Gransnet forums

Relationships

passive agressive or is it me??

(81 Posts)
Namsnanny Tue 29-Jan-19 00:00:39

For the umpteenth time I'm sat here in a cloud of chemical perfume.

I have allergies to a great many things which include all modern cleaners especially if they have scent made from chemicals. Which leaves me sneezing, itchy eyes and with a huge headache.
So, when ever my h decides he's had enough of me he picks one of his many passive aggressive activities to let me know just how much!!

The above is one of his go to choices but here is a short version of some of the others:

* DIY ok useful enough hobby, but he doesn't start until
9 o'clock at night!!! Just when the decent telly gets going!
(and there isn't much of that either is there?)
Banging, sawing, drilling (yes electric drill) walking
in front of the TV with a 6ft long levelling contraption -
flicking his retractable tape measure in out, in out, in
out, in out............
Yeee Gods!!

* Cleaning something (that I've already cleaned!!) with the
strongest smelling product he can sneak into the house.
(No amount of pleading or explaining stops him
buying it believe me, I've tried Oh how I've tried!!)

* Breaking anything I like (I love stained glass).
Garden plant pots, vases, photos, anything, anything at
all.
The more I treasure it the more likely it will be broken!!

* The garden is a war zone. I cant do much anymore so I
have to rely on him, but pruning is a nightmare. I
explained how to prune Wisteria, took him a cup of tea
and watched every snipity snip he made for an hour
and a half. Went to answer the phone, came back to find
all of next years shoots on the floor like 1 foot deep
confetti!!! Took 10+ years to get any flowers on it.
I'll be lucky if the poor thing flowers any time soon!!

Got a gazzilion more examples but don't want to waste your time anymore than I already have!!

Just want to vent and cool off smile.

Anyway think of me scouring the back of the kitchen cabinets tonight, looking for rogue bottles of kitchen cleaner, or hiding the retractable tape measure, I wonder if I can think of a good place .........hummmmmmm?????(wink)

Heyho exciting life I lead eh??!! (grin)

ginny Thu 31-Jan-19 15:55:04

It certainly is your prerogative. However considering the content of your OP and all the replies, people are obviously concerned about you. If it was a tongue in cheek post then saying so would clear up the uncertainty. Having read your last reply, I and I would imagine many others are leaning towards it being more serious.

Buffybee Thu 31-Jan-19 19:23:22

Only you know if he is doing these things in a nasty manner or if he is just a bumbling type with his head in the clouds and does not listen properly.
From your original post it did seem as though he was purposely doing things to aggravate you but you were trying to make it light hearted at the same time.
I think that the buying heavily scented cleaners and using them around you causing running eyes and headaches is not funny at all. He's a grown man, how many times do you have to tell him that you are allergic to these product for him to understand.
The starting loud DIY at nine o'clock at night is odd but walking in front of the tv whilst doing it is obviously trying to get on your nerves.
It's not really funny, is it?
Do you not say anything to him when he's doing these odd things?
I think he needs telling straight!

Leavesden Fri 01-Feb-19 21:57:56

You don’t have to live like this, why stay with someone who goes out of his way to make your life a misery, life is short and we have a right to live it in peace and harmony think of yourself and let this cruel man stew in his own juice.

oodles Tue 05-Feb-19 00:01:16

It's a very difficult situation. You could get in a gardener, a proper gardener, to do things round the garden [there's nothing wrong with letting someone know the correct way to prune things, and suchlike things it's not wanting things done your way, it's wanting things doing right so they do the job they were bought for - to flower and look pretty.|

You could shop online or ask a friend or relative to help and buy in so much and all different unscented cleaning products, so that he has no excuse to buy any more and accidentally spill the smelly ones, and fill them up with something unscented or hide them . You could watch TV on a laptop with headphones, maybe even go into a different room and see if he tries to spoil your enjoyment that way. You could hide his tools in the compost heap [just joking], but you could hide his tape measure, or even better, report him to environmental health
You are in a difficult situation and while my suggestions are a bit tongue in cheek,[apart from the gardener] if you did try them you could see what he did in response. If for instance, he trailed after you with your laptop and tried to loudly talk about irrelevant things, maybe switched the router off even though he'd started doing something in the other room, or he'd never switched the router off before, then you'd know he was actually doing those things deliberately to upset you. As for breaking favourite things, am not sure what to suggest, but my abusive ex-husband used to do that, he'd deliberately damage things that he knew I liked or which meant a lot to me. Yes, some of the other things might 'just' be thoughtless, but how old is he, 3? If your health is deteriorating then do you want to be at the mercy of someone who deliberately does things to make you feel worse just at the time when you can do less and less. Might he 'bumblingly' not give you the right medication, delay doses, that tablet you have to take on an empty stomach, or a full stomach, or the one you have on a monday and have to sit up after, or otherwise do things that adversely affect your health? Imagine a dear elderly relative was in a carehome and despite the home knowing you were sensitive to smells they still insisted in coming in and cleaning late at night, or continually did things that you'd told them would upset your relative or a carer did some of the other things you described, would you just let it go or would you complain and get them to behave reasonably? You are worth protecting. Could you have a word with your doc? At very least if he knew beforehand and you took your husband he could say no strong smelling stuff as it's bad for your health. Again, his reaction would tell you a lot

ginny Sun 10-Feb-19 09:31:21

No update from OP. Hope the issue has been resolved.
Would be good to know if all is well.