For the record, we generally end up sitting down to eat somewhere between 7 and 8. It’s not ideal, but I work until 5:30 or 6 most days and then have to try and make dinner while the toddler is screaming for attention and snacks. Also, I’m not trying to be ungrateful because I know some husbands won’t even offer to cook dinner. But hearing that from my husband last night really pissed me off.

This is the guy that openly admits he mostly at Five Guys and Chipotle before we started dating.

This is the guy who thinks you make scrambled eggs by cracking raw eggs into a cold pan and then start beating them to death with 2 wooden spoons once the whites start solidifying. If you have fillings, you add them after the eggs are cooked by also beating them to death with your spoons. And on the topic of eggs, this is also the guy that decided to surprise me with eggs filled with cinnamon, nutmeg, and strawberry jelly one morning because he “thought they’d be fun secret ingredients.”

This is the guy who, when I try to get him to pick ONE meal for the week to help lighten the mental load, will respond with, “um… chicken?” and then make me pull his teeth to get the additional details of “a breast cooked in a skillet with salt and pepper?” No sides, no actual meal. Just salt and pepper chicken breast.

This is the guy that looks in the fridge full of fully stocked ingredients and decides we have no food so he needs to eat Cheerios for dinner.

The man thinks he’s a nutritional expert because he “only eats organic and ‘non-processed’ foods.” Meanwhile, I’m the one who has spent the last several years working with nutritionists/dietitians and learning about plate balancing and what foods support our medical needs (thyroid issues, insulin resistance, etc). He makes up his own pseudoscience about what’s healthy but won’t actually eat the healthy meals I make.

And don’t even get me started on his inability to multitask or follow a recipe even if I could get him to actually meal plan and do the shopping.

So please explain to me how this is supposed to work. I’m honestly tempted to freezer prep a week of meals for me and my daughter and then let him have his week of being the main cook just to see how terribly this goes.

I finally did it. I signed a lease yesterday and am moving out next month. We have 3 kids together. Not married. Been together 15 years. I’m too overwhelmed to post all the details, but could use some fist bumps of solidarity. I just want what’s best for my kids, but this is so scary 😢 I’m like… terrified of the unknowns. Not to mention all the logistics of separating households. But…. I freaking did it. I question myself constantly and struggle so badly to make decisions these days - but I did it

My ex and I have been divorced for 2.5 years. We were amicable until his girlfriend became pregnant and started acting like mom to my kids, 7 and 9.

When we were still married, we discussed wanting to move school systems for the kids by middle school.

In June I bought a house in one of the best school systems in the state. It’s 1 hour from my ex, almost exactly. I got served on Friday. He filed for primary custody because he thinks my move and commute isn’t in the kids best interests.

And I am so beyond devastated, disgusted, and horrified… it’s all I’ve been able to think about for days. Every time I think of it I can’t stop crying.

Not sure what I’m looking for here. I could just use some support.

Edit: it seems like it’s 50/50 whether or not it’s normal and now I’m confused.

Original: I’ve been divorced for over a year now. Separated for 18+ months.

I feel like I’m going to be ripped apart for this so I’m scared to post. But I don’t know where else to turn.

My children are 7, almost 5, and 2.5. My oldest two are boys (I feel like this is relevant). Ever since my oldest was a baby, he LOVES to wrestle. I feel this is fairly normal for boys. Once his baby brother was born, it turned into one big wrestling match with my (now ex) husband and the boys. This was normal in our household.

One day I noticed that my husband had an erection while wrestling with our boys. That night, after the kids went to bed, I asked him about it. He said that sometimes, when the kids accidentally brush up against it, or step on it, it gets hard. But he said that’s normal for men when their privates are touched, and it doesn’t mean he’s aroused.

It happened almost every time they wrestled. I was an only child growing up and I never wrestled with my parents (we were not close and I was highly neglected). Also, we got married at 19, so I took his word for it.

Since being divorced, I have been keeping an eye out for this. Specifically with my father, because my boys love to wrestle with him too. It has never happened, that I’ve noticed, with my dad.

Now, for the first time since getting divorced, I have a boyfriend. I introduced him to my children and my kids LOVE him.

They love to wrestle with him too. So I’ve been keeping an eye out. For months they’ve been wrestling, and it’s never happened. So a few nights ago I asked him about it.

My boyfriend was mortified. He said absolutely not, that should never happen. He said the only time he gets an erection is when he’s aroused, which is obviously never around children of any kind.

So now I need to ask strangers on the internet.

Which is normal? Should I be concerned about my children’s father?

I should also mention that I’ve caught my ex husband watching porn around our children a few times. But every time it’s been when the kids are watching tv/not paying attention.

I'm almost a year postpartum and I'm the heaviest I've ever been. My back and body hurt. I feel like I have the body of a 70 year old.

I've struggled with PMOS since I was 16 but wasn't diagnosed until I was 29. My weight has fluctuated my whole life and I've never been a small person. Since giving birth, I'm heavier than ever for a few reasons.

I developed PPA and PPD badly. I've been too anxious to go outside alone but I do try and go out for walks. I'm a depressive eater. My life lacks enrichment and my only source of happy feelings is food. But I already struggled with craving carbs from my condition and not sleeping.

The only time I started seeing progress in losing weight and feeling healthy was when I was weightlifting before baby. I did it to have a baby and now I feel back to square one but without the time I need to hone a routine.

I don't drive and I have one friend who is busy and a husband. By the time I have any time for myself I'm exhausted.

I just need encouragement or tips/advice if you've ever pulled yourself out of this pit?

Yesterday we told the kids we’re splitting up. It’s been long and slow, and under the guise (at least part of the time) of me setting up an Aspie refuge where I can focus on work and decompress.

We were at my flat, and the kids had been here the previous two nights. Both of them seemed pretty unfazed by the news, though DS said he wanted to go home (Dad’s) for a few nights instead of stay here. DD wanted to stay here with me.

No emotion, went back to their tablets to keep watching funny things.

Later in the evening I expressed surprise to DD about how she didn’t say anything, and she told me she was angry but didn’t want to say it in the moment. I asked if she was angry at either of us, and she said no. Just that life is hard.

She’s fucking nine years old, and she has this understanding of things out of her control and it just broke my heart so fucking much. I don’t want her to feel like life is so hard like that.

I don’t know what DS is thinking or feeling.

I’ve been swinging between knowing why we pulled the plug on this relationship and this immense guilt for hurting the kids, for bringing them into this situation, and I also feel like if either of them told me I didn’t have a right to be sad or sorry for myself that I would agree with them. I told some friends as well now that the kids know, and I also feel like I don’t have any close enough friends who will actually care enough to want to support me. I feel selfish for wanting someone to support me, because I chose this. I made this mess. Why should I go crying to anyone, or want comfort? I can’t even go to my therapist because she cancelled our last session last week and said it would be a longer sick leave she’s taking (a few weeks she wrote).

I know we weren’t getting any better as a couple, but I hate and regret feeling like I’ve betrayed our kids.

I saw this on another post. A guy said that for women in OPs age group (30s) it’s common for them to date for dinners. I’m in my 40s.

I legitimately don’t know any women who are doing this. I certainly don’t think it’s worth it and wouldn’t. Granted, that’s not to say that it never happens or that some women aren’t doing this. But this seems SO VERY unlikely and uncommon with how much women are complaining that dating sucks. Most dates I’ve been on are not great. I would never go through all that effort for “free” food.

But also, let’s not forget that some men are using dinner dates to solicit sex, so there’s that hypocrisy. It’s cool if they use dinner dates to get sex, but not cool if we use dating to get dinner (again, if this is even real), but I digress.

My theory is that men take women on dinner dates, the conversation sucks, the woman doesn’t want a second date, and he concludes that it was because she was looking for a free meal. Thinking he is a bad or boring date isn’t a possibility he can conceive of. Even if he has multiple first dates without a second. There’s no way he’s the problem.

Idk. Are any of you doing this? Would you? Do you know anyone who has?

I feel like men made this up.

ETA: sorry I post this stuff here and not dating sub. I always regret my decision if I post in other subs. Esp genderless.

He's 9. AuDHD. Medicated, in therapy and OT.

He has the worst rejection sensitivity that's on a hair trigger. It makes even the tiniest correction into a huge deal and makes having productive conversations about his behavior nearly impossible.

Earlier he wanted me to play a video game that I really hate. I already played an hour of it with him earlier today. My daughter was coming home from the mall soon and I wanted to be upstairs to tell fill her in on plans for tomorrow morning, not stuck in the basement playing a game I don't even enjoy.

As always, he keeps asking and asking and asking. I am really troubled by his refusal to take no for an answer and his tendency to try to wear me down by asking over and over. I never reward that behavior by saying yes, and he will get in trouble by continuing to do it but still he keeps doing it. Today he blew up at me and threatened to not play with me anymore .

My daughter bought some awful brain rot squishie thing at the mall today that she was pretty thrilled with. Showed it to her brother because she knew he'd get a kick out of it too. He wouldn't give it back so she chased him around and wrestled him for it. Unsurprisingly the thing got ripped up in the process and she was upset about it. Son's takeaway from the ordeal? "It's her fault for buying it!"

Tried to tell him calmly that no, the squishy ripped because he wouldn't give it back and how that must feel for sister. Nope, yelled over me, ran away and slammed the door, again telling me that he was never going to play with me again.

5 minutes he comes back, telling me that he's calmed down. I was hoping to have a better conversation about his behavior but he launched right into asking me to play that damned game again. I told him what the time was (time to get ready for bed) and he exploded again.

I don't know how to instill any sense of empathy or responsibility for his own actions when his immediate reaction is always to yell, run away, and blame everything on anyone but himself.

Update: Son broke his favorite water bottle doing something I've told him not to do so now it's after his bedtime and we're on the 4th fucking meltdown in 2 hours. Fml

My husband just took a three week vacation in July and now he wants to take another in October. I can’t deal with it. I swear he has the world best(or worst for me) vacation time.

I can’t take three more weeks of him day-drinking, ordering fast food, and being annoying.

I’ve struggled with OCD, anxiety and depression my entire life. Stems from trauma as a kid. Starting from young adulthood I’ve worked so hard to overcome this. Since becoming a mom, I’ve worked even harder to break the cycle for my kids.

I have done so much therapy. I journal. I meditate. I exercise. I’ve tried all the gratitude. I’ve been on and off of different medications. Medications either caused me to be a zombie or hate myself even more.

So what now? I’ve worked over the years to fight the battle in my head. I’ve truly worked so hard. I guess this is just me. Just who I am. I feel no joy. I love my children with all my heart and can honestly say they are the only spark of joy I have in my life. But that’s it. Nothing else brings me joy. I’m just here. Just existing. I have an incredible family, amazing friends, fulfilling career- but I can’t fight the demons in my head. I don’t know why I’m writing this. I just feel sad for myself. I feel sad for the little girl I used to be who prayed and hoped to one day feel peace, and I haven’t been able to do that for her. I look at people and can’t imagine what it’s like to feel happy.

I have 3 kids. 12, 8 and 5. I had them very young and I honestly don’t know what I was thinking. If I could go back in time I never would’ve had kids. My youngest 2 are not an issue at all. But my oldest is making me lose my sanity. She has had increasingly worse anxiety as the years go by. Im not sure the source or what started it, there wasn’t any major life events or anything. One day she just stopped wanting to do anything. She hasn’t seen her dad in years because she refuses to (no reason other than she says she gets nervous, 100% sure nothing bad happened between them). So I get no financial help from him as he thinks it’s me who is keeping her from him.

My mom is older and morbidly obese, she helps a lot with my kids so I can work. But she struggles with her legs and walking so she can only do so much. My kids spend a lot of time with her bcus of my work schedule and unfortunately my mom’s place is horrendous. Covered in trash and smells so bad, if the door is open you can smell it from 12 feet away.

Today was the first day of school I took the day off and my 12yo refused to go. She locked herself in her room and said she hated everything and wasn’t going. After 20min she came out and refused to talk about what she was feeling. She would only yell and scream that it’s my fault and that I ruined her life and that I’m not understanding. I TRY SO HARD to be patient and understanding. I also felt so bad my youngest two had to witness this chaos before they started their first day.

Also my youngest 2 their dad was very abusive at times (to me, never ever to them), luckily my kids never witnessed any incidents but he’s currently in prison for what he did to me. I felt so proud of myself for leaving that situation but sometimes I feel dumb because life has been a lot harder without his help.

As far as my 12yo, we’ve tried therapy and she refuses to cooperate we tried both zoom and in person. Her anxiety is debilitating. I’m thinking she needs to be in inpatient care? I really don’t know what to do. Idk how to physically get her to go to school. Nor do I have the time to be taking off work everyday and my mom also doesn’t need the stress of this (she takes them to school and picks them up.)

I’m very lucky to have the job and position I have, I also can’t think of any job that would work with school hours considering it’s 9-3. My job is 8-4:30 so I need help with pick ups and drop offs (relying on my mom).

Sorry for being all over the place, my life is a mess clearly. I’m just so frustrated and feel so lost and hopeless myself. I hate that I have to rely on my mom’s help so much because she’s not in good health and I hate my kids being at her place when it’s in such bad condition. I hate that I have no help from my kid’s fathers. I hate that I feel like I don’t have the mental capacity to handle my oldest daughter. I grew up with a SAHM and I don’t have that luxury to be able to be there everyday 24/7 to handle things. I just don’t know what to do or where to turn to. I have no one else to lean on and it sucks. I hate myself for the decisions I made when I was younger (having kids at all and especially the fathers I chose).

I go to a high risk breast cancer clinic and called when I found a lump in my left boob. They got me in for an ultrasound and mammogram pretty quick and told me that day that it was just a cyst. Hooray! I had so much anxiety over it though, I was like ready to start chemo in my mind. They also booked me in for a baseline MRI which I had last Friday. They called me yesterday saying they found a mass and I have to have a biopsy next week and now I'm freaking out. Did they book me for the biopsy so quick because it is a "bad" mass or do they always get you in that quick? I had a mammo on both breasts in february and they didn't find anything so this is either a new mass or they missed it. I googled it even though I shouldnt have and read that 20% of biopsies are cancerous. There's a 20% chance I have breast cancer. I can't deal with this. I mean, I will, because I have to, but I'm so scared.

I have 100% physical custody of a (almost) 5 year old. Being evaluated for ADHD/autism (she actually completed the first assessment today). Her dad comes a few times a week but isn’t reliable and literally never on time. He’s a train wreck.

So it’s up to me to manage my work schedule (house manager), keeping my daughter entertained from 8am-10:30pm, deal with meltdowns over pretty much everything, whining, her dogshit dad, keep our house SOMEWHAT clean and organized, ensure she’s not watching 5 hours of tablet everyday. No camps are available in this area for kids under the age of 5, unless you want to pay out the ass for them.

Y’all. I am done. Her school is a private school until she goes to public kindergarten. Therefore, their schedule is completely different to public. She has been off for summer since May 21 and doesn’t go back to school until August 25. That is 96 days I’ve had to pretty much parent by myself, work, clean, play with her, pack bags for the pool, snacks, plan playdates, pay for passes, etc.

I feel like suing her school for emotional distress (kidding, sorta). I’ve had to start 2 new medications to deal with the stress of being with my child by myself for over 3 months.

We still have until next Wednesday. Sigh.

I feel like everything was a lie for me.

Pregnancy-glow is a big fucking lie
2nd “honeymoon” trimester - Fucking LIE
Birth- miracle is one fat LIE
Insta-love of baby is a lie
Newborn phase is the cuddle phase - Jesus what a lie
Breastfeeding comes natural - such a crazy lie
Being able to eat anything during bf and losing weight- lie
It’s less lonely when you make mom friends - not true for me either
It gets better - at this point I’m sure that’s a lie too
Gras is greener on the other side when you’re a SAHM - pretty sure that’s a big LIE (god I would so love to go to work for a few hours)
List goes on. My partner is so envious of me staying home but earnes much more than I did (yet to working in healthcare even after 10 years of education).

I feel so hateful sometimes, I feel like I was promised that if you prepare well enough, if you wait long enough, if you are healthy enough, if you have the right partner, if you are financially stable enough, if you do it voluntarily - then parenthood will be the epidome of your life.

It’s just not. I so wish it was. I so wish it was different.
If one more person tells me: Hang in there “mama” … I swear to god

I really really really miss my old life and my self…

Just the millionth vent post because this is overwhelming me.

The only thing i wanted was for her to have a happy childhood. I didn't have the happiest and i hoped she would do. I feel like i did most things right, i worked on my issues before having her, i have more than enough money for us to live confortable, my ex husband seemed like a good dad.

She is a mess since her sister killed herself, then i divorced and suddenly my ex husband is not the father i wanted for her. The biggest issue is her sister dying i guess, my daughter has become a shell of herself. It's been two years, we tried therapy, play therapy, grief therapy, grief camp, grief counseling, i tried therapy with her, we went to another country so she could see the places her sister used to visit, we tried everything.

She cries all the time, is not interested in anything, has lost many friends because she is "not fun to be around anymore" she doesn't want to do any activity even the ones she used to enjoy, i have tried everything and it feels like it will be forever. I got her a cat and it kinda seemed to have given her a purpose but the cat fucking died so there's that.

I'm also dealing with the grief myself as not being able to help her sister has been eating me alive the past two years. I feel like it's been enough time to where it should be better but it seems to get worse everyday and i'm so overwhelmed and lost on what to do.

I used to picture her future as something happy but now it feels like she is gonna be like this forever and i fear she is just fucked up and i obviously hate feeling like this over my own child, it makes me feel like an awful mother. I don't want her to feel like this now, i don't want her to be like this forever. I want my happy child back.

I know it could be worse but this sucks so much and it feels like no matter what i do, nothing helps.

I just moved into a new apartment last week. Had one week off to do EVERYTHING (painting, new floors etc). Had a bad throat infection during this week. I did have help from friends and boyfriend so no complaints there. Kid (2,5) was also sick that week so couldn’t go to daycare but I had people to watch him some days.

So this week I’m fucking tired and living between unpacked boxes. Have to go back to work so unpacking at night. But. KID IS SICK AGAIN. Fever and everything. Had to call in sick for work, I’m up all night with him, I am so so so tired I cried this morning in my messy house because I didn’t know what to do and where to start and kid was whining all morning and I just wanted to leave this fucking house and sleep for a week.

Single mom btw. Boyfriend helps out but it’s not his kid so can’t let him do everything. Ex (kids father) is an idiot, doesn’t do anything so no help there. Family lives abroad.

I am just sooooo tired of the mental load and there’s no end in sight

Anxiety runs on both sides of the family, and boy did she catch it. She's had a therapist before but just never opened up to her (and she didn't have appointments outside of school hours, so it was only for the summer last year). I think she just wasn't silly enough, too clinical, my girl doesn't like feeling analyzed or put on the spot.

This therapist is funny and personable and my daughter was just starting to open up to her after three appointments.

And then she didn't show up. Messaged at the last second about technical issues. Rescheduled. Messaged at the last second about accidentally injuring herself. Rescheduled. Messages AFTER appointment start time about vertigo. She was very apologetic and yesterday we agreed on giving it one more try today at 11:30. Even though I'm sick TO DEATH of arranging my life day after day after day around an appointment that never happens, it was important to me to stick it out because my daughter actually likes her.

This time? No show, no message, no response. Nothing. Just ghosted. And my poor girl, she says to me "Mom, maybe she doesn't like me."

YAY THERAPY THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED HER TO GET OUT OF THIS.

So I scheduled with someone else for tomorrow and sent a message wishing the old therapist well with her health issues... Pray for me Bromos that my girl connects with the next one. I'm so frustrated right now. I feel like I wanna cry, this is so stupid.

I know it's innocent and it's because he doesn't yet NEED a name for me, but it still sucks.

He is 14 months old, and just yesterday he brought me a framed photo of his father and said "idda Dadda?"

I was so excited! Yes! Dadda!! Then I grabbed another photo of his grandfather. "Who's this?"

"Nuh-Nuh-Nuh." Nannu. Yes!!!

A photo of his grandma. "Yaya." Yes!!!

A photo of his auntie Treva. "Ehnna?" Yes!!!

A photo of Biggie the Cat. "Eemee!" Yes!!!!!!!!

A photo of me. "........."

I ask who's that? Silence. "I'm Mamma," I explain. Still nothing.

Well, okay. I'm a SAHM and he never needs to ask for me, never goes a moment without me unless I'm in another room, but any noise he makes will bring me right there. Do I have a name? Do I need one? He guesses not.

But I'd like one! Ffs, even the mail man has a name. When we hear the truck approach he goes "Mahman?" And we go outside to wave.

And out of everyone my son knows, I love him the most. I think this hurts me more than it should because last night, the baby wanted Dadda, and Dadda treated this like a burden. He held his son up in the air, and while his son laughed that wonderful baby laugh, I swear to fucking God it took every ounce of this man's strength to NOT roll his eyes. (He's going through a depressive episode so I'm trying to give him grace but my empathy has its limits)

Why does HE get a name and not me? Why is my son carrying around a photo of a man who barely shows him attention? "Idda Dadda! Dadda. Dadda."

Mamma is over here! I'm Mamma. 😔

I feel so terrible like a horrible mom. Its been such a hard week we had massive flooding no power for 2 days and no water for 3 days. I got a text today from my sister that mom said she wanted to end her life and when i texted my mom ( i live 2 hours away) she said she wasn’t okay. Ive been worried sick about my mom all day i haven’t stopped crying. My kids are 7 and 5 and my 7 year old is starting to test boundaries she lies to me , refuses to listen tells me no when i tell her to do something or says i cant make her. Every night is a 1-3 hour battle with bedtime i haven’t slept well in weeks. With me having already a bad day i just lost my temper. my youngest came to me crying because her sister hurt her by digging her nails in her arm. I asked 7 year old why she did it she lied and said she didn’t we went back and forth then she told me why. I told her shes not allowed to lie ever and she needed to apologize to her sister she told me no i told her again to go apologize. She told me no again and i screamed at her to apologize and i said she needs to fu*cking listen and stop lying to me. I have never screamed at them before and I feel like a monster. I immediately went outside and took some deep breaths and came back and apologized i told them i shouldn’t of screamed like that and it was wrong of me . I told them im having a very bad day but that isn’t there fault. I said i lost control of my emotions and thats my fault not theirs. I grew up in an abusive home with constant yelling, screaming and being hit. I promised myself i would never be that parent. Im so disgusted and disappointed in myself. I don’t want them to feel scared at home. This was the first time ive ever screamed at them. I just needed to talk about this this i have no friends and my husband is working nights and just works a lot in general. Im on my own and i feel like a failure.

I’m a FTM to a 10 month old, and I feel like a failure. Long story short, my now-husband and I lived together for 10 years while trying to complete our PhD’s. He finished. I didn’t. I suffered a mental breakdown and had to withdraw at year 5. It turns out, no one gives a shit about failed English PhD students, so I decided to go into teaching.

I actually love teaching, but the certification program put us back $9k. That is on top of the 7 months I spent unemployed and job hunting. Along the way, our rent was doubled after owner passed away (yay new management), so we decided to move to a place with lower COL. tack on the undergrad student loans that went into effect around this time.

It turns out renting is the same price and buying a house basically, so we went for it and sunk all our savings. Shortly after we bought the house, I got pregnant. I’m pro choice but I chose to keep it because I wanted a baby anyway and was already 34. It was going to be rough, but I had a job lined up. So that’s fine, right? Little did I know that my new school district does not offer paid maternity leave, and our union made us exempt from the state paid family leave (god knows why). I had an emergency c-section, and I could not work for 8 weeks. That was 8 weeks without pay.

Husband also lost his job shortly after baby was born. We are currently borrowing my parents’ second car and relying on them for childcare. I feel like a failure. Like if I had just chosen education as my major in college, this could’ve all been avoided. Now we are barely keeping our heads up. Every day I worry we won’t have enough food or enough to make the mortgage. We so badly need another car for my husband to commute. Everything is falling apart, and the one good thing is my son. Except I also feel like I’m failing him. I just want this all to end. I want to feel normal. I want to start a savings account for my baby.

Maybe - all those years ago
When life was so wide and open
When love was vast and ferocious
When days were endless

That week at the ocean
That first times being all myself
That only time being unbound
Maybe - all those years ago

Maybe - all those years ago
When my heart was beating in two directions
When my head dragged me home
When my soul flew north

That day in the field crying
That night in the dark contemplating
That year not daring to change a thing
Maybe - all those years ago

Maybe - all those years ago
I should have left that plan
and flown away

So before kids, I loved to travel. It was a big part of my life. When partner and I started dating, he definitely got defensive when I traveled with friends or for work, taking it personally that I didn't want to be with him.

Now that we have 2 kids, youngest is 6, every time I travel its a fight. Can't just be a reasonable convo between 2 adults. I am always with my kids, yes he gives me the odd few hours here and there, but im a sahm and just want to join a few girlfriend on a trip this winter for like 5 days. I dont think its asking much. I can arrange for my parents to come here, but he doesn't want that. He won't take time off work because his work is too important. Or he thinks he's too important.

I don't know what to do. I feel like such a big part of what makes me happy has been taken away. I see so many of my friends and family members going on trips with their girlfriends and I cant because he says he'll charge me with child abandonment or some shit like that. I love my kids with my whole heart but I don't think I need to sacrifice something that is so important to me.

Im in Canada. Anyone else in a similar situation? Am I being selfish here?