LOCKDOWN HAS ME GOING MAD AT LAZY HUBBY

Dear Coleen

MY husband and I have always had a good marriage and rarely argue. However, when lockdown hit and he began working from home, I started to resent him.

I also work full-time, yet I ended up doing all of the home schooling for our two daughters, who are six and nine, as well as the extra cleaning, cooking and housework that came from having four of us in the house all day.

My husband earns more than me, manages a bigger team, and he’s on calls for most of the day, but he’s still not doing his fair share.

He’ll often go for a run in the middle of the day while I’m making lunch for the kids, and when he clocks off at 6pm he doesn’t think to join in with whatever I’m doing around the house.

We’ve had some of the worst rows of our marriage in the last few months and I recently stormed out because he left his socks lying on the kitchen floor.

I feel miserable and angry at him all the time and I can’t seem to snap out of it.

Coleen says

I HAVE a similar issue in my house with my sons and it drives my daughter mad.

When you have young kids, it should be easier with another adult around the house all day, but as you’ve discovered, it can feel like having another child.

And in lockdown, this has increased tenfold. Mums are not getting a break from anything. Pre-lockdown, parents were usually out of the house either full-time, or at least some of the week, and the kids were at school.

But for the last six months, we’ve had a situation where everybody has been largely at home. You can have the best relationship in the world, but when people spend 24/7 together, arguments are bound to happen.