Hello. I am newly engaged. We’ve been together almost 5 years though so there is definitely history. A recurring theme in our relationship has been selfishness on his part. Things seemed to get better before I got pregnant, but now that she’s here we’ve regressed so much. Yesterday I suggested that we try to be more intentional about having fun together and getting out of the house as a family and just the two of us. I was met with frustration and concern about how hard that would be. He literally told me that he can’t be himself with me and it just feels like extra work when all he wants is the opportunity to zone out and have more time for himself. In his defense, he was willing to do it, but his attitude threw me off completely. I really don’t know if he even likes being a father and I’m confused as to why he even wants to get married. I know people need their personal time and space especially after a baby. I’m the mom I carry most of the parental weight and I work full-time.. He definitely gets more personal time than I do and still at the mention of us spending more time together all he can talk about is how he wishes he just had more time for himself by himself. Now I’m so confused. Should we even be getting married? Is this a normal thing that men go through? How could he want to marry someone who he doesn’t even feel comfortable just being himself around? Our baby is seven months by the way.
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Oh I can definitely understand how you feel. This is more common than you might think. Are you familiar with the concept of attachment styles? It could be that he is naturally more avoidant and your requests for connection feel overwhelming to him. Or perhaps there is some underlying resentment that he hasn’t expressed.
Either way, your concerns are super valid and I would definitely not ignore what’s happening and how you are feeling.
Maybe start with a more general conversation about how he feels in the relationship. I have a great resource that can get you started:
https://drchavonne.com/checklist/
thank you!