Cliff notes: live with partner and our two children (both under 3), and partner's elderly father. Partner is currently on long term sick from work and is facing the sack now (we're fighting it but it's a real possibility that he will lose his job). As it stands, I'm a SAHM who stopped working shortly after kids were born as nursery fees were not within our budget. I had plans to take advantage of free child care but that went on the back burner during the thick of the pandemic as I knew that spaces were for children of key workers and I didn't want to take up space or add any unnecessary risk to health.
Fast forward to now, I had an idea for a business I can start from home. It's a solid idea, I'm positive it could earn me a living wage and therefore allow me to continue caring for my children before and after school age, as well as bring in an income which could prove to be extra useful if partner loses his job.
Partner has said he thinks the idea is good. He started out buying materials for me to create the product and since then I have managed to secure some extra money and purchase everything else I need. I have everything down, I know what I'm doing. But during the day, I can't do anything productive.
Partner promises me daily that he will be more vigilant with DC whilst I'm in the throes of making things as I can't get up mid way. But just as I sit down to work, he loads up a game on his computer or starts doing something that means that he cannot get up on a moment's notice. It's started to feel like I'm being silly thinking I could actually make my idea work. When I tell him that I'm confused about why he's become engrossed with something when I sit down to work, he gets upset and closes his computer with a 'oh fine I won't bother then' approach. Over time, I started waiting until DC went to sleep and working until about 7am to get what I can done. Obviously it's not ideal and I get tired, and then partner says that I should get more sleep and work during the day. When I tell him I haven't been able to, he says that he will help more. Then rinse and repeat, the same stuff happens every day.
He's unwell and facing job loss. Of course he's not in the best place mentally. So I don't know what I should reasonably expect to ask for in a situation like this. Up until my business idea, the only thing I did every day was cleaning, cooking, and taking kids out for long walks. My life was not focused on anything else but keeping the house running. I feel that I could be totally wrong to expect any more than I'm getting. He does get defensive when I start to show cracks and tell him I need more, he gets upset and has mentioned a couple of times that I seem to expect the world to stop for me now that I have something I want to do. My long term plan is now to register DC for childcare and work when they are at nursery. But honestly, the process of having to drop everything so that partner can play his game has lead me to feel like I'm deluded for even thinking I can make something of myself with a business. I need to know if I'm being a diva, and what I should reasonably expect 