Anonymous wrote:I'm hurt by something husband said, and wonder how other people would feel in this case.
My husband was talking about the many reasons he's unhappy: too much stress and bullshit, too little time and money to enjoy life.
I wanted to point out something that's going well and pointed out that our babe (21 months old) is doing really well. She's happy, confident, healthy, friendly and curious and well-behaved. I truly believe that she's doing as well as she is because of the way she spends her days. I meant to say that a silver lining is that his hard work allows me to stay home, and I in turn go out of my way to provide what babe needs to develop so well.
And he said no, she would've been just as fine if we sent her to daycare as an infant. Meaning that I get no thanks or even recognition for making sure that babe's days are filled with exploration, animals, friends, encouragement, etc, etc. It just feels like such an insult and slap in the face. Would this upset you, or mean little to you?
Your DD would have gotten all of same experiences in a quality daycare center so I would not focus on those. Think about what you give her that a well-trained and well- compensated caregiver could not. List those for your DH. Remember nothing that can be outsourced.
I find that men are very, very concrete in general. Shortly after my partner moved in, I became very ill and stopped working for about 150 days. I had short term disability insurance paying my share of the bills, but it was hard for him to adjust initially to the fact that there were "good days" when I was home all day. We were in pre-marital counseling and our therapist did this great thing by having me describe how a "good day" at home was contributing to my recovery and our quality of life meanwhile. I listed everything. For example, using my energy to wash my hair myself instead of waiting to be driven to the salon; saving my energy so we could make love that night. Getting that list of things that could not be done on a "bad day", changed how he saw my time at home.