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Can't take it anymore (rant)

Birthday231Birthday231 member
First Comment
edited January 2015 in Married Life
My husband was working full time with a company for about 6 years when he was laid off in September 2013. He finished grad school in December 2013. He has been unemployed this whole time; no real prospect, not one single interview. He says he is looking and will get a job... but here we are going on a year and a half. He brings in no income. His unemployment only lasted the first 6 months. I work full time and we have a young daughter. I still do half if not most of the household duties and he doesn't even watch her a twice a week when she goes to daycare (because I want her to socialize and learn).

I honestly feel stuck. I feel as nothing will change. I understand my husband does not want to settle on a job because he has a Master's degree, but he literally spends his days playing video games and doing some household chores. I respect families that decide to have a stay at home parent, but that was never what we planned or agreed on.

Sorry for my broken rant.. I am just feeling so fed up (and we just got a debt collection letter for one of his grad school loans which we already utilized the forbearance on)...

Thoughts, advice, good vibes and prayers... everything is welcome :(

Re: Can't take it anymore (rant)

  • 1. If you are worried about money, then stop with the daycare.  There are plenty of other ways to socialize your child and they will have 12+ years of structured academic learning.  Your husband should 100% be the child care while he is home.  

    2. I think it's a luxury to be able to afford to have one spouse home.  I think it's a luxury not for the person who is home, but for the person who is working because every extra minute of that person's time doesn't have to be spent doing household chores- it can be used to spend time with the family.  He should be doing more than half the household work on top of taking care of your daughter full time.

    It sounds like you are having money problems.  You can either decide together to make him a permanent stay at home father, and then you need to cut back on your lifestyle and he needs to take on all the responsibilities of a stay at home parent, or he needs to find a job.  He needs to realize it's a one or the other situation- he doesn't get to just sit at home all day doing nothing.  That's not acting like an adult.  ALL adults work.
  • You don't mention fighting with him about any of it, which makes me wonder how much you voice your unhappiness. Daycare 2x/week is ridiculous when you're getting collection notices. Cut back where you can. Same goes for you doing household work. Ridiculous. Probably your own fault too because you choose to do it. You need to speak up. He can work at Mcdonalds if he's not going to do more at home. If you're not happy with him at home even with all these changes, then speak up to him for his need to pull financial weight no matter the job. GL!
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  • VORVOR member
    Eighth Anniversary 500 Love Its 500 Comments Name Dropper
    Ditto both of the PPs.  What have your conversations with him gone like?  And yes- cut out daycare and he absolutely should be doing the majority of the house work. 

    AND he needs to get a job.  Who the F cares if it's "settling"?  Being unemployed and playing video games isn't settling???  He can get out there and find something, anything, just to bring in some extra $$.  And really- I think it will show up better on a resume to show that he was doing SOMETHING with his time, making an effort to be a productive member of society. 
  • My husband was working full time with a company for about 6 years when he was laid off in September 2013. He finished grad school in December 2013. He has been unemployed this whole time; no real prospect, not one single interview. He says he is looking and will get a job... but here we are going on a year and a half. He brings in no income. His unemployment only lasted the first 6 months. I work full time and we have a young daughter. I still do half if not most of the household duties and he doesn't even watch her a twice a week when she goes to daycare (because I want her to socialize and learn).

    I honestly feel stuck. I feel as nothing will change. I understand my husband does not want to settle on a job because he has a Master's degree, but he literally spends his days playing video games and doing some household chores. I respect families that decide to have a stay at home parent, but that was never what we planned or agreed on.

    Sorry for my broken rant.. I am just feeling so fed up (and we just got a debt collection letter for one of his grad school loans which we already utilized the forbearance on)...

    Thoughts, advice, good vibes and prayers... everything is welcome :(
    This seems to be some kind of "thing to do " with guys who are husbands who lose their jobs --- at least on this board, anyway.

    I've seen it more than a few times and all the same story: H got laid off and hasn't made a lot of effort to find a job and meanwhile the wife is pulling the load. The H is home all day, doesn't do things like general housework, etc.

    In the meanwhile:

    Cut back on unneccesary expenses --- skip the childcare and do as the PP suggested.

    The job market still stinks. Things like a retail job and restaurant work used to be easily obtianed -- not anymore. You can't stop in to a store's/restaurant's HR department and complete an app; everything is done on line and there is also a psychological profile attached to the process. If you don'tcome up to snuff with that profile, they won't call you for an interview.

    Lots of people used to used those jobs as survivalist jobs --- if you can find one, great.

    There has to be something he can do. Even if it is warehouse work or work as a temp --- he could be a file clerk or a receptionist or something office where not much experience is needed.
  • Minimum wage for flipping burgers is a heck of a lot more than he is making now.  He can do that while he looks for a job that is more satisfying or whatever.  Sit down and talk with him.
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  • Thanks for the feedback. As far as money, definitely a stress. We are not broke, we have saving but are burning through it so I totally hear you all on the daycare suggestions...

    I talk to him... and yell, and scream, and cry. I have tried calm discussions, no discussions, really everything. Nothing gets through to him. Short of ultimatums (which I have also threatened) I don't what else I do, or how long I let life go on like this. 
  • And yes, I also agree that any work is better than no work. I have told him on several occasions that if it had been me that lost my job, I would have a new one the next day. The most ironic and sad part is that we both come from very hard working families. 

    No one seems to be able to say anything to get is ass moving.
  • VORVOR member
    Eighth Anniversary 500 Love Its 500 Comments Name Dropper
    edited January 2015
    What ultimatums have you given him and did you follow through? THreatening an ultimatum and then not following through... that does absolutely nothing. Acutally- it does one thing. teaches him that your words and threats mean nothing. If you throw down an ultimatum, you HAVE to follow through. Otherwise, it's pointless.
  • I would give him one month to get a job or get out. A year is far too long for this to be going on.

    Now, if after a month he doesn't have a job but has been going on interviews and submitting resumes I would be willing to reconsider...but he needs to get moving...quickly. Plenty of people with masters degrees aren't getting work in their field. They still work in the meantime. 

    The other issue is the longer he is out of work the harder it is to get a job. 
  • How aware is your DH of your financial situation? When you confront him, does he make empty promises about finding a job?

    I'm sure you've done it already, but I'd suggest scheduling an official "family meeting" at a time when a friend or relative can watch the little one. Have the numbers for your current income, current savings, and current expenses. Then ask him, "What's the plan?" And then do your best to be absolutely quiet until he responds. Instead of telling him what he needs to do, try and make him bring ideas to the table.

    I think your completely justified in your feelings toward DH. But it could also help for him to possibly see a therapist (if your insurance allows) to see if maybe he is dealing with some depression. Maybe it's all just laziness, but being out of work and feeling worthless can cause depression which makes doing anything (including doing housework or searching for jobs) extremely difficult. But it would still be on him to seek help if it is depression not just laziness.
  • I just wanted to throw out my sympathies and understanding.  I'm going to rant with you.  My husband lost his job one month after we got married :(, which was over 18 months ago.  It sucks big time, especially considering he makes substantially more money than me when he works.  He does look for work and has gone on interviews, but nothing has panned out yet.  Though I do feel he doesn't look as hard as he should.

    He isn't completely idle.  We have a list of projects for our house and he has helped a lot with that...but not nearly as much as he should have considering how long its been.  He also helps me with a flexible, independent part-time job I have.  But, overall, I know he spends most of his time doing nothing and that does get extremely annoying.

    On the good side, I make enough money to easily support us.  But I'm on a plan to buy enough rental property to (hopefully) retire in 10-15 years and him getting a job would shave years off that timeline.  It's just so frustrating to be the only one bringing in any income and be the only one planning for our financial future.

    @simplyelise makes a good point.  For my DH, I have to tread a bit lightly with asking him about his job searching efforts because I know he feels bad and a bit of a failure about it, and I also know that when he feels depressed he becomes especially unmotivated. 

  • 1. If you are worried about money, then stop with the daycare.  There are plenty of other ways to socialize your child and they will have 12+ years of structured academic learning.  Your husband should 100% be the child care while he is home.  

    2. I think it's a luxury to be able to afford to have one spouse home.  I think it's a luxury not for the person who is home, but for the person who is working because every extra minute of that person's time doesn't have to be spent doing household chores- it can be used to spend time with the family.  He should be doing more than half the household work on top of taking care of your daughter full time.

    It sounds like you are having money problems.  You can either decide together to make him a permanent stay at home father, and then you need to cut back on your lifestyle and he needs to take on all the responsibilities of a stay at home parent, or he needs to find a job.  He needs to realize it's a one or the other situation- he doesn't get to just sit at home all day doing nothing.  That's not acting like an adult.  ALL adults work.
    This. @Birthday231 Stop enabling your husband. If he is home, there is absolutely no reason for your daughter to be in daycare and you should not have to do the housework. I always say that whomever does not work outside the home needs to work within it. You are giving your husband a free ride and he is spoiled. 

    I will likely not be returning to work for at least a year due to some medical issues. My husband comes home to a spotless apartment and dinner on the table every night. It is the least I can do because I am not contributing financially. My husband does less than 15% of housework because I don't think it is fair for him to be the breadwinner and still have to do chores. He has never demanded that I take on the housework...I just think I need to because I am not working outside the home. Give and take is the idea. 
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