There are always repairs awaiting attention in any relationship or house. But when used as a measure of the health of a relationship, there is often the aggrieved party and the oblivious party.
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THE OFF PARENT: I write anonymously to shield my ex-wife and children from the anger and pain that are all part of this process. You cannot avoid the hurt. But you can avoid hurting others. The goal is not to be bitter or vindictive. If I can provide some ideas that will help others with their pain, or perhaps point them in the direction of self-recovery, that is great, but that is not my goal. Let me be clear about this: This is not a self-help blog. I am not a daddy blogger. I am the *off* parent and I blog the song of myself from both dark and light rooms.
These posts are being republished by The Good Men Project in a sequence to reflect the three-year process of divorce recovery. The story continues…
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If something is broken, or a lightbulb is out, just fix it. Waiting on repairs as a measure of commitment or caring is a double-edged sword.
A repair is the type of statement offered by one of the two people in a disagreement that is supposed to form a bridge back to wholeness. A repair is a minor chore that involves fixing something. A repair is when the cable is out and you’ve got to schedule time to meet the repairman during the work day, so you can get your tv or high-speed internet working again.
I became more aware of the resentment in these little details as time went on and the veneer began to wear thin on the relationship.
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There are always a few small repairs awaiting attention in any relationship or house. But when used as a measure or a gauge of the health of a relationship, there is often the aggrieved party and the oblivious party. Or, in the case of marriage, the party who is irritated by the burnt out lightbulb or weeds in the yard, and the party who is generally happy, or oblivious of such tragedies.
In our case, I was aware that there was a bulb out in the hall. But it didn’t bother me and the other two worked fine to illuminate the paths of my loved ones. To the ex-y the bulb was an example of my inattention to her. Why didn’t I care enough to want her, or my kids, to have three working lights in the hall? Why, if I knew it bothered her, didn’t I just fix the fucking light?
Wait. What?
I became more aware of the resentment in these little details as time went on and the veneer began to wear thin on the relationship. A dying or overgrown yard was an indication of how I was neglecting her, or showing my lack of love and respect for my entire family. I still get a sad chuckle out of the thought, once voiced in the flurry of an argument, that went something like this:
“If you saw the fucking light bulb was out, why didn’t you fix it?”
“If you were bummed out about the light bulb, why didn’t you just replace it?”
“It’s as if you just don’t care. You’re fine with the whole place going to shit.”
“Um, no. I just wasn’t aware that the lightbulb was that big of a deal. And if it was bugging me it would take less than a minute to fix it.”
“So why didn’t you replace it?”
“It wasn’t bugging me.
“Did you notice it was burned out?”
“Of course.”
“Well why didn’t you fucking fix it?”
“Um. If it was bugging the crap out of you, why didn’t YOU fix it?”
“You just don’t fucking care. About me, or anything.”
“No. I wasn’t aware that the lightbulb was that big a deal.”
“It’s not the lightbulb, it’s everything. It’s always like this.”
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At some point you either dig in your heels and say to yourself, “I’m never changing the fucking lightbulb.” Or, “She can fix the fucking lightbulb herself.” And even when you know the unmowed lawn is bugging her, you don’t mow it. Not out of spite, but because it’s 2 hours in the middle of your potentially productive weekend, and it’s not that big of a deal. Even when you know she’s seething.
I wonder what it was like when she realized when it dawned on her, that she was going to have to fix the fucking lightbulb herself? Or when she decided she needed to learn how to mow the fucking lawn herself on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. Or when she realized, just in the last three months, that working a real full-time job was hell. And that all of those years I was hoofin it off to the cube farm, she might have had a tiny bit more sympathy on a weekend when I just wanted to chill, or nap, or play with the kids.
I remember a point in our final breakdown when I asked her, “How do you think we’re going to be able to afford two houses in this school district?” She wasn’t thinking about me. She could care less if I got to stay near my kids, or near their school. Of course she’d been the one “volunteering” at the elementary school. Because we could afford to have her working part-time or “consulting.”
At some point you either dig in your heels and say to yourself, “I’m never changing the fucking lightbulb.” Or, “She can fix the fucking lightbulb herself.”
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And looking over the tax return together, the last joint tax return we ever filed, she was pretty self-righteous about the fact that her contribution to the income for the year had actually be a negative. “Do you think financial stress had anything to do with our breakup?” I might have asked her. But I didn’t.
Today we struggle along, affording two houses in the affluent district where we pay for good schools for our kids minds and souls. And I’ve scaled way back and down. I’m happy. I’m not complaining.
I think it’s best to not be waiting on repairs, in any of the potential situations. If the disagreement is heated, it’s okay to be the first one to go for the repair. “I’m sorry. You are right. I fucked up.”
In the case of my repair I would be looking for a hug or acknowledgement that we were still connected physically For the ex-y she’d be looking for me to replace burnt out lightbulbs with more consistency and timeliness. I know it sounds trivial, but I don’t think it is. I think it is part of what makes her feel loved. And in this repair I often failed. As we were awash in disagreement, I failed on purpose.
“Fuck if I’m going to change that lightbulb,” I thought. “She’ll either do it herself, or get madder than hell. But I’m not going to be manipulated by her control issues. Both of us can change the lightbulb. If it’s bugging you/her then fix it. Don’t sit around bitching about me not fixing it.”
She got mad. She stayed mad. I guess there were always things that needed repair in her world and she was waiting on me to do them.
Of course, today she doesn’t have that luxury. Or that torture, depending on your perspective. Neither do I.
Sincerely,
The Off Parent
the story continues…
We welcome your comments and ideas. See the rest of The Off Parent on GMP
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image: creative commons usage: #4 lightbulb moment
At one point, my wife and I went to therapy. One thing I got out of these sessions was to never assume your partner knows what you want. Sometimes, we want them to know what we want to show they understand/apprecaite/get us.
Anyway, whether it be a lightbulb or any other home repair or something deeper, it is best to just say what you want. Leaving your partner in the dark will ultimately lead to anger on your part. It seems like is what occurred to your ex-wife.
Yes, we often have “unspoken agreements” that need to be spoken. Or assumptions that are not the same for both of us. I don’t know if she’s figured it out yet or not, but of course it only concerns me as it relates to my kids now. So that’s easier for me.
Thanks for your comment.
20+ yrs ago…… my wife was driving and the oil light came on……an old nasty beater of a car that burned a Quart of oil every 200 or so miles. As She had decided that adding oil was my job, she drove on…….till the engine seized. At the time she said it wasn’t right that she should get her hands dirty, so it was my failure to anticipate and correct the problem that cost us the car. Sadly we were rather broke at that point in time…….it took a few months to raise the cash to purchase what was an… Read more »
Hi Trey,
Hoboy, do I have storys similar to yours… 😉
I Find it interesting that in our liberated age,a grown woman would need a man to change a worn out light bulb. What does it say when someone refuses to be adult enough to take care of things as they happen….,but instead falls back into outdated gender roles but, only when it is in their favor?
I wonder what it was like when she realized when it dawned on her, that she was going to have to fix the fucking lightbulb herself?
I wonder what it’s like when someone decides that a lightbulb is worth starting an all-out fight over?
I bet she knows it now. (grin)
Thanks for your comment.
A friend of mine that my ex didn’t de-friend on FB would get amused and annoyed all at the same time when my ex would lament how tough it was to do things I used to do, like shovel the snow out of the driveway.
My friend sooooo wanted to comment something like “Well, if you didn’t cheat on him and then have him thrown out of the house, perhaps you wouldn’t have to shovel the snow….”