My wife is hopelessly enmeshed to her family, to the point its hard to tell where my wife's personality ends and where her family's begins. Not to say the mom is a typical boomer, but she's reminiscent of the stereotypes when it comes to using people for money, time, resources, massive double standards. My wife never learned to setup any kind of proper boundaries(the mom did this by design).
Biblically I am curious, where does that leave me? On one hand I am married, but for all intents and purposes, it doesnt feel like it. Plenty of decisions have been overriden where I was baffled by the stupidity. And all because mommy said no. My wife is the type of person who needs to call her mom over the dumbest shit imaginable: cleaning dishes, cleaning pots and pans, how to interact with other people, speech policing, what to say to others, to name a few.
And my wife never stops and thinks what's best for us, never uses her own internal monologue. it's always mom says jump, and she asks how high. If i didnt know any better, i would think this person doesn't even have an internal voice. So biblically, what are my options?
Yep. My buddy basically called off a marriage because his dumbass gf absolutely was a daddy's girl. Which was why he loved her, but she was far more attached to him than to my friend.
You need to look into some married red pill reading. Your wife doesn’t see you as the prize and clearly isn’t worried about losing you.
I wasn’t quite this bad but I was too enmeshed with my parents when i first married. It helped that we moved away but I still talked to them almost daily, shared way too much info, and treated their advice as gospel. The difference was that when my husband started setting some boundaries I shaped up fast because I didn’t want to lose him. He was high value and I was smart enough to know what I had.
Are you in shape? Do you provide enough? Do you keep yourself well groomed? Do you get attention from other women?
Instead of AskUpgoat, I strongly recommend you ask a good divorce lawyer for advice instead.
Then, tell your wife how you feel and how things will need to change for you to stay. If the team is you and her, you MUST leave and at which time you should be prepared to do so immediately.
[ - ] Prairie 1 point 4 monthsDec 11, 2024 12:37:04 ago (+1/-0)
Not Biblical, but I'd start with a month of no contact with the family, as an experiment. If there is refusal, "So you can't survive without contact for a month?" and that can begin some soul-searching as to why she is so dependent.
Tried and failed at this. Even hinting at setting boundaries was met as an attack on her personality. This seems pretty common with enmeshment as the person's identity become the abuser's identity.
Wait, her mother was asked whether this was OK? Yeah, that will fail. Permission can't be sought. It has so be something you and your wife privately decide, and then execute.
Yeah, so my wife didn't ask her mom directly, she instead attacked me by claiming setting boundaries with her mom simply can't be done. She was protecting her mom's abusive ways, KNOWING her mom is abusive and has control problems. This was very confusing because when we were dating she was claiming the opposite. But pretty much it comes back to asking the abuser (the mom) to stop being abusive.
At least this makes clear that the problem is with your wife, so it's not her mother directly interfering. I think it comes down to what you're willing to put on the line. Do you give an ultimatum that she has to take this seriously because it's affecting you too much, and she can choose to or you can't stay with her?
Its mixed, the mom is incredibly nosey. But I would say that the mom isn't t he problem in this case. It's even been heavily hinted by other family members that my wife needs to become more independent. However, she has had decades of ingrained habits, so im not entirely too confident it can be changed.
[ - ] Cunty 1 point 4 monthsDec 11, 2024 10:52:20 ago (+1/-0)
You didn't know any of this before you married?.
You can't change people, this judging by what you've said has always been there, did you expect it to change?.
I can't believe that her personality is any different now to how it was then. I'm not knocking you but the signs must have always been there, why did you go through with getting married?.
I was looking it up, and what tripped me up was the mirroring and combination of her actually trying to assert boundaries when we were dating. It;s only when we got married that she went from trying and being mostly normal, to completely and utterly throwing in the towel and ceding to her old ways.
I really do not see that you have anywhere to go if she won't work with you tbh.
A marriage is a partnership, tell her you didn't marry her mother, What's going to happen when her mom is dead and gone?, point such things out to her, you can't force her to do anything and by the sound of it her parents have a very strong hold over her. You're supposed to be the head of the household, not her mother or her family, they are your lives to live and not her parents, no 2 people are the same. If you can't grow together and make good decisions and she refuses to change, what choice do you have?, you either put up with it and become henpecked(is that biblical?, I always thought the man was the head and if so then if your talking biblically, then surely you're already not being biblical(so you've already failed logically)).
I honestly am not mocking you but am just trying to open your eyes a little. I don't hold any claim to know anything biblically as it's not really my thing tbh.
I do however wish you good luck but personally I wouldn't be able to live my life the way that you're being expected to live yours.
Biblically? Ya know, the bible is all over the map on such issues. I suppose you could have any agenda and find a bible passage that backs you up on your position. The bible was written by hundreds of people from many different time periods. Its not one perspective. Anyway they were middle easterners and polygamists. Their culture was not our culture. I feel there are better sources for family advice than the bible.
I will admit that as a woman, I really like to know what other people, especially other women, think before I make a decision. Often I have already made up my mind but I still like to “bounce stuff off” other people. I like to talk about the decision with someone else before I make it. Other women are often willing to discuss such decisions at length, and reassure me about my fears. I do not let other people make up my mind for me. Is it possible that that is whats going on with the MIL? If so perhaps you can be the “other woman” —i.e. you can listen to her more often about issues she goes to the MIL with, and give her more of the feedback she is seeking without having to go to the mom.
If this is not the case, perhaps your wife has dependent personality disorder? Maybe the MIL also has a personality disorder that feeds off your wife’s dependency. I would buy some books — maybe workbooks on DPD — and encourage your wife to read or use them with you. I would also seek out a support group or a therapist that can guide your wife through this problem. Using a therapist can backfire of course if the therapist sees you as the problem, but I think a lot of competent therapists will recognize that your wife’s inability to make independent decisions is the problem, if your description of her is accurate. I think that a therapist is going to be able to make the case to your wife more effectively than you that her excessive dependence on the mom is harming her. BTW I don’t see why a religious councillor cant be useful, if you are bent on a religious solution.
How old is your wife? How old is your wifes mom? Do you have kids?
If your wife does have dpd, I think important to remember that its unlikely that she chose to be this way at all. The MIL is giving her something that she is not getting from you. You will need to take over some of those jobs if you want to get your wife back from her mom.
If she's not accepting you as the new dominate 'authority' in her life, you don't really have a marriage. Perhaps you could 'fix her' if you had training and expertise in psychological manipulation techniques?
Falling for an incompatible person to marry is one of the worst mistakes we can make. Hopefully you have no kids and can be objective about your position and vulnerabilities.
If she's not accepting you as the new dominate 'authority' in her life, you don't really have a marriage
This. I dated a few decent guys but would they accept me as the dominant authority in their life? Alas no! “ Hey, Im my own person,” they would say. Tried fixing them too. But then it was always “don’t pinch me so hard!” or “that frying pan hurts”. SMH men. ;-)
How much are you following God ? Have a home church ? Read the bible separate or together ? Pray together ? You say she always goes to her mom would she accept that God's word is always right even when we are unsure of things ?
[ + ] iSnark
[ - ] iSnark 7 points 4 monthsDec 11, 2024 10:46:44 ago (+7/-0)
[ + ] Doglegwarrior
[ - ] Doglegwarrior 4 points 4 monthsDec 11, 2024 12:15:17 ago (+4/-0)
[ + ] PeckerwoodPerry
[ - ] PeckerwoodPerry 6 points 4 monthsDec 11, 2024 12:13:20 ago (+6/-0)
[ + ] NoRefunds
[ - ] NoRefunds 0 points 4 monthsDec 11, 2024 16:17:24 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] WNwoman
[ - ] WNwoman 5 points 4 monthsDec 11, 2024 11:58:43 ago (+5/-0)
I wasn’t quite this bad but I was too enmeshed with my parents when i first married. It helped that we moved away but I still talked to them almost daily, shared way too much info, and treated their advice as gospel. The difference was that when my husband started setting some boundaries I shaped up fast because I didn’t want to lose him. He was high value and I was smart enough to know what I had.
Are you in shape? Do you provide enough? Do you keep yourself well groomed? Do you get attention from other women?
[ + ] Deleted
[ - ] deleted 0 points 4 monthsDec 11, 2024 17:21:38 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] Dingo
[ - ] Dingo 4 points 4 monthsDec 11, 2024 12:20:38 ago (+5/-1)
Then, tell your wife how you feel and how things will need to change for you to stay. If the team is you and her, you MUST leave and at which time you should be prepared to do so immediately.
[ + ] xmasskull
[ - ] xmasskull 3 points 4 monthsDec 11, 2024 13:03:46 ago (+3/-0)
[ + ] bobdole9
[ - ] bobdole9 2 points 4 monthsDec 11, 2024 11:42:22 ago (+2/-0)
BiL just did this with his wife...similar behaviors too.
Edit: you already made sure to have seperate bank accounts, right?
[ + ] Prairie
[ - ] Prairie 1 point 4 monthsDec 11, 2024 12:37:04 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] SmallGuyFromBrooklyn
[ - ] SmallGuyFromBrooklyn [op] 1 point 4 monthsDec 11, 2024 13:14:12 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] Prairie
[ - ] Prairie 0 points 4 monthsDec 11, 2024 13:27:58 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] SmallGuyFromBrooklyn
[ - ] SmallGuyFromBrooklyn [op] 0 points 4 monthsDec 11, 2024 13:30:53 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] Prairie
[ - ] Prairie 0 points 4 monthsDec 11, 2024 13:35:18 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] SmallGuyFromBrooklyn
[ - ] SmallGuyFromBrooklyn [op] 1 point 4 monthsDec 11, 2024 13:39:51 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] Cunty
[ - ] Cunty 1 point 4 monthsDec 11, 2024 10:52:20 ago (+1/-0)
You can't change people, this judging by what you've said has always been there, did you expect it to change?.
I can't believe that her personality is any different now to how it was then. I'm not knocking you but the signs must have always been there, why did you go through with getting married?.
[ + ] SmallGuyFromBrooklyn
[ - ] SmallGuyFromBrooklyn [op] 0 points 4 monthsDec 11, 2024 11:01:35 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] Cunty
[ - ] Cunty 2 points 4 monthsDec 11, 2024 11:19:29 ago (+2/-0)
A marriage is a partnership, tell her you didn't marry her mother, What's going to happen when her mom is dead and gone?, point such things out to her, you can't force her to do anything and by the sound of it her parents have a very strong hold over her. You're supposed to be the head of the household, not her mother or her family, they are your lives to live and not her parents, no 2 people are the same. If you can't grow together and make good decisions and she refuses to change, what choice do you have?, you either put up with it and become henpecked(is that biblical?, I always thought the man was the head and if so then if your talking biblically, then surely you're already not being biblical(so you've already failed logically)).
I honestly am not mocking you but am just trying to open your eyes a little. I don't hold any claim to know anything biblically as it's not really my thing tbh.
I do however wish you good luck but personally I wouldn't be able to live my life the way that you're being expected to live yours.
[ + ] namefagsrgay
[ - ] namefagsrgay 0 points 4 monthsDec 11, 2024 23:59:54 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] big_fat_dangus
[ - ] big_fat_dangus 0 points 4 monthsDec 11, 2024 19:08:03 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] TheodoreKent
[ - ] TheodoreKent 0 points 4 monthsDec 11, 2024 18:09:23 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] Smedleys_Butler
[ - ] Smedleys_Butler 0 points 4 monthsDec 11, 2024 17:52:18 ago (+0/-0)
Not saying I condone it but it works.
[ + ] Anus_Expander
[ - ] Anus_Expander 0 points 4 monthsDec 11, 2024 16:49:56 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] doginventer
[ - ] doginventer 0 points 4 monthsDec 11, 2024 16:04:28 ago (+0/-0)
https://www.openbible.info/topics/leave_and_cleave
[ + ] PostWallHelena
[ - ] PostWallHelena 0 points 4 monthsDec 11, 2024 16:04:05 ago (+0/-0)
I will admit that as a woman, I really like to know what other people, especially other women, think before I make a decision. Often I have already made up my mind but I still like to “bounce stuff off” other people. I like to talk about the decision with someone else before I make it. Other women are often willing to discuss such decisions at length, and reassure me about my fears. I do not let other people make up my mind for me. Is it possible that that is whats going on with the MIL? If so perhaps you can be the “other woman” —i.e. you can listen to her more often about issues she goes to the MIL with, and give her more of the feedback she is seeking without having to go to the mom.
If this is not the case, perhaps your wife has dependent personality disorder? Maybe the MIL also has a personality disorder that feeds off your wife’s dependency. I would buy some books — maybe workbooks on DPD — and encourage your wife to read or use them with you. I would also seek out a support group or a therapist that can guide your wife through this problem. Using a therapist can backfire of course if the therapist sees you as the problem, but I think a lot of competent therapists will recognize that your wife’s inability to make independent decisions is the problem, if your description of her is accurate. I think that a therapist is going to be able to make the case to your wife more effectively than you that her excessive dependence on the mom is harming her. BTW I don’t see why a religious councillor cant be useful, if you are bent on a religious solution.
How old is your wife? How old is your wifes mom? Do you have kids?
If your wife does have dpd, I think important to remember that its unlikely that she chose to be this way at all. The MIL is giving her something that she is not getting from you. You will need to take over some of those jobs if you want to get your wife back from her mom.
[ + ] Sector2
[ - ] Sector2 0 points 4 monthsDec 11, 2024 15:34:29 ago (+0/-0)
Falling for an incompatible person to marry is one of the worst mistakes we can make. Hopefully you have no kids and can be objective about your position and vulnerabilities.
[ + ] PostWallHelena
[ - ] PostWallHelena 1 point 4 monthsDec 11, 2024 16:14:06 ago (+1/-0)
This. I dated a few decent guys but would they accept me as the dominant authority in their life? Alas no! “ Hey, Im my own person,” they would say. Tried fixing them too. But then it was always “don’t pinch me so hard!” or “that frying pan hurts”. SMH men. ;-)
[ + ] Anus_Expander
[ - ] Anus_Expander 0 points 4 monthsDec 11, 2024 16:52:19 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] PostWallHelena
[ - ] PostWallHelena 0 points 4 monthsDec 11, 2024 16:54:28 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] Anus_Expander
[ - ] Anus_Expander 0 points 4 monthsDec 11, 2024 17:13:16 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] White_Pride_Cis
[ - ] White_Pride_Cis 0 points 4 monthsDec 11, 2024 14:15:42 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] MelGlibson
[ - ] MelGlibson 0 points 4 monthsDec 11, 2024 14:12:17 ago (+0/-0)
Have a home church ?
Read the bible separate or together ?
Pray together ?
You say she always goes to her mom would she accept that God's word is always right even when we are unsure of things ?
[ + ] Belfuro
[ - ] Belfuro -1 points 4 monthsDec 11, 2024 13:55:02 ago (+0/-1)
Then take the newborn and sibling and flee.
As in leave the country.