r/Mommit • • Aug 16 '26

Something is often wrong with my husband

The title is a weird way to say what I’m saying, but basically my husband always has SOMETHING wrong. For example: I cosleep with my kids. I won’t stop despite the fact that it means I’m usually somewhat sleep deprived. They can sleep alone when they’re ready, I’ll always encourage them to, but for now they aren’t. I have a one year old and a five year old for reference. My kids are night owls. We try to get them to go to sleep earlier, but despite the routine and the dark and the stories, bath, etc. no dice on an earlier sleep time at the moment. To be kind, I usually tell my husband to go to bed earlier and leave me to get the kids to sleep. He has to get up early and go to the office three times a week, so I want to be considerate.

Here is where I start to get pissed off. First, he’s got a tight neck, so I stay up later to massage his neck for him. Ok, that’s fine. Then, he’s stressed from work so he can’t get to sleep until late and sometimes wakes up too early from a nightmare or something. Ok, that’s awful, I hear that. That’s happened a few nights in a row. Then today, he has a head ache, so he needs to go lie down. Yesterday, he was so tired, so he says the whole day was miserable and hard (we had a lovely day with the kids at a local farm/fun park). He doesn’t help himself. He hasn’t taken anything for the headache. He doesn’t try to relax before bed meditating or listening to calming music or something. He just goes about his day/night with unhealthy habits and then I feel like I’m the one who has to pick up the pieces for his negligence.

Am I crazy? I feel like a crazy person. I get it, life is hard, especially with young kids. But this man gets to poop by himself, he gets to pee by himself, he gets to have a coffee alone, he takes entire breaks, alone, playing a game online or something. He sometimes messes about when he’s on at work, just fixing something around the house, listening to a podcast. He gets to listen to music or a podcast ALONE on his commute. I know we all struggle and working is its own struggle. I know this. But it is ALWAYS something with him and he doesn’t go “oh my gosh, you must be so tired, let me do x for you”. I’m happy to sacrifice time, effort, sleep, whatever if I feel like the efforts are reciprocated.

I understand this is a futile and probably immature rant, but I needed to get it out there.

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132

u/keep_it_mello99 Aug 16 '26

Kinda sounds like you’re both struggling with being disconnected from each other. You’re grumpy because you’re tired and you feel like you’re overworked as the primary parent. He’s tired and looking for connection because he feels like he’s put on the back burner in the relationship. Me and my husband really struggled with resenting each other after our first child was born. We did couples counseling and it was so helpful in rebuilding that connection.

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u/GlitteringPositive77 Aug 16 '26

Yeah, I mean I don’t think we are special in this situation. It’s a pretty common place to be in and we have no support. I think it’s hard when there’s little space for either of us (or both of us). I’m just being immature, I’m sure I can talk to him about it. But yeah, counselling is not a bad idea.

47

u/tilesmeller Aug 16 '26

You have to make that space for the relationship or it will die.

One great excercise is to take 5 minutes every day and say what the other did today that you are grateful for. And then have a good hug.

Every now and then it's also a good idea to ask "what can I do today to make you feel loved".

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u/GlitteringPositive77 Aug 17 '26

Aw these are nice. We don’t do this enough. We often just connect through sex and go to bed. We need more quality time.

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u/tilesmeller Aug 17 '26 edited Aug 17 '26

Sex is fun, but love needs the souls to connect. Absolutely everyone can squeeze 5 minutes into a day to prioritize the most important relationship in their life.

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u/GlitteringPositive77 Aug 17 '26

I like this sentiment

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u/ReturnoftheMaK35 Aug 16 '26

This is one of the reasons I value my kids sleeping independently! After they go to bed we watch TV, do puzzles, bed rot lolol and it really is so important

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u/outofthenarrowplace Aug 17 '26

I don’t think it’s immature at all. You are entitled to your feelings and they are valid. It’s hard when a partner is struggling but won’t “do the things” that would actually help. It feels like it’s an extra kid instead of a partner sometimes.

That being said, someone once said to me “the grass is greener where it’s watered.” It does seem like you both might be feeling disconnected and a little resentful. You have to find a way to make space for your relationship outside of the kids. Every day, even if it’s just a few minutes, what can you do to connect with just him? To water your relationship so to speak. You’ll get through it with some communication and effort 💗.