Am I being unreasonable?

[Doc75]

I am a part time doctor with two preschool children.
My husband goes out to exercise every Sunday at 5pm
and frequently announces he is going for an early morning swim
at 7.30am.These are times that are quite hectic for
working parents.
I am not denying that he doesn't help out at other times but
how should I approach this issue?

Maybe ask him if he could manage the timing a bit better. Can his early morning swim be early enough for him to get back and help you? Can he put off his Sunday exercise until after bedtime? Or do it in the morning when there is less going on?

Mind you, I think exercise is important and should be treated as an essential part of the week, so I don't think he is unreasonable to want to go. Is there anything specific you find hard about the mornings? Can you tell him specific things you would like his help with, so that he knows what needs to be done and when it needs to be done? Or say, you can go swimming, but not til after I have done x, y and z, because I need someone to watch the children while I get it done...

If I am honest I always found mornings with pre-schoolers fairly easy to get through on my own - for me it got fraught when they were supposed to be capable of getting themselves ready but needed SOOO much encouragement and reminding to get on with it...

Just tell him what you've told us...that you need his help at those times and ask him to adjust his exercise schedule.

Discuss it with him then get him to put his exercise times in a calendar and book out any times when you need his help (after negotiating this with him) so that he knows what times he is available to exercise and when he is needed at home. A calendar should demonstrate to him that he actually has lots of other time when he could fit this in.