I have been going for therapy over the last year. It has been an interesting process for me (and one that was necessary following a traumatic incident that happened to me).
What has come out quite clearly from therapy is that I downplay my needs/emotions in the relationship whereas dh is the polar opposite and expresses every little thing. So for example, if he has had a difficult day, he will come home and moan about it endlessly - if he is unhappy, he will be sure to let everyone know (and I am the sort of person who responds quite positively and works through problems with dh and helps him fix them). If I am upset/unhappy, I have tended to downplay it for the sake of the family, if that makes sense, so that the time we spend together is happy and I might mention it but downplay it.
I have begun making changes and starting to tell dh when I'm unhappy or things are going wrong. He isn't used to this and rather than offering a kind ear (which I hoped he would ), he gets all defensive and it ends up in row. So I am very tired as dh was snoring and then had a tough day at work so I came back and spoke to dh about it and he asked why I was tired and I told him and he says 'well what do you want me to do about it?!' (aggressively).
It's not quite working out how I had hoped lol or maybe I am thinking too much of how I would respond (with a kind ear) and this is starting to make me resent dh as I feel I'm making an effort and he's just being an arse. Or am I asking too much?
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Relationships
How do you handle one of you changing quite a bit over the years?
4 replies
MargyBargy · 12/10/2009 21:03
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