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since all this has happened...I feel so overwhelmed by just..life!

With the kids, I feel I have done less since I just can't handle anything more.

But, everything is demanding these days. If you have school aged kids you know what I mean. Like, football is practices several times a week, for most of evening then weekend games etc... when is there time for reconciling when you have kids?

Like my son's boy scouts troop,...they are having this event this weekend where they expect the parents and the kids to come to the place tonight from 6 to 9pm...then Saturday they are pressuring the families to be there at the event all day...it run from 11am until 6pm--thats like all day...I mean come on! Most families have 2 parents that work and all they have is the weekends together. Then the parents can't come together anyway because I know like in our situation one parent has to be home to take care of the little ones at home.

Is this an issue in reconciling for anyone else?

So....too bad...my husband and I are going out to dinner tonight and for a date. Our son is going to skip the mandatory event tonight--he will show up at 2pm tomorrow not 11am. I don't care if the other families hate us. Sorry, but my marriage needs to come first.

i feel bad for a lot of other families that may be in crisis themselves in such situations that haven't yet reached their breaking points. Its like they keep putting their marriage on the back burner and run from place to place never spending time alone together.

[This message edited by ionlytalkedtoher at 11:02 AM, September 13th (Friday)]

(((ionlytalkedtoher)))

If the other parents don't like that you aren't there the whole time, too bad for them. There are only 24hrs in a day. You need to do what is best for your marriage and family. I think you made the right decision.

When we were in that crises mode, we made similar choices. Nothing came before our family. Everyone that didn't like it? Suck it. Nobody pressures me into doing anything, anyway.

I think you are right. Find a balance that works for you. For us, we did double up as much as possible. Always did things together, errands, kids drop offs, practices, etc. We tried to spend as much time together as we could, bonding, and recreating our lives together, creating new memories.

It's hard, but I think that time together is really one of the cornerstones to R.

Can totally relate. We have done similar things which likely piss other parents off at school, sports, etc... but too bad. You have to draw the line somewhere, and can't allow your quality time to get sucked up 100%.

You are doing the right thing. There is always going to be competing priorities and demands on time. We are at the same place where you are right now, namely spending time together as a family and placing a priority on our M. I have scaled back on my volunteer commitments with our children's school and charities and fWH has minimized his social obligations related to work. Right now, we need this time as a family just to play and enjoy being around each other. We had lost sight of the importance of this and I do not ever intend on forgetting again.

I think 20 years from now your children won't remember a missed activity but will remember when mom and dad were happy.

BUT - I always encourage other people to reach out when things get too crazy for them. Some nice person got my son back and forth to football after DDay and I wanted to go to tai chi for my mental health. I'm always sure to offer if I see someone struggling (A-related or other like health) but if you don't "show" they might not know they could be helping.

My rule is always Family First. If that causes a problem with anyone else, then Too Frigging Bad.

I feel the same stresses and think that even with choosing to do things as a family, or as a couple (i.e. date night), there still needs to be more time and focus on R. I can't win.

Every day here is crazy. My WH used to leave before the kids woke up and come home after they went to sleep, (during his affair), leaving me with all of it to do myself. It IS stressful. I am still VERY resentful of the relaxing sex week-ends he had and the daily hours of phone sex while I was running myself ragged. Clearly, he was too selfish to participate in real life.

Since R'ing and since he terminated the affair things are a lot better for all of us. He participates in the family now. We go to the kids' activities together and at least once a week have a class we drop them off to in the evening, giving us a chance to go out to dinner.

I noticed that our two kids are in activities that don't demand 100% participation, so if we miss a night to stay home and watch kung fu movies nobody loses out.

The AYSO and baseball teams had to go because they were too rigid. We replaced them with martial arts and voluntary fencing practice.

Growth happens according to our priorities.

God, wife, kids, other....that is my NEW priority list.

Pre-A I could have seen us becoming a very kid-centric family....

Kudos to your decision.

I DO like Jennifer99 and Rebreather speak of...mostly reminding us that multiple priorities can be tended to with the right inputs.

But lacking other helpful inputs, you are on the right track!

God be with us all.

[This message edited by blakesteele at 8:03 AM, September 14th (Saturday)]

ionlytalkedtoher, I applaud you for your decision. You have put your family and your marriage first. Good for you!

The pressures on families to involve kids in more and more and more activities, each of which takes more and more and more time, is incredible these days. A hearty BRAVO to those who set limits and prioritize family time.

Of course it is good for kids to be involved in activities, but not at the expense of family life!