I feel quite out of place on this website because the women here seem so different and have careers/houses but I thought I'd try this.
I dropped out of college when I was 18 because I was depressed, and worked 2 minimum wage hospitality jobs. I met my boyfriend at 18 too, and we've been together nearly 6 years and have a daughter who's almost 1. I left work after I finished my maternity leave because the plan was to stay at home with our daughter and complete an online degree, while he works (a minimum wage job).
I won't go into details but I'm so upset in this relationship. I feel so alone. I don't have family and my few friends don't live nearby. My boyfriend doesn't treat me nicely; he speaks to me like crap, he's lazy both at home and career-wise (complains about his job but refuses to look for one with sociable hours), he's awful with money, he constantly snaps and shouts at me, he sits on his phone and ignores me and our daughter a lot of the time. He just doesn't care about me and although it makes me sad, I've just had to accept it.
What am I supposed to do? My course is meant to start in a couple of months. If I cancel that and work full time in fast food, maybe I can afford to leave him and live in a crappy 1 bedroom flat with no money left over and even then, how would I afford childcare? I really wanted to get this degree and get out of hospitality and get a salaried job and provide for my daughter. But instead I have no money, no family, and I feel so sad.
I'm sorry for how long this was. I just feel so trapped. I'm in a small, expensive southern town with nothing to do and I feel so lonely and tired and like I'm not giving me daughter a good life. Do I just grin and bear it? If not, how do I get out?