.

Aniki-Moderator's picture

Hmmmm.... with the way he's acting, I don't know that I'd want to stay in a hotel. His verbal abuse may take a turn and he could have a mantrum and destroy OP's things out of spite. He sounds like the type. I'd let the butthead sleep on the couch (or I'd sleep there) and go ahead with plans to leave.

StepUltimate. Hon... Stay strong. You KNOW it's not okay for your H to treat you this way. If, at any time, you don't feel safe, PLEASE CALL SOMEONE. xoxo

StepUltimate's picture

I know you are right. This hurts.

StepUltimate's picture

Leaving for work, thought DH was on the couch but he & the SUV are gone. I was going to snesk past him but went back inside to confirm he wasn't there. Update: he returned as I was leaving, wouldn't speak to me. I yelled Hey! Wife or Roommate? And he goes, Whatever. So he's still angry at me.

Pretty sure he slept on the couch & took the dog to the park while I was showering.

Aniki-Moderator's picture

Don't try to talk to him while he's having his mantrum. Do your own thing and let him cool off.

However, I believe you need to sit down and figure out exactly what YOU are getting out of this marriage. You're a roomie? A bankroll?? Unless you married FOR these reasons, they're not ingredients for a healthy marriage.

Merry's picture

He made it really clear that the marriage is over for him. Even if he said those things in anger, he still said them. If it were me, I'd take it seriously and begin moving in that direction. Talk with a lawyer or two or three so you understand your options, separate money if you need to, cancel joint credit cards, begin to look for a place to live.

If he truly regrets what he said and wants the marriage to work, he would have to fight to win me back and show me through consistent, loving action that he wants me to say. Not just a teary one-time apology with flowers in hand. SERIOUS behavioral changes.

StepUltimate's picture

Thank you, much appreciation. I want this to work out (LOVE both of them and it cuts me to the heart when DH accuses me of not loving or caring about SS). So I need to continue to hope for the best while I prepare for the worst. 

Major Blunder's picture

I agree with the other posters here about taking DH’s talk of divorce seriously, if nothing else prepping for it is not only smart but it may very well call his bluff.

As for his verbal abuse and I do agree in this instance that it is abuse, you shouldn’t stand for it.  If I ever yelled the way he yelled at you my DW would punch my lights out.

As for SS, I am dealing with the same situation SD20 is a parasite in my life but unlike you and your DH , DW and I never discussed a launch date for SD20 and with the issues surrounding SD26 DW is a little raw and sensitive so I have to step back and give her some space to see that SD20 needs to launch, we are actually getting closer.  Like I have said before, I give them enough rope and they eventually hang themselves.

I always liked you StepUltimate and hate to know the pain you are going through, plus I still have a crush on Judy Jetson from my youth so there’s that  (((( Hugs))))))))

StepUltimate's picture

Thank you Major B. I will get thru this, with a little (okay a TON) of encouragement from my ST peeps. There is a lot of love in our family, just too much inside BM's path of destruction, which is littered with the wounded souls that narcissist has left in her wake.

StepUltimate's picture

More hurt than angry, but angry too. This was preventable but yes, it would have taken a massive effort in DH's part and it's too late now, because skid is 18 and thinks he's independent. I know what you wrote is true in my heart, that DH is afraid to "lose" SS even though it would really he earning SS's respect by staying true to OUR word about living at home sfter high school. 

hereiam's picture

It makes you wonder if he even wants his son to grow up...or if he wants him to continue to be his "little boy". Some of the things he says can have double meanings. "I just want to help my son," and, "I'm losing my son". It's like he's afraid of his son growing up and not needing him as much.

Not only is this detrimental to the son that he loves so much, it's detrimental to your marriage, and I find it strange that he is taking such a stand. I find it strange that, knowing that his son could have continued to live there if he met certain expectations, he did not ensure that those expectations were met. I mean, driver's license and enroll in school, how tough is that? He couldn't find it in himself to force those issues, which would have benefitted his son, but he's fine fighting this fight, which is tearing his marriage apart.

I don't get it.

Areyou's picture

When DH is verbally abusive to me he lets me slap him. I enjoy slapping him in those moments.