It was heartbreaking to me to see him lavish the love on the dog which he was mostly incapable of lavishing on our family
I completely feel you on this. The way my lavishes attention on our dog is heartbreaking. There were days when he barely acknowledged me (not so much as a hello or a goodbye) but he would always sit on the steps when he arrived/left and play with our dog. He also started coming around every day and taking her for long walks (apparently because he didn't trust me to do it). On days he has the children, he even brings them back here so he can take our dog for a walk. It hurt at first. All that love shown to everyone but me. I get it now though - it felt awkward for him being here, so it was easier to focus his attention on our dog than have to deal with the tension in the room. An excuse to be here. Our dog didn't stare at him with hurt accusatory eyes. She wasn't seeking explanations. She just loved him. Anyway, I don't think it is the same anymore. Coming here and taking her for a walk is habit now as opposed to him being lonely and wanting to be back in familiar surroundings. Anyway, something to think about next time you watch your H lavishing attention on his puppy. It's not about you, it's about them not knowing what to do when they are around you. A form of fidgeting, if you will.
Isn't it strange how the issues that pop up with younger men are never issues with younger women. It's such a topic of conversation ... whenever anyone approaches me on an app who is younger, the "age" thing creeps up round about the third or so message or it hangs over the entire conversation thread like a silent balloon ("this might be fun for a while, but it has no future"). Even when you take things day by day it still lingers, like a bad smell you can't shake. I was dating a 25 year old last year. We got on brilliantly, liked the same things etc. But I never introduced him to my friends, and he never introduced me to his. It was like a kind of dirty secret. In all honesty, he WAS too young.
Anyway, wanted to say thanks for stopping by my thread. I'm sorry that you were thrown the other day. But I can see that, like me, these little set backs don't really set you back for long. A little bump in the road, a quiet tear, then back to getting on with it. Stay strong Dilly.
