Please pray for me!

FrustratedMan

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My wife and I have 2 children; a 12 year old and a 10 year old.

My problem is that whenever my wife gets upset, which can be unpredictable and often, she ignores me and the children completely, for weeks.

She locks herself in the room and ignores me completely, and the children most of the time, when we try to talk to her. She does not cook, wash clothes, or do anything at all in the house of for any of us during these times. She goes in and out without saying hello or goodbye. When she’s really bad, she has kicked our dog, and always pushes him away. He has learned to avoid her, when she’s in her mood.

if she chooses to ignore me, that is bad enough but I don’t understand her rejecting our children.

Even when she is not upset, I cannot rely on her to collect the children from school. I feel like she accepts the children rather than wants to be around them. I’m working from home and have meetings most of each day. Yet, in spite of her finishing her work nearby at 2:30 pm, I have to leave work to go out twice each afternoon to collect them from their respective schools, even though she walks past both of their schools on the way home. I often arrive at my sons school, as she’s passing by.

In the mornings, I get the children ready for school, while she remains in bed. Then last minute she gets up and then tells whoever still hasn’t showered, that they have to wait because she can’t be late for her morning job.
She shows no interest in their school work or extra curricular activities; all of which I manage. I cook everyday tidy the house. It’s as though she is not there in our lives.
I don’t know what to do. I can’t sleep. I have so much resentment towards her inside but don’t show anything as I don’t want my children to see what I’m feeling.

if I had the money, I’d buy a second home for us to go to when her behaviour is at its worst. As I said, i can accept her being bad towards me but I don’t understand her attitude towards the children. Example: One day when I was on a work conference call in my home office, while she was watching tv, I received a call to say my son, then 6 years old, was waiting for someone to pick him up. I rushed off to get him. When we came back, she did not apologise or try to comfort him. What mother does that?

it’s almost 5am and I’ve been up since 2am. My wife is asleep in the living room. She has not spoken to us for about 7 days. As usual, I have no idea why.
 
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disciple Clint

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My wife and I have 2 children; an 12 year old and a 10 year old.

my problem is that whenever my wife gets upset, which can be unpredictable and often, she ignores me and the children for weeks.

She locks herself in the room and ignores us when we try to talk to her. She does not cook, wash clothes, or do anything at all in the house of for any of us. She goes in and out without saying hello or goodbye. Even our dog has learned to avoid her.

if she chooses to ignore m, that is bad enough but I don’t understand her rejecting our children.

Even when she is not upset, I cannot rely on her to collect the children from school. I’m working from home and have to go out twice each afternoon to collect them from their respective schools.

In the mornings, I get the children ready for school, while she remains in bed. Then last minute she gets up and then tells whoever still hasn’t showered that they have to wait because she can’t be late for her morning job.
She shows no interest in their school work or extra curricular activities; all of which I manage. I cook everyday tidy the house. It’s as though she is not there in our lives.
I don’t know what to do. I can’t sleep. I have so much resentment towards her inside but don’t show anything as I don’t want my children to see what I’m feeling.

if I had the money, I’d buy a second home for us to go to when her behaviour is at its worst. As I said, o can accept her being bad to me but I don’t understand her attitude towards the children. One day when I was was on a work conference call in my home office, while she was watching tv, I received a call to say my son, then 6 years old, was waiting for someone to pick him up. I rushed off to get him. When we came back, she did not apologise or try to comfort him. What mother does that?

it’s almost 5am and I’ve been up since 2am. My wife is asleep in the living room. She has not spoken to us for about 7 days. As usual, I have no idea why.
Encourage your wife to see her doctor, this could be a medical issue caused by chemical imbalance due to internal organ issues.
 
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FrustratedMan

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Encourage your wife to see her doctor, this could be a medical issue caused by chemical imbalance due to internal organ issues.
If and when she talks to me again, I’ll suggest that but doubt she’ll listen.

I’m tired of constantly trying to placate her by making her hot drinks, taking her food to her, etc. I get nothing back.

Sometimes, she interacts with the children when she is in her normal mood but it almost seems to be reluctant.

She’s been like this for years. Very unpredictable. I cannot book things in advance as I don’t know what she’ll be like on the day. I’ve had to cancel flights, dinners, trips to the theatre, etc. I even missed a family wedding because of her.
 
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disciple Clint

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If and when she talks to me again, I’ll suggest that but doubt she’ll listen.

I’m tired of constantly trying to placate her by making her hot drinks, taking her food to her, etc. I get nothing back.

Sometimes, she interacts with the children when she is in her normal mood but it almost seems to be reluctant.

She’s been like this for years. Very unpredictable. I cannot book things in advance as I don’t know what she’ll be like on the day. I’ve had to cancel flights, dinners, trips to the theatre, etc. I even missed a family wedding because of her.
are you familiar with the word enabling? Nothing is going to change until it has to change.
 
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FrustratedMan

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Yes, of course I’ve enabled her to become who she is but there are reasons for that. Most of the reasons relate to my children and the others relate to me hoping that things will improve if I try to be the best I can be for her as a husband and father, in spite of her behaviour.
 
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disciple Clint

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Yes, of course I’ve enabled her to become who she is but there are reasons for that. Most of the reasons relate to my children and the others relate to me hoping that things will improve if I try to be the best I can be for her as a husband and father, in spite of her behaviour.
If someone is not well you are unlikely to heal them by being nice to them, she sounds like she needs real professional help, she likely does not even understand what is going on herself. You may need to explain to her how she has changed and how unhappy she seems to be, ask her if she would like to be happier and feel better everyday. Try to keep it focused on the benefits for her and avoid telling her how she is affecting the rest of the family, you do not what denial or guilt from her.
 
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FrustratedMan

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I agree with you. she is hard headed and will definitely cut off her nose the spite her own face. She gets very entrenched and refuses to give in. I always concede because I’m mindful of what the children would otherwise hear and see. I think she is well aware that I will do anything to prevent my children being more upset.


On the rare occasions I’ve been able to talk to her, I focussed on her and what she wants. She never answers in a constructive way. Just says that there is no point. That’s been the response since day 1. I’ve spent hours asking what is wrong, with her crying, not answering, getting angry, occasionally shouting at me, and storming into a room and slamming the door.

I know she misses her home country. We travel there every couple of years. I’ve twice bought her tickets to visit but she did not go.

I always have to be careful as she is unpredictable. She once packed her things and moved out and within 30 mins had transferred all our money from our bank account, leaving me unable to pay the mortgage and the children’s school fees.
 
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Deade

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Hello FrustratedMan,
welcome to CF.

I hope you'll enjoy your stay here.


View attachment 289568

6e9bc8edb91dd8a57a4e1f3daa219b9c.gif
 
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BNR32FAN

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My wife and I have 2 children; an 12 year old and a 10 year old.

my problem is that whenever my wife gets upset, which can be unpredictable and often, she ignores me and the children for weeks.

She locks herself in the room and ignores us when we try to talk to her. She does not cook, wash clothes, or do anything at all in the house of for any of us. She goes in and out without saying hello or goodbye. Even our dog has learned to avoid her.

if she chooses to ignore m, that is bad enough but I don’t understand her rejecting our children.

Even when she is not upset, I cannot rely on her to collect the children from school. I’m working from home and have to go out twice each afternoon to collect them from their respective schools.

In the mornings, I get the children ready for school, while she remains in bed. Then last minute she gets up and then tells whoever still hasn’t showered that they have to wait because she can’t be late for her morning job.
She shows no interest in their school work or extra curricular activities; all of which I manage. I cook everyday tidy the house. It’s as though she is not there in our lives.
I don’t know what to do. I can’t sleep. I have so much resentment towards her inside but don’t show anything as I don’t want my children to see what I’m feeling.

if I had the money, I’d buy a second home for us to go to when her behaviour is at its worst. As I said, o can accept her being bad to me but I don’t understand her attitude towards the children. One day when I was was on a work conference call in my home office, while she was watching tv, I received a call to say my son, then 6 years old, was waiting for someone to pick him up. I rushed off to get him. When we came back, she did not apologise or try to comfort him. What mother does that?

it’s almost 5am and I’ve been up since 2am. My wife is asleep in the living room. She has not spoken to us for about 7 days. As usual, I have no idea why.

I will definitely pray for you and your family. I’m sure it’s obvious that your wife is in a depression and you really need to talk to her and find out why. You can’t fix the problem if you don’t know what’s broken brother.
 
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FrustratedMan

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I will definitely pray for you and your family. I’m sure it’s obvious that your wife is in a depression and you really need to talk to her and find out why. You can’t fix the problem if you don’t know what’s broken brother.
Thank you so much. Yes, you are right. I was hoping to try to connect with her today; I bought an Indian takeaway for us all but she declined to eat and went out instead.
 
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look4hope

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Hey there. As I’m reading your post, I’m realizing you and I have something in common- kids exactly the same age.
With that, I can say it is difficult to manage and deal with a spouse that’s not letting you help, when there are many other things you need to take care of, like your children, house chores and work. All that crumbled together along with figuring out the mystery of your wife’s unpredictable(or predictable) demeanor.
With out reading others replies and advice, I’m wondering how long has this been happening from the time you got married. How often, how long does it last and how do family members react to the situation.
I am not a doctor by any means, but some times little things can help figure out a solution. Clinical depression could be a persons best guess, but like I said....
 
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FrustratedMan

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Thank you look4hope.

I guess in many subconscious ways, I was aware of her mental fragility because when she first arrived in the UK I almost killed myself minimising the risk of her being home sick and or depressed.

we had the plan that she would take time to adjust and then work. But shortly after her arrival, we discovered that she was already pregnant.

Fortunately, I had thought about her being away from her family, and had found many people from her country that she was chatting with before she even arrived here She was surrounded by lots of good friends that really loved her and our child.

but as I said, I protected her because I knew that she could not cope well with setbacks of any degree. On one occasion, o did not take my meds and that resulted in her first major meltdown. She did not talk with me for about 3 days. Me not taking my meds became a bigger thing than I could have imagined.
For the first 2 years I did all the cooking, and was the one that woke and was up most nights with my daughter during the first 6 months, as I knew my wife did not cope well with a lack of sleep. Eventually, the stress lead to me having stress related illnesses which I kept from her. I suspect that she then took me for granted.

Anyway, I’m rambling. regarding friends and family, they think she’s always tired and in bed which is why she is mostly not with me when I’m out with the children. I tell them that she has anaemia, which is true.

I’m in bed with the children watching tv. I cannot even remember when she spoke with me last. She bought some cakes for the children yesterday, which was nice.
 
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look4hope

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Without having to be too nosy, I’ll just suggest/advice a few things, friend. Hopefully, they can be some sort of assistance with the situation.

IF there is a high possibility of all of this causing harm to the children and herself, and you, mentally and physically...please I beg you to seek for help. The hardest part is that first step I know, but it must be done before anything else. It could be reaching out to a trusted doctor, family member, a friend or anyone in particular that you can trust and open up.
If the severity isn’t high, you can also consider help from a counselor. Not physiologist, as they tend to go straight to medication instead of actually listening. I know with COVID, any frustrating situation like this will be extra harder to handle. And it could add to the friction already there, but trying is the key. Trying at least for a positive outcome, with love in your heart.
 
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FrustratedMan

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Thank you again. I appreciate your suggestions. When she decides to talk to me I will definitely suggest the counselling. Family members and friends would not be appropriate. Not sure whether that will put her back in her slump but will try.
 
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