When I met him the first time, if I knew he was living in his parent’s house at that age, I wouldn’t have accepted his proposal. Recently, I told him this and he said I was being hard on him but that is the truth. I wouldn’t have looked at him twice, I wouldn’t have responded to his hello, I wouldn’t have given him my number for him to call and propose to me. If I knew then what I knew now, there would be no us but as I write this, a lot of water has passed under the bridge and there are so many things that can’t be undone.
When I went to his house the first time, we were in the room when his senior brother entered without knocking. When he saw us, he didn’t greet us or even say hello. He just picked something and left. He looked a little bit angry. When he left I asked him, “Who is he and why does he come to your room without knocking knowing very well that you’re here with someone?” He tried to make it look like it wasn’t a big deal but it was to me. He answered, “That’s my senior brother but don’t mind him. He’s like that. Maybe he didn’t knock because I share this room with him.”
I took a look at the whole room again and asked, “You share this room with him? It’s a single room with a single bed. How come?” He answered, “It’s a long story but don’t worry, I’m moving out of this place very soon. I’m out there looking for a place of my own.” I smiled on the inside, knowing very well that it wasn’t a permanent arrangement. The house belongs to his father who died and left it for them. His mom has rented the whole place out leaving them with only one room to share. They have a sister and the sister shares a room with their mother. The house has about five different households that share everything in the house. Call it a big compound house and you wouldn’t be wrong.
A year later, he was still living in his parent’s house, sharing a room with his brother. I couldn’t visit him at his because of his brother. I was with him one evening when his brother kept coming in and going out. He won’t knock. He’ll just enter at any time, stay for a while and then go again. I was getting uncomfortable but I didn’t want to leave because of that. Around 7pm, his brother came in and said, “When is she leaving? She better start going now because I want to sleep. Why do you always want to keep the room to yourself knowing very well that you’re not the only one living here?”
I was embarrassed. I got up, took my bag and started leaving. He held my hand and asked me not to leave. His brother screamed, “She shouldn’t leave, is she going to sleep here?” It turned into verbal exchanges between him and his brother. I tried to calm them down but they were too loud their mother had to come in to instil calmness between them. That day I vowed not to ever go there again. His mom was nice to me and his sister too. The only person who had issues was his senior brother. When I stopped going there, we either met in town and had fun or he came to my place. On weekends, he would come and spend the night with me and leave on Sunday evening. I was emotionally invested in the relationship but I couldn’t understand why he couldn’t rent his own place.
Two years later he was still there. I asked, “Is it about money? It shouldn’t be because you have a good job. Or you’re too comfortable in your parent’s house you think you won’t get that comfort anywhere? You’re a man. You need to leave home and start practising being a full man.” He told me he had been searching; “You and I know that I’ve been searching. I haven’t had a good place that’s why I’m still living here. It’s just a matter of time.” He didn’t want to involve agents because he didn’t want to pay the agent’s fee. I knew an agent who helped a friend to get a place. I liked his services and professionalism so I told my boyfriend about him. He said no. I said, “Don’t worry about the agent fee. He’ll get it for you for free.”
I told the agent I would pay the fees so he shouldn’t mention any fees to him. A week later he got a place. My boyfriend said no. He said it was too far from his workplace. I didn’t think that was a reason enough but I didn’t argue. We got another place a few weeks later and we went to see it. He said no because the landlord lives in the house too. After several attempts, the agent gave up. I asked him, “Be truthful to me, do you really intend to leave that house?” He answered, “You think I’m going to live in that room forever? We’ll get married and I’ll have no option but to leave. We only have to get the right place at the right price and I’ll leave.”
Three years after dating, we started talking about marriage. Where we would live took over the conversation because it meant a lot to me. I told him point blank; “There’s no way we’ll marry when you still live in that house. If you’re really serious about marriage, then prove it by leaving your parent’s house.” He said calmly, “A step at a time will eventually take us home. Just be patient.”
He came home to perform the knocking rite so as to get the list. He wanted to know how much he has to spend on the marriage and how much would be left for rent. He told me, “Right after that, I’ll pay for a new place that I’ve found. The landlord is about to complete it and we’ll be the first to live there.” I went with him to see the place. It was almost comp. I love how spacious it was and the fact that we were going to live in a self-compound house. I even started putting money on the side just in case he’ll need help to pay the rent. One month after the knocking rite, he came to me with a smiling face saying, “Guess what, my brother is moving out. He has a new job and it comes with accommodation so he’s packing out as we speak.”
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I smiled and said, “Then your mom would be smiling soon because once you also leave, she can rent that place out or give it to your sister.” He responded, “You don’t get it. My brother is leaving means we have no need to leave even after marriage. We’ll have the room to ourselves without any interference. I mean for the time being. A year or two later, we can get our own place if we want to.” I was angry. “What do you mean? What is in that house that you don’t want to leave there? You’ll marry and still live in a single room? See, I left home when I was only twenty-three years old. I’m a woman but I wanted to see the world through my own eyes and face it with my own weapons. Look at me now. You’re a man and you don’t want to move out of your parent’s nest? It won’t happen. You can forget about the marriage now until when you’re ready to move out.”
The next thing I knew, his mother was calling me trying to convince me to stay in their house. “See, it’s a big house. Why rent when your in-law have a place for you? You can save money and do something else with it. You don’t have to rush out of the house.” The fact that he discussed that with his mother even made the case worse for me. We’ve been in this for over a month now. He doesn’t seem to get it. They are pushing it off the limit. They even sought to bring my parents into the issue. My parents can’t convince me when they know I left home when I didn’t have everything.
Now, I don’t even want the marriage again. If something as little as where to live is causing us this huge problem then you can imagine what will happen when we are faced with huge problems in our marriage. I’ve lost all the happiness that made me want to marry him and now all I want is to walk out and begin again somewhere else. I haven’t told him yet but I’ve told my parents to ‘unknock‘ the knocking they came to do. They asked, “How can you break a marriage even before it happens? Exercise patience. You’re a woman so you have to have enough patience in your breast to be able to be a wife.”
What Would You Do If You Caught Me Cheating On You?–Beads Media
But I feel I’ve had enough patience. If I can’t change him while dating, what shows I can when we are married? I foresee problems and want to run from them but my parents think I’m leaving too soon, even before the party begins. Do you also share what my parents are telling me? That it’s too soon to leave a man who isn’t ready to leave his parent’s home? Do you believe I’m being too hasty after three years of trying? I need your opinion. Please be honest and tell me what you would have done if you were in my shoes.
–Martina
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You will suffer when you marry that small boy. He is not natured enough for marriage. When he move in him in the family house, you will have a lot of issues to deal with. The brother too can choose to marry and bring it to the same room.leave him
If he can’t leave that house, my sister just leave him especially if you don’t want any interference by inlaws in the near future
With the kind of woman that you are, he’s not even near the word “GOOD” for you. He has no vision, no ambition in his life. This behaviour of his is a red flag dipped in red paint. The ‘so soon’ that your parents are talking about is the best time to leave. You will regret ever marrying him because he is still a child. The earlier you leave, the better for you.
I have read your story and my opinion is that this should not be a problem to separate the two of you. I think you should listen to your parents to stay however it should be on condition that yes! your man can stay in his compound house however, you are not ready to stay there hence he should get you an apartment. If he needs you he should visit and not the vice versa. If your man is not ready to meet this condition then there’s no marriage. For me I believe you have come a long way to call it a quit and for all you may know he may have a genuine reason for wanting to stay there. For the house i will not advice you to go and stay there.
You better leave that idiot Boy, his not even a boy, buy a baby, who does that, like seriously.
Please run out of that relationship, that marriage will only bring problems.
God be with you.
If you marry him and you stay in that family house , you will never be happy. When someone shows you who they are the first time believe them
My dear sister, I would advice you engage him in a conversation and get to know his future plans! Some men would really like to push their rent money into their own building project. Perhaps, the uncompleted he took you to, might be his personal project which he wants to keep it as a surprise! Just take your time in your decision so you don’t regret it later. I was in such similar situation and I almost let my hubby to be go, but my dear I am really enjoying now! Just a little patience and pray for God’s guidance as well
I would advise you leave him. My reasons:
1. He doesn’t reason in a way that is likely to be compatible with the kind of person you are. You will have many more issues with him in future if you marry him.
2. He is not fully open to you, otherwise he should share his real reasons for not wanting to move
3.He is not ambitious enough. You will do a lot more pushing if you get married to him; even his basic responsibilities will be left mostly for you, esp when you show signs of being capable of shouldering responsibilities.
He is not fit for you. You are miles ahead of him when it comes to maturity and it becomes intimidating for some men. He will have to bully you to prove to himself that he is the man in charge. Leave him since you are not afraid to leave.
One thing I think you should not do is to try to change a man. Let him be who he is and if he’s not good enough for you, leave him and move on . All the best.