Is it mad to end this relationship?

[MforMikeNotVforVauxhall]

Im a single mum, in a 2.5 year relationship which has brought me real happiness, pleasure and light relief after a horrible divorce. My eldest child has been struggling badly in various ways in the last two months and school have now asked for my consent to refer her for screening for ASD (not a total shock to me). My partner hasn’t experienced a bad patch with my child as yet; at first due to me keeping him at arms length and taking things slowly, and then latterly because DC had been doing really well.

this last two months has been chaos and it’s taking everything I have to keep myself,
my job, and my 2 DC afloat and surviving.

i just don’t see the point in being in a relationship anymore. I don’t have the energy to think about texting him, never mind seeing him. I don’t have the mental space to think about what’s going on in his life. It makes me deeply sad to hear about his own DC doing well academically when everyday here is a battle just to get in the school building.

I love him. Every one of my friends who has met us a couple through me, thinks he’s great and so good for me. I agree. But I can’t do
it anymore.

how do parents of kids with ASD maintain romantic relationships?

I don’t even know what my AIBU is. Maybe- is it mad to end something amazing through exhaustion and burn out.

I could have written this myself. I have an autistic child with quite high needs, her dad hasn’t been involved in years so it all falls to me. I also have several chronic illnesses and too unwell to work or do anything outside of the house (to socialise or volunteer etc).

I have been in a relationship for a while with a really wonderful human being who I really do love a lot, but because I constantly feel burnt out, I find that I’m constantly pushing them away to have time to myself to recharge - because I need it to literally survive right now.

It’s lead me to think about ending the relationship, HOWEVER, I think of the positives and how much more difficult life would be without their love and support and that makes us find a way to work through it and keep the relationship going.

Hugs to you OP, I really sympathise 💐