The Relationship Workshop
Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 12:58 pm
It's been two weeks now since my wife and I attended our relationship workshop. I've been totally swamped at work and home since then and haven't had time to post anything I'm sorry. My loads have been heavy and just taking the last Friday off work before the relationshop workshop weekend set me back even more. This time of year seems to always be busy anyway both at work and home as the kids get ready to go back to school.
There were some good times at the workshop but overall I'm not happy with the direction things went. We had some fun with the other people in group games and activities and we had lots of good food. Even the overall group "counseling" sessions were ok. But the individual counseling and wife-husband counseling were not pleasing. I just don't like the results of the weekend. As my acquaintence Stan indicated to me and warned me the whole thing was slanted in the wife's favor. I never did have any complaints about our marriage and it was my wife's idea to attend this. And so I told the counselor that I didn't have any real problems in our marriage. I am happy. Until now.
It seems like whatever sort of thing I brought up to the counselor was dismissed as not important. But whatever my wife said was very important. The counselor (a female) kept harping about areas of discord that my wife seemed to have. Many of the things she brought up were things I have never heard her say or complain about ever in the past. It was all like nitpicking. I don't know where it all came from. But the counselor took every word of hers so seriously. Made me angry. So then the result was a list of four things that I need to "work on" on a daily basis to have our marriage "meet it's potential" as the couselor kept saying. I just wanted to get out of there.
I can try to do better in some ways if my wife needs it but I was really stuck by one of the four "work on" points that I ended up agreeing to. That one is that I will make dinner for the family three days out of the week. My wife has always been the family cook. I work a 9-5 M-F job and come home tired. My wife works part time M,W,F. She insisted that it was only fair for me to cook dinner on those days because she doesn't come home until after I do. I protested but was immediately ganged up on by both of them and ended up relenting on the point. But the things is that I have never cooked much at all in my whole life. So the dumb solution they came up with was for me to attend a cooking class on Saturday afternoons this fall at the local community college. Eight straight Saturdays from 1:00-4:00 begining on September 6th. I HATE this idea very much. I like college football and look forward to some "vegetable" time for a few hours on Saturday afternoon just lounging and watching some ballgames. It's always been my own personal time. Now that is out the window for something which I HATE.
I don't want to hold bitterness for my wife because I love her but it's hard to get over this. I feel like it isn't justified. But my wife came aways from the weekend and our new agreement with so much pleasure that I tried to look at it in the light of being happy for her. But I'm still angry honestly. And when the first class starts and I have to go to that dumb thing instead of relaxing for a game I know I'm going to be bitter. It's just the way it is. Oh well life isn't perfect.
Have a nice week!
There were some good times at the workshop but overall I'm not happy with the direction things went. We had some fun with the other people in group games and activities and we had lots of good food. Even the overall group "counseling" sessions were ok. But the individual counseling and wife-husband counseling were not pleasing. I just don't like the results of the weekend. As my acquaintence Stan indicated to me and warned me the whole thing was slanted in the wife's favor. I never did have any complaints about our marriage and it was my wife's idea to attend this. And so I told the counselor that I didn't have any real problems in our marriage. I am happy. Until now.
It seems like whatever sort of thing I brought up to the counselor was dismissed as not important. But whatever my wife said was very important. The counselor (a female) kept harping about areas of discord that my wife seemed to have. Many of the things she brought up were things I have never heard her say or complain about ever in the past. It was all like nitpicking. I don't know where it all came from. But the counselor took every word of hers so seriously. Made me angry. So then the result was a list of four things that I need to "work on" on a daily basis to have our marriage "meet it's potential" as the couselor kept saying. I just wanted to get out of there.
I can try to do better in some ways if my wife needs it but I was really stuck by one of the four "work on" points that I ended up agreeing to. That one is that I will make dinner for the family three days out of the week. My wife has always been the family cook. I work a 9-5 M-F job and come home tired. My wife works part time M,W,F. She insisted that it was only fair for me to cook dinner on those days because she doesn't come home until after I do. I protested but was immediately ganged up on by both of them and ended up relenting on the point. But the things is that I have never cooked much at all in my whole life. So the dumb solution they came up with was for me to attend a cooking class on Saturday afternoons this fall at the local community college. Eight straight Saturdays from 1:00-4:00 begining on September 6th. I HATE this idea very much. I like college football and look forward to some "vegetable" time for a few hours on Saturday afternoon just lounging and watching some ballgames. It's always been my own personal time. Now that is out the window for something which I HATE.
I don't want to hold bitterness for my wife because I love her but it's hard to get over this. I feel like it isn't justified. But my wife came aways from the weekend and our new agreement with so much pleasure that I tried to look at it in the light of being happy for her. But I'm still angry honestly. And when the first class starts and I have to go to that dumb thing instead of relaxing for a game I know I'm going to be bitter. It's just the way it is. Oh well life isn't perfect.
Have a nice week!