Last 5 days I have as I said I have gone Dim on my wife, (due to hard to go dark with young kids involved). Well today she texted me about having to fire someone at her business. I listened, validated and then ended the conversation without dragging it on. Felt good. Baby steps.
That's great! Baby steps indeed. I've been getting along well with W as well when we interact. We've been making more and more friendly small talk, but I've been good about not hanging on to too much, ending the conversation first, while keeping PMA.