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im numb and deeply sad..is it the end of my marriage?

dalhia's picture

Short background: married for 7 years - i love my guy-, I have BS10, and SD12. BS is easy, SD is a complicated and manipulative, DH is weak and guilty. the dog is OK Smile

DH and I fight only about 1 thing: SD12. that is all we EVER had problems with. i took care of the girl for years, he was fine wit hthat until i asked for help because she was VERY hard to deal with. he called that "complaining" and that "she is a girl, bla bla bla,,you know the story. So i disengaged and now after I disengaged from her 7 months ago...DH got the guilt all over again....kind of "a mom abandoned her when she was 2 and now you abandon her too, poor thing". at one level i agree that she did not have a great mom and after i tried for so long i did kind of give up too...true. at anohter level i think that she is lucky ot be in a stable family that porvides for her and takes care of her and that he needs to address those emotional problems with love, time, counseling ,etc. not me.

the girl has clear emotional problems, she is very closed, lies a lot and does not want to be part of this family. she manipulated daddy very well and all the typical things that you all understand so well.
the problem that we have at hand now is that im numb, i no longer engage with DH in conversations just in case SD comes up and we end up fighting, I don’t have the strength any more. I cant “expose” my emotions, open my heart again and again, I cant have hopes and every 2 months be deeply hurt again.
we talk about the day, the weather, the news, extended family, work, etc...there is no trust anymore, I cant be me, I don’t even enjoy sex…there is something very broken. im so hurt for all the things that were said in fights like "i pick her every day of the week over you" and lovely stuff like that, Im so tired of always being blamed and guilty of all these things. Im a very open, funny, social, warm person who loves kids and kids love me and at home im America’s most wanted 
im not sure i can put my heart in this anymore. Before i would be "lets talk, lets figure this out, let me tell you how i feel, i dragged him to counseling, wrote letters to him, gave him books on the subject, I even told him to take a look at this site, etc, etc". now i kind of put my energy on my life, my job, my bio son, my sports and hobbies. he does the same...i take care of my kid, he takes care of his...this is not a family. im not happy with this and i know that it will simply disintegrate if we go in this direction. I cant be the engine of this anymore, it is exhausting and depersonalizing. Is he too much of a coward to show his feelings with me? Why? Does he want this family after all? Is he still here because it is too much of a hassle to leave? How do you know if somebody loves you in a situation like this? i no longer have the heart to keep pushing and pushing by myself, it is not healthy...so, is it the end? any advice?

imjustthemaid's picture

That is terrible. I find that with each fight DH and I have over SD15 I pull away a little more each time. It hurts. It builds up anger and resentment and that is not healthy for any relationship. I am a SAHM and SD's mother also abandoned her. I have been in her life since she was 10. She drives me crazy. Everyone spoils her because they all feel bad that BM is a shitty mother. I have disengaged in my own way when it comes to discussing SD with DH. I don't talk about her and I try to pretend she doesn't exist when he is around.

I hope one day I don't end up totally numb because how do you come back from that. He needs to meet you in the middle somewhere.
I wish I had advice but I don't. Sad

asheeha's picture

honestly i'd have a very frank talk. ask him if he wants this marriage to work. ask him if he's willing to work at it. ask him if he's willing to try to compromise for you.

does he care if he loses you because that is where you are headed. be direct with him.

unless you can live like this for the rest of your life.

dalhia's picture

thank you so much.
to answer some of you lovely ladies:
talking does not work anymore. i did try to ask him a lot about this feelings, trying to understand his guilt, his ways, but he denies things, prefers not to see and we end up fighting again. the counselor told him many of these things, he tries to forget wehat he hears or say things like "that was exaggerated, dont you think?".... (tricky question to answer for me Smile
or i end up with my long monlogues about how we could change things, work together, bla bla for the benefit of the whole family ,etc and he kind of says that im right until the next time that SD does something wrong or plain ugly and he will defend her to the point of defying logic and i loose my mind again, and screaming fit follows. i have been around this block way too many times. i try to not look in SD's direction. i dont want to know if she is lying, i do not want to see the face she uses to deny that she broke X or Y. i choose to go for a run or to the gym or to my friends house for a drink...but im loosing my DH in the process, maybe i already lost him.
i dont see my DH meeting me half way, it would take efford and honestly i think it is too hard for him. it is a lot easy to say and think "my daughter is just fine but she is not doing well in the house and acting up because Dalhia has issues with the poor girl". that is simpler way of dealing with things. i think he will let go of this family, and do you know who he is hurting the most??? SD.

dalhia's picture

yes yes yes, you know EXACTLY what im saying. quick sand..it is a matter of time. i know and belive in what i do as a mom, my bio kid and i have a very good relationship and then all this drama of DH and SD comes my way and naturally because i want thigns to work and i want to do the right thing, i start doubting everything, you know.....
than kyou for sharing your thoughts, it really help a whole lot!!!!
i know im not guilty that Sd is hurt emotionally , andi know thati m not guilty that DH and SD dont really talk about anything, im not guilty that she is going thur preeteenhood and the hormones are making her crazy...it is simply not my fault but the nagain, she does soemthing silly or soemthing not that silly and two very well educated, smart, loving people who love EACHOTHER loose their cool so much that their marriage is on the line....crazy stuff!!!!!!
i know that i need peace and my son needs peace.
thanks again