I am incredibly thankful that Preston is not critical of my house keeping or of my looks, and is almost always thankful, and expresses his thanks for the work I do with Grant, and around the home. I know it's not always perfect, but we work with what we've got!!
Many couples who see me for counseling are struggling with the demands of parenting small children. Frequently, the husband works outside the home, in a classic financial provider role, and the wife stays at home with kids under 5. There can be a great deal of conflict when the men criticize their wives, which then often leads to the wives retreating in hurt and anger (and then, of course, not wanting to have sex, among other issues).
In this article, I'm discussing a specific subset of SAHM's: the ones that enjoy being home with the kids, but aren't great at housekeeping or sticking to a routine. The criticism usually doesn't start until the man thinks the wife is "supposed to" be dealing better with things and have her life more under control, so basically anytime after about 3 months post-partum. The older the kids get, the more angry men get when their wives don't seem to "have it together," and then they say things like this: