I have two boys (6mths and 21mths)whom I look after full-time. I was happy to give up my career to bring them up. However, since becoming a housewife my husband has made no attempt to help with anything domestic (not that he did much before).
My husband leaves for work at 7.30am and if I am lucky he is back by 8pm, but two to three days per week he is out until the early hours marketing. He irons his own shirts and will look after the kids for 2-3hrs at the weekend. He won't get up in the night because he says he will be too tired for work the next day. I have tried to ask him to help more on several occasions and he says he will try harder. Nothing has happened.
He has complained that I don't respect him and that I don't appreciate how hard he has to work. He says that his job requires him to put in long hours. We can't afford much help and neither of our families are willing to assist regularly.
I did go back to work part-time when my eldest was 7mths but my husband considered that my choice and therefore my responsibility to sort out childcare and housework etc on top. He considers his career more important than mine because he earns more money.
As we have two boys I think it is particularly important for my husband to be actively involved in bringing them up. I do not think he is setting them a very good example. Often when he looks after them he just watches sport on TV and falls asleep on the sofa.
I am at the end of my tether and don't know what to do. My husband thinks that women want it all these days and that is not possible. Surely it is not too much to ask for a bit of support and have the ability to work part-time so that you can watch your kids grow up?