A man humiliated his wife because he grew up thinking being a mother is a very easy task. He’ll never forget the lesson he was taught later.
Chris is a 40-year-old man who works as a junior staff in a large business firm. He had worked there for years but because of his prickly nature, he had not been promoted.
He often took that anger out on his wife, Rose, who’s 15 years younger than him and had been working as a doctor when she married Chris. They lived together in a house she bought during her years as a spinster.
Chris made Rose quit her job after they welcomed their first child because according to him, a woman needed to be as close to her kids as possible in their formative years.
It did not matter to him that she earned more than he did, in fact, it only made him want her to quit more. She eventually did, knowing her skills would still be sought after whenever she decided to return to work.
Rose became a full-time housewife which gave her more time to cater to her child’s needs. In the first few months, she felt blessed because she did not have to leave her child’s side to put in long hours at work.
After a year, Rose got pregnant with another child, and as the child aged, their house started to undergo changes that made it evident that there were toddlers living in it.
There was always some sort of stain on the chairs, there was always noise from their play, and the floors were always messy with toys and things laying around. Chris did not like it very much.
“Why is there yet another stain on the couch?!” he shouted one day. “I have a visitor coming over and look how disorganized my whole house is!”
Rose tried to calm him down. “I’m very sorry Chris,” she said. “It’s my fault, I had my hands full this morning doing other chores so I haven’t cleaned the chairs yet.”
“You had your hands full?” he asked. “At home? Doing what? Your only job is to care for the kids and make sure the house is presentable but it seems you can’t even handle that much!” he yelled.
Before Rose could say more, he stormed out. She heard him calling his visitor to meet him at a bar and she gave a sigh of relief. Chris’ fuse had been getting shorter since the birth of their second child.
On another day, Chris returned to meet her sitting on the couch watching TV while their toddlers rested beside her. He was immediately jealous.
How can she be relaxing like this when I’ve been working tirelessly at the office, he thought to himself. This is not fair.”
When Rose saw him enter, she hurried to give him a hug, but he shrugged her off to take a look around their apartment after which he berated her for the little mess he could find, including those he would usually ignore.
“Chris, listen, we have two toddlers that can’t help but make a mess of things in this house,” Rose defended herself.
“Your job is to care for them and clean up those messes but it seems that all you do is watch TV all day!” he shot back.
Chris started to treat her terribly after that argument. He would make sure to wake her up at the crack of dawn to make him a meal before he left for work and while she cooked, he would oversee the process while pointing out things she needed to clean up before his return in the evening.
On some days, he would invite his friends over and make Rose cook copious amounts of food to satisfy them. He would order her around like a slave, never giving her space to catch her breath, and she did not complain.
“You’re a lucky man Chris,” one of his friends said one day. “Your wife is a fairy who grants you all your wishes.”
“As it should be,” Chris replied. “I do all the work for this house and all she does is chill at home with the kids.”
Rose heard it all and it saddened her that her husband had become so indifferent. She had not eaten a bite out of all the food she cooked that day before it had been consumed by Chris and his friend, but he did not care.
After his friend left, Rose angrily approached her husband to table her grievances.
“It’s not easy to be a mom and your indifference does not make it any better!” she exclaimed with pent-up anger.
“Quit your whining woman!” Chris retorted. “There is nothing to it and I’m done listening to your excuses! You think it’s easier to work all day?! Why don’t you give it a try? I’ll stay home with the kids and you go to work!”
“Fine!” Rose answered.
The next morning she was out of the house early to meet her former colleague. He had become the director at a medical institute and she knew he would hire her for her talent. She got the job and started working shifts that lasted until 5 pm.
Meanwhile, Chris took an extended leave from his job to tend to their home with their toddlers. He kept an eye on them to make sure they were well, but he did little else and after the first week, their home looked like a pig sty. It’s all women’s work, Chris would tell himself.
Rose felt guilty about leaving him alone with their kids, so she started to clean up the house after work which only left her feeling more tired than before. She tried to get Chris to do some chores, but he would find an excuse to avoid it.
After a week, Rose had had enough. She picked up her phone to call her mother-in-law Katherine. “Hello Kath, how are you?” she asked politely.
“I’m fine darling, to what do I owe this pleasure?”
“I wanted to ask for some advice, Chris is driving me insane,” Rose confessed and told her about their situation.
“Honey, all I did was give birth to the children,” Katherine told her. “My husband made things easy for me by hiring a maid to clean and a nanny to care for the kids while we both worked. Chris has always been ashamed of that because all his friends had housewives as mothers.”
“Thank you Katherine!” Rose said and ended the call.
She had been enlightened. She thought back to all the days Chris ordered her around and realized he had never appreciated her. All he did was complain and use her.
The following day, she poured her heart out to him, pointing out all she felt he did wrong. It was rare for her to raise her voice so her words got his attention. That day, he really looked at his wife and noticed how lean she looked.
There were eyebags under her eyes and her face looked stressed. He realized what he had been doing but before he could apologize, she told him to move out of her house and life.
As he did, he couldn’t help but feel saddened by his loss. Being a mother was a hard job and he should not have made Rose feel unappreciated. That was the end of their relationship.
What did we learn from this story?
- Love is no excuse to tolerate disrespect. Chris was disrespectful towards Rose even though she tried her best to please him. He constantly berated her for a long time before she decided she would no longer tolerate it from him.
- Appreciation goes a long way. Chris seemed to think everything revolved around him and so refused to take Rose’s feelings into account. He treated her like a slave and failed to appreciate her valiant efforts to please him. It eventually cost him his marriage to her.
This account is inspired by our reader’s story but written by a professional writer. All names have been changed to protect identities and ensure privacy.
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