I Completely Fell Out of Love With My Wife After She Took a 7-Week Vacation

A man, 32, named Peter, wrote a letter to our editorial. He shared his problem with us and was asking our readers for their honest opinion and advice about his family situation.

Peter started his letter, saying, “I have been married to my wife Helen, 30, for 4 years, and we’ve been together for 9 years in total. She is a stay-at-home mom. We have adorable twins, who’re 1,5 years old, which has been incredibly exhausting for my wife.
One day, Helen said that she wanted a solo vacation break for a few weeks. She explained that she wanted to travel to different states during this break, visit her high school and college friends, go to different shows, and do a lot of fun stuff just for herself.”

Peter was totally understanding and agreed that his wife needed a break. The man wrote, “My wife asked if I would be fine with it. I agreed, but I just asked if she could make it maybe a couple of weeks shorter, because 7 weeks coping with our 2 kids alone sounded really horrifying for me, especially since I had a lot of work and it was also my duty. I work remotely, so at least that worked in my favor.”

Peter goes on with his story, saying, “Helen and I discussed more of this topic for a couple of days, and in the end I ultimately agreed that she did deserve a 7-week break because of what she has been through the past few years.”

Managing 2 kids turned out to be not games and fun for the man. He confessed, “And so my wife took her vacation. The first week taking care of our twins alone was extremely difficult, and I did feel like I was losing my mind, but I survived. I asked my older sister to come over and help me from the second week on. My sister was honestly a lifesaver, and I am eternally grateful for her. When she video called me the end of the first week, I basically broke down in tears, so this was a sign for her that everything was going on not very well, and she came to the rescue.”

The man had mixed feelings about the whole situation. He revealed, “So from the second week on, my sister decided to stay over at my house and help me more with my kids. I must confess that a huge burden had been lifted off my shoulders. I was able at least to focus more on my urgent work, and I did meet my deadlines.
To be brutally honest, I did not miss Helen at all. I felt emotionally and mentally relaxed. I should say, I had a lot of fun with my babies and my sister. I felt betrayed because my wife had actually gone on that 7-week vacation and left me alone. I was slowly falling out of love with my wife.”

Peter goes on with his story, saying, “Helen did call multiple times while she was on that vacation, and she tried to give me a plenty of advice about the kids. But this all seemed so wrong to me, especially when I looked through her Instagram posts, where she posted her happy selfies at different parties, concerts and dining out with her friends. The contrast between her life and mine was striking.”

So, when the woman finally came back home, Peter was behaving like an absolute stranger. The man confessed, “When Helen was back from her 7-week break, she was super refreshed and recharged, but to be honest I was exhausted and indifferent to her. She was trying to hug and kiss me when she came back, which I rejected because I said I wasn’t feeling it. The same level of indifference remained in our day-to-day life, and she probably noticed it but didn’t say anything.”

Things went too far after some time. Peter revealed, “Two weeks later, Helen finally asked me why I was like this, and I honestly told her I didn’t love her anymore. She apologized profusely for taking that 7-week vacation, and asked if there was anything she could do to fix it. I immediately told her no. We went through some severe motions the next couple of weeks, before I finally decided that I wanted a divorce.”

The man wrote, “My wife seemed devastated when I brought up the very topic of divorce. Her reaction surprised me because I already told her I don’t love her anymore. She did try to initiate our visits to couples’ therapy or marriage counseling. But I already started looking for a divorce lawyer, and I honestly didn’t feel that there was something that could help our family not to fall apart.”

Peter added, “I spent some time thinking about everything, and I am still sure I want a divorce. I basically don’t love my wife anymore, and I’m sure I won’t be able to start loving her again. At this point, I don’t believe that any marriage counseling could fix it.”

Peter closed his letter, saying, “I want to clarify one thing. Money was not an issue at all. I do have a high paying, though a very stressful job. It didn’t bother me how much money Helen spent on her trip.
The main issue was that I was mentally overwhelmed coping with 2 small kids while I was also working full-time. By the end of the first week, I had lost my sanity and even broke down in tears when my sister video called me, and Helen did feel my mental state at that time, but it never gave her a clue that she must give up on her vacation and come back home to be with me in these hard times.”