Barrybran - [Insert Original Thread Title Here]

[Barrybran]

Justiceu venting here...

Today was the day of the local races and my wife went along while I attended an appointment two hours away before coming back for work. She arranged a babysitter and all was taken care of. My wife prearranged for me to take her home after work and I told the kids what the plan was.

After work I look through two bars for my wife and settle on sending her a text message to find out whether I'm still taking her home or not. She decides to stay out so I head home to relieve the babysitter. My son was supposed to be in bed and despite getting home late, I had to explain to him that my wife wouldn't be home before he fell asleep. As expected, he wasn't too happy about that.

Fast forward two and a half hours and my wife sends me a text message to ask if the kids were asleep. Its 11:15pm and they'd been asleep for three hours. She then asks if I could go and get her. As far as I knew, my wife was only a three minute drive away. The kids wouldn't have woken up but I felt uncomfortable leaving them in case one woke up; especially when it involves someone's poor planning. I expressed that I wasn't comfortable leaving the kids and she found her own way home.

I'm glad my wife is going out and having fun. I don't like when it upsets the kids when one thing is said and another thing happens. I felt that asking me to leave the kids was thoughtless too. Maybe I'm making too much of it but it didn't sit well with me; I felt it was irresponsible.

So that's my gripe over. My wife starts training for her new job next Monday. She is gathering things she needs for her new house and we are heading over as a family on Wednesday to look at some properties. The search quickly moved from 1- and 2-bedroom units to 3- and 4- bedroom houses. My wife has remarked that she sees us all in the new town before school begins in February. We'll see how things go with her on her own first.

I'm actually looking forward to this little period. I feel that it's a great chance for the kids and I to bond, for my wife and other family members to see that I can handle the kids and house on my own and it'll be a huge achievement for me if I make it through the next University trimester with good results having played Mr Mum for three months, working, keeping the house in order, making trips up to see my wife, packing the house up and finding time for my own activities. There is a bit of a bogey as far as how my kids behave. They have been worse since the news broke but I don't know if they've actually been worse or if my wife and I are more aware of their poor behaviour since the job offer came. The kids don't usually give me much grief when my wife isn't around and I'm expecting some teething problems before settling into a positive routine. I expect their behaviour to take a massive downward swing when my wife is around and I'll be on the lookout for any negative reaction from my son at school. All in all, it'll be a big test for everyone. I'm looking forward to it though. Hopefully my wife senses the loss she's supposed to have. If she doesn't, we'll get a taste of the future over the next couple of months. Either way, I'm prepared and feeling upbeat about it though I look forward to us reuniting under one roof as a family.