i have been married 3yrs, At 6mon. we were in a car accadent i was in a WC for 1yr. just when i was starting to feel better my FIL started going down hill. the MIL is in the NH she had a stroke 7yrs ago.so i feel like i take care of the entire family. anyway i will get to the point. my MIL sister is having a party this weekend for her and her husbands 60 wedding anniv. I got a van with a lift,Dr. ok,new outfit. im even having her hair cut and colored. the only problem with my plan is that i need my husbands help. he tells me last nit that he cant make it. he is going HUNTTING
Aren't you????!!!!
This is his mother you're taking to join in his auntie's celebration. You have made all the arrangements. You have done all the work. All he has to do is: turn up. And all of a sudden he has a prior engagement? Come on, you're kidding.
I'm dying to know: what did you say that you think you should still apologise for?!
my family threw a 75th b-day party for my mother a few years ago. as the date approached she could sense how much i dreaded such a gathering with the fish faced relatives and she excused me in advance from attending the party. she excused me from her funeral in advance too. i showed my love with homemade bread and broccoli chowder-- every day.
Yes, Husband needs his play time. You need some play time, too. And those are issues the two of you need to discuss without anger and come up with some ways each of you can have some personal time off as well as some time together as a couple.
Meanwhile, if he is not going to be available to help you get his mother and father to the party, he needs to arrange for someone else to help you. Finding a personal care attendant to work on a weekend on such short notice may not be easy, but it needs to be done and he is the one who needs to do it. Or he could decide to cut his hunting weekend short and do the right thing.
Sometimes in anger we say things we regret. If that is the case, sure, apologize. But don't apologize for being angry.
Your marriage has unfortunately gotten off to a rocky start, hasn't it? To save your marriage as well as your sanity you and Husband need to work together toward better arrangements for care of his family. It may be helpful to get some marriage counseling. That's a long term approach. Short term, insist that he arrange for or provide some help in getting his parents to the party.
However, it is incredibly immature and insulting to spring the hunting trip on farmerswife4 at the last minute, after all the time-consuming prep is done. Now MIL has a new dress and a new hairdo and a van has been obtained and everyone is looking forward to a very special party and NOW he mentions that he won't be going? Sorry, dude, that is just not acceptable ... not acceptable behavior toward his parents, and certainly not acceptable behavior as a husband. In my opinion, the least he can do at this point is arrange some help so his mother can honor her sister's special event.
One of my granddaughters married an I-hate-parties guy. She was apologizing that he wouldn't be coming to some family event. I emailed her back and said as long as Pete was a good husband and a good father, he didn't have to be a good party-goer as far as I was concerned. That was for them to work out. They have. In the long run, this might be something farmerswife4 and her Husband need to work out, if it is an issue for them.
But in the short run, Husband needs to take responsibility for his wife and parents to attend that party, whether he chooses to attend or not!
My husband HATES these types of events and would prefer to have a root canal rather than attend - especially if it's MY family (my family doesn't drink - his family is a bunch of alcoholics). I would never assume he wanted to go to something unless I specifically ASKED him if we were going to go.
Is this hunting trip an annual thing (like deer season) or is it something he could do anytime?
Here is where I was making my mistakes: I needed to remember that my husband was raised by these people so this is normal to him....not to me, so I react differently to this ridiculousness.
Did your MIL baby your husband? In some families the woman will run everything while men just go about their business, the boys never are "schooled" on how to be an involved husband. That's not an excuse for poor husbandry, just another way for you to understand he probably is just blind to your needs and his lack of involvement.
My husband felt like it was easier to stay out of the way and when he got really honest with himself he admitted that he just didn't want to deal with it.
I stopped going to their house (which is my husband's house that they bailed on taxes on) and when MIL was left to her own devices she did exactly what I said all along....she's thriving as a survivor instead of living as a victim.
Working, driving, living!!
Either put your foot down, clearly, calmly and lovingly.....walk away from the deep involvement of care giving (ie: husband's responsibility)......or live with it.
I'll be thinking about you and your family and please never forget how important your role as "wife" is and that it is a partnership.
I now enjoy talking with MIL instead of dreading it and it feels good.
I always apologized for how I handled the situation. I made it clear however that I was NOT sorry for how I felt. By phrasing it like that, I feel you apologize for the mistake you made without backing down from your position.
You haven't been married long, but I would certainly speak up as you have last night and now while you are calmer; tell him outright your feelings, and that he is hurting his FIL and MIL, aunt and uncle. Further, that the burden of care and managing FIL/MIL is falling to you and going forward you expect more hands on involvement from him.
I don't know if there is another side to this such as "husband told you in the first place he didn't want to go and advised you not to go to all the trouble" -- but being that you are a good person and thought in-laws would enjoy it you proceeded anyway....-- if that is the case, then you might have to eat your words....
Regardless, for the sake of your marriage and caregiving going forward; while you are calm, ask him to sit down and have an honest conversation over coffee, glass of wine, dessert, whatever and tell him how you feel and openly discuss both your expectations for future caregiving and care managing of the inlaws or others in the family (including your own parents or loved ones) should the time come.