Thanks for the comments ladies. They helped.
You guys whose wives actually talk to you and pay attention to you what is that like? Can tell you that when your spouse refuses to talk to you, never shares with you, you're on your own when you have the flu, and communicates that divorce is a certainty when the kids finish school - it's a mighty cold life.
Originally Posted by Guest15000
I'm sorry, but I'm not going to agree with a bunch of the others here. Especially after reading this.
You aren't married to someone being "mean" dude, and this has jack to do with her being your wife specifically. You're in what sounds like a relationship that's already been over for a while and you (and she) are just refusing to do anything about it right now. The only advice you need to think very hard about is
GET OUT. Stop whining about it. If you need to go see a therapist or something-- and I'll concede that the providers here can qualify... a few have certainly been therapudic for me-- to keep from falling into the pit that is whining, then do it. But at the same time work on your exit strategy. Talk to a financial planner or someone you trust who is familiar with finances to walk you through it.
To the whiners about losing half, again I'm sorry but suck that shit up and let the half go. You have two main choices: you either let the half-ish (for christsakes talk to a lawyer, because it doesn't have to be
half) of what you have go and walk away, being done with it;
OR you continue in a relationship that you very obviously hate, that leads to little more than resentment and frustration for you (and probably your SO), and remains as an all around soul sucking experience for however many years or decades you're willing to deal with it. There may be subsets to those choices depending on specifics of your situation (which are your own business), but those two are the main choices you must take the initiative and make.
I can sympathize, dude. Marriage went sour, sex and passion and intimacy dried up, and we very obviously didn't much care for spending time around each other. I found I was resenting her more and more, which just made me feel guilty since she wasn't doing anything outright
wrong per se, I was just feeling taken for granted and emotionally blaming her. It was a crappy cycle of self-flagellation and inaction while th relationship just got shittier for probably years longer than it should have. So I get how you're feeling...
Take if from me:
LEAVE, or begin planning your exit right now. That's the best thing you can do for you, it's the best thing you can do for her, and as long as you can remain a grown-up about it the two of you can make it just fine for your kids as well.
But this blaming wives for being wives? Pity seeking excuses. Whining that men are simple? Complete BS-- us guys are more emotional wrecks than even the most stereotypical woman, we just pretend we're all John Wayne about it.
By the way: it's cool if you have to get mad at me for saying this stuff. It's one of the stages you're going to need to work through to make it past. But I'm not telling you anything you don't already know deep down and need to have said to you by a complete stranger anyway. You either need to work that shit out with the spouse or get gone. You know this intellectually even if your feels are getting in the way. Commit to one or the other and get working on it.
Do you know what our parents and grandparents and so on got for their lives of staying together "for the children"? They got higher blood pressure, shorter life spans, abusive relationships, and kids that were every bit as fucked up as they were. The good old days were rarely as good as we'd like to be nostalgic about.