Sunday he gave me the "I'm confused" conversation. The previous night we had family over for our oldest's birthday. I went for a walk, and he assumed I was mad at him. I wasn't. I just started feeling anxious (I have GAD), realized I had missed my midday walk, and went. It's just a regular thing I do to manage symptoms. By the time I got back to the house, he had packed a bag and said he was leaving because he wasn't welcome. After untangling that misunderstanding, he was relieved. The rest of the day was good. The next morning we had a pre-planned conversation about goals for our youngest, and, once that was done, I asked if he needed to talk about last night. That was the "I'm confused" conversation. He still beat around the bush, but I can see the gears slowly but surely turning. I just listened then basically called bs on him acting negatively on a conflict he created 100% in his mind. He owned up to it and apologized.
I feel like both of us have made a lot of progress. It may not sound like it here, but, compared to before it's astounding. This is exactly the kind of relationship I always wanted. We used to be more emotionally connected, like years and years ago. It just became more difficult as life got more complicated. But now both of us are doing self care, he's being an actual equal partner and co-parent. We're working as an actual team, and that has never happened. It was the typical, old-fashioned man goes to work and wifey does everything else. Now it's just working.
