Not really a cheap shot, kids emulate parents relationship. You say he was not like when you two got married, either something very traumatic happened to him and you left without helping him, which gives the example of leaving their partner when there is something bad, or you didn't see the red flags from the beginning which bad judgement from your part, I'm leaning into the later.
You say your kids had to pick up after him like some pride that you let them do that, that is very traumatic for kids to be an adults. Maybe they're okay with no trauma which is great for them.
You have no idea. My first husband portrayed himself as a successful nightclub owner and owned, in partnership, the best live music venue in a nightlife city. He DID NOT drink then and hadn’t for many years. I was myself an entrepreneur and when we married he appeared a good match. I didn’t get into the details of his business prior to marriage; he didn’t get into the details of mine.
Within the first two years of marriage the partnership was dissolved and it was a raw deal. My father (a renowned lawyer) rescued my husband free of charge. We had a son in diapers. My husband was too prideful to work as a bartender or manage for someone else, meanwhile my business was taking off. My husband said cool, I’ll be the house spouse. Fine. Only he was lazy. I came home to dirty dishes, unopened mail, unwashed clothes, and a wrecked house. So I’d kill myself getting it all taken care of (including the yard) on the weekends.
You try working a 60 hour week and then covering for a lazy spouse who sleeps all day and will not go to counseling or therapy to address depression. I did exactly that for more than 10 years.
So I don’t think anyone (except you of course) is going to fault me for leaving. I was faithful, I was committed, I offered to fund whatever help he needed, and even now he lives rent free in a house I own because I’m too kind to put him on the street.
You see, you are only ever 50% of any interaction. You cannot create ambition in someone else. You cannot cure depression either. You cannot go to therapy or cure addiction for someone else.
So there comes a point where you have a choice: Stay (and continue to enable by staying) or go (and show that you refuse to tolerate their behavior).
I stayed for nearly 20 years. He started drinking again about 10 years in.
Now. If you’d like to lampoon me for leaving after 20 years? Go right ahead. The reason my children are as well adjusted as they are is they KNOW why I left. They also know I stayed longer than I probably should have out of duty and responsibility to them, and they appreciate that.
Guess who had to deal with his disaster of a life after I moved out? They did. They got sick of cleaning the house, doing the dishes etc because he wouldn’t. They’ve tried to encourage him to get help too, they too have been unsuccessful.
You see, an experience confers a truth much more effectively than someone telling them something. They have the experience. I don’t need to say a word.
They know their dad loves them but they also know dad has major issues. They love him but they know it is not their job to rescue him just as it was never my job. They know their responsibility is their own lives; their own goals and dreams. In me they see an example what they should do; in their father they see an example of what they should not do. It is what it is.
In your driveby swipes you simply reveal your own attitudes and beliefs and rank lack of life experience.
I see that. So does any other viewer who’s been through marriage, kids, and storms in life.