He’s Divorcing His Wife Because She Asked For An Open Marriage, But Now She’s Calling Him Selfish And A Bad Father Because Their Son Will Be Impacted By The Split
This man and his wife have been together for 9 years and married for 7. They have a 6-year-old son and equally split housework and helping their son with his schoolwork.
Since childhood, his parents taught him that he should always put himself first, and if he felt like something was causing him emotional hardship in his life, he should step away to keep his mental health in check, even if it upset others.
Over the course of their relationship, he and his wife have always been physically affectionate and slept together frequently. The only time they didn’t hook up as often was, understandably, during his wife’s pregnancy and after their son was born.
However, they started sleeping together just as often as they used to later on. He always felt content with how often they hooked up.
“My wife recently asked me to talk. She told me that even though she loves me, she feels that hooking up with me has become a little monotonous,” he said.
At first, he wasn’t hurt by her views, but when his wife continued, she expressed that she was hoping to open their marriage so that they could sleep with other people. She added that he could feel free to hook up with other women if he wanted, assuring him that their marriage and family could remain the same.
He was crushed by his wife’s idea of an open marriage, and she asked that he mull it over before deciding whether to agree to it or not. His wife said she wouldn’t pressure him into something he wasn’t comfortable with.
After their conversation, he asked if she could sleep in their son’s room while he slept in their bedroom because he needed some space. For days, he cried and wondered where to go from here.
“I came to the conclusion that I didn’t want the open marriage and that it was going to disturb my peace as much as possible,” he explained.
Riccardo – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual person
Once he made his decision, he explained to his wife that he would file for divorce if she still wanted to open their marriage. Then, he suggested that she have custody of their son five days a week, and he could have custody on weekends.
His wife protested the option of divorce, stating that she didn’t want to split up and that it wasn’t necessary. She was concerned about how a divorce would impact their son’s life.
“I responded, ‘And why should I care? If it affects me, it’s the important thing for me.’ She didn’t take that very well, and she accused me of being selfish, manipulative, and a bad father,” he shared.
In response, he agreed with his wife that if they divorced, their son would have a tough time, but pointed out that, like other kids, their son would one day adjust to the change. He didn’t see what the issue was when so many other kids had divorced parents.
Later, he expressed to his wife how much he’d cried over her idea of opening their marriage, telling her that he needed calm. He ended the conversation by saying that an open marriage wouldn’t bring him any sense of calm.
It was important to him that he did what was best for him, even if that meant divorce, just like his wife was trying to figure out what was best for her, which was, apparently, an open marriage.
What advice would you give him?
You can read the original post on Reddit here.
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