Jackie - check out my answer to your post on my thread. Wow - the Wild Animal Park - you were so close to me - that's 20 minutes from my house!
Quote: Sometimes it just seems like someone wants to be grumpy no matter what. So I worked at controlling my reaction. Normally when this happens---H in bad mood, I get grumpy and I take it out on the kids--cranky to them. But, I did slip into that routine and quickly caught myself and rebounded. So, an old dog can learn a new trick.
Wow - this sounds like me. My H would be in a bad mood, I would try to "talk" him out of it, I would get anxious and end up transmitting that to the kids. You know, the truth is many of our spouses are struggling with anxiety/depression issues. It's not rational so trying to "talk" them out of it doesn't help. And if we let ourselves get sucked into their bad mood, it just makes things worse. This is where act as if is so powerful. If we can get ourselves in a great mood, or act as if, we can often pull them out of the vortex and into our good mood!
Also, be careful about reading too much into what H says. Maybe he's anxious to get back to work because he has a lot to do and feels anxious taking a long vacation. Maybe it's what my H's best friend told me when H was seriously depressed and still insisting on going to work every day - he told me that's probably the one place where H feels competent and like he's doing good things for people, so he clings to it.
Or maybe your H just likes structure? Or truly loves his work? Some people find such a good match in their occupations that going to work is like recreation for them.
Did your H feel a lot of pressure on him to plan this vacation? Is that why he got so bummed when one of the attractions wasn't so great? If so, maybe you could plan the next one, or make it a more cooperative venture?
