My Story

[Sunflyer]

Rant warning. I apologize in advance but need to get it off my chest.

Had a bad night last night. Did not sleep well. Came home from work, W was home, her parents there. House was quiet; her mother was doing something on her phone.

I did a few things, came down to the kitchen, MIL said she didn't know I was home and then lit into me for not saying hi when I came in the door. I have had only one argument with this woman in the 25+ years I have known her. I apologized.

FIL was cordial but not as openly friendly as he has been. He bought me dinner, and I thanked him.

Upstairs later before bed, I could hear W and parents talking downstairs.

As I suspected, W did not keep confidence of our situation from my sister at S17's graduation party. Furthermore, she seems to have framed the narrative so that my sister sympathizes with her in leaving the M. The day of the party was also our anniversary. I usually get at least a couple of text messages from her family; I got none. So she has apparently told everyone and is in complete control of the narrative.

They discussed my involvement with the boys, and W continues to maintain it is lacking. She brought up my childhood and how my family was not close-knit. FIL said, "You would think he would have learned from that." She seems to be selling the story that I am repeating the parenting mistakes of my father, and her parents believe it.

She doesn't know what my childhood was like. My father was not hands on, very strict, intolerant of any opinions that didn't match his own, and hardly spoke to my mother except to fight. My mother actually sued him (with my sister's help) to get more support for the family when mom felt he was slacking off. It was ugly.

I am certainly not a perfect father. However, W used to praise my parenting, even to my mother when she was alive. I changed countless diapers, cleaned up vomit, took them to parks, took them to movies (even if I didn't care to see the movie myself). It is me who saw that they were fed and that S13 was driven back and forth while she was at her business events in the evenings recently. S13 had his first track season this spring, and I was at all three home meets. She attended one because (you guessed it) her side hustle called.

"I'll have a better schedule next year," she said. I am not sure how she knows that this early, unless she plans on curtailing work on her business.

"I do everything," she said. She apparently told my sister, "I have tried and tried." I am not sure what she means by that. She certainly didn't try to fix the M. Just lived with her grievances without airing them to me, until she said sayonara.

Oh, and something I should have mentioned previously but forgot: HER PARENTS GAVE US AN ANNIVERSARY GIFT (???!!!)

Seriously, I feel like I am living in crazy town. I am working early and staying at the office afterward to avoid dealing with her. Today she asked me when I would be home, and I said I am not sure. I am staying at the office and trying to maximize time away from the house because it's just not healthy there right now.