She's ready to move on

[Michael Mc C]

H4C - I have to say you've been an inspiration to me, as have many of the folks here. I thought having my wife stay in the house with the rest of the family would be beneficial to all of us and to our sitch. It seemed that it was with the first OM go around but this time it's too stressful.

In any conversation that we have that has each of us on different sides of the fence (anything, it could be about when the kids should be in bed), the moment I try to tell her my opinion it becomes "an argument". She feels that everything I say is a fight and I need to raise the flag and tell her "I am not arguing with you. I have a different opinion." She wants me to be the 'angry Michael' or the 'controlling Michael' in her mind. This is my theory anyway. Much easier to walk away from that than the person I really am.

Thanks for the advice. She has already agreed to the items that she will have to be responsible for financially and has said that she would like to contribute to the household as well. I am going to present her with the items I feel she should contribute to (taxes, groceries since I'll have the kids and ALL 10 pets (10 of them!!), etc.)

Oh, and in case you're wondering:
2 Dogs (black lab and a pug)
6 Cats
1 Guinea Pig
1 Fish

Both dogs were introduced to the household by my wife, 4 of the cats were add-ons that she fell in love with, the GP belongs to D11 and the fish was a gift to my W from her brother.