I hope my answer is helpful.
Read the original poster's description and feel the original poster's dilemma. The original poster is disappointed with her husband's role as a husband and father, but does not want to separate because of factors such as the children. Many people in marriage have similar situations as you describe, but everyone's choice will be different. Ultimately, the original poster must choose.
However, we can choose to do so based on what is known in psychology as "issue separation."
You must understand that you are the only one who can bear the consequences of your choice, whether you choose to leave or continue. In fact, "issue separation" means that the person who directly bears the consequences of an event is the one who owns the issue.
You don't need to take on other people's responsibilities yourself. Take on your own responsibilities and let go of other people's responsibilities through "issue separation." This will make you feel much more relaxed.
You can choose to separate from your husband, but you will have to face the consequences. These include pressure from your parents, financial pressure, and your child receiving little care from his father. Alternatively, you can choose to stay with your husband, but you will also have to face the consequences. These include him continuing to not share the housework, having a bad temper, and not caring about the child after an argument. You can also choose to stay with your husband but learn to communicate with him in a better state of mind and with better communication skills. You can express your needs, adjust your expectations, and create a better family atmosphere. However, this also requires you to face the consequences. You will have to grow and learn more about managing intimate relationships. You may become even more hardworking, but you will reap more harmonious relationships in the long run.
We have many options and ways to solve problems. There are actually far more than just leaving.
You still have a lot of needs for your husband in your marriage. Let's communicate better with him and adjust our attitudes. That will make everything better.
My suggestion is this:
First, understand the purpose of communication between husband and wife. Don't just focus on his bad aspects.
Communication between husband and wife is not just about expressing each other's meaning, negotiating and discussing steps and directions. It's also about making each other feel close and sensing each other's needs. This is how you maintain a happy marriage and enhance the intimacy and satisfaction of both parties. You can understand a lot from an expression in the eyes, tone of voice and attitude. For example, you can see whether you like or approve of something. But you also need to explain things carefully. This is how you decide where to use the family savings, how to discipline your children's behavior, where you want to go on vacation and whether you approve of going on a business trip with a colleague of the opposite sex. These are things that require in-depth discussions.
We must express our needs and listen to each other. We need to find common ground and compromise. This requires open communication. A happy marriage is built on a foundation of mutual respect and open communication.
There are three main functions of communication between a husband and wife.
1. Communicate with each other to let the other person know what is going on. You must face the situation together to make it clear to both partners that they are a team.
For example, when you go out to work, the child runs out barefoot, but your husband drives to work by himself, leaving the child at home alone, and he even threatens you that if anything happens to the child, you should not regret it. This makes it clear that you are not one entity, but you have not discussed in depth the raising and education of the child. You need to discuss who is mainly responsible for taking care of the child.
You need to discuss whether one of you can put aside your work temporarily when the other has an urgent matter to attend to. You are both away from home for work, but the children cannot be left unattended.
You need to discuss this.
2. Express your understanding of the other person and your own needs, solicit and express opinions, and discuss solutions.
The child ran out barefoot while you were both at work. If you go out to work and have to work that day, you can talk to your husband in advance. Understand him and respect him. Make requests and demands of your own.
If we want the other person to listen to us, we have to stop commanding and controlling them. Instead, we need to talk about our needs in a way that shows we understand them.
I need your help tomorrow. I have an important task to do, so I can't take care of the kids. Can you take care of them for a day? I really need your help, and I hope you can spare the time. I need to focus on my work.
"In that case, he will make time. If he can't do it, we'll find another way. We can ask another family member or good friend to help out for a day. That way, we can work with peace of mind, right?
3. You must let your partner know how you feel about him. Express your appreciation, love, and devotion to maintain and strengthen the relationship between husband and wife.
Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. Focusing on the other person's weaknesses will lead to dissatisfaction and resentment. Focusing on their strengths, including the care and love they show you, and expressing appreciation, love, and devotion to them often will lead to a mutual feeling of love and appreciation.
Second, adjust your expectations of your partner.
A happy marriage is not one without problems, but one that is good at solving them. You must lower your expectations of marriage to ensure the quality of life after marriage.
Excessive expectations result in one party being detached from the other's actual situation, criticizing him for everything, and making him do things that are beyond his capabilities. Many people are dissatisfied with their married life after marriage because they misunderstand married life and expectations.
Our ideal partner is a man who can earn a living to support the family and also take care of the family. This is difficult to achieve, including for my husband. I used to feel like you, that he only cared about making money and lacked care and concern for me and the children. Then I put myself in his shoes and realized that it was actually quite difficult for him. He often traveled and worked hard, and at this time, I often complained about him, which only increased his burden and pressure. So I adjusted my mentality, settled down at home to raise the baby, and constantly grew myself to give my husband the help and support he needed. Now, his work is not as busy as before, and he understands my needs. He will try to come home to spend time with the children as much as possible. We cook together and go on outings together.
I am certain that if I hadn't adjusted my expectations and kept blaming him for not being perfect enough and not being family-oriented enough, our relationship would have gotten worse and worse, and my own inner feelings would have become more and more negative. There is no doubt that he would have been under more and more pressure, which would have affected not only his work but also our relationship.
Third, find the things you love about each other.
You're married with kids, so I'm sure you're together because of love. But here's the thing:
Love must be renewed constantly. We must seek the resonance point of love. In other words, we need to capture the common things in the hearts of two people and develop on this point. This will cause the hearts of the two to collide and generate a huge centripetal force. This will make the love grow stronger and stronger.
Love is expressed in many ways. It is shown through encouragement, support, and help in careers. It is demonstrated by sharing worries and difficulties. It is expressed through consideration and care. Beauty is found in mutual charm and constant discovery.
In the past, I always said that my husband didn't care about me. I was wrong. He liked to play mahjong and never came home. He wasn't there when the kids were sick. I would then get caught up in very negative emotions, feeling like a victim. I was wrong about that, too. Later, when I saw the good things and bright spots in him, such as the fact that he could earn enough money to support the family's expenses, that he would buy groceries and cook for me when he came back from a business trip, that he would buy me a nice purse when he saw one outside, and that he would take us on trips after work, my mood improved. I also came to understand a saying: my husband's flaws are like the stars, and his good points are like the sun. When the sun comes out, the stars disappear.
We must see more of the beauty in each other, step out of our role as victims, focus on the present, solve our own problems, and find the balance in our lives. When we do this, you will rediscover the happy taste of love.
You may find the above useful for reference.
Best wishes!
Comments
I feel so lost and broken right now. Every day feels like a battlefield, and I'm constantly walking on eggshells. It's hard to communicate when every conversation turns into an argument. I don't know how we got here or how to fix it.
The situation is unbearable. How can someone be so indifferent towards their own child? Leaving a toddler alone is irresponsible and dangerous. I'm scared for my child's safety and wellbeing. We need help but where do we start?
I'm at my wit's end. The lack of support and the emotional turmoil have taken a toll on me. I want better for my children, yet staying feels like a compromise of my own values. Is there a way forward that doesn't hurt everyone involved?
Feeling overwhelmed by all the pressures from family and finances. I wish we could find common ground and focus on what's best for our kids. But with the current state of our relationship, it's hard to see a path that leads to anything positive. What's the right thing to do here?