Well H & I had our first counseling session yesterday and it didn't go so well. It really just seemed to be a giant "venting" session for H where I barely got a word in, but I then I guess maybe that is to be expected? What's worse, even though I barely said anything at all somehow H's "level of commitment to working on the marriage on a scale from 1 to 10" went from a 3 at the beginning to a 1 at the end?! We were there for an hour and honestly I don't feel we even scratched surface on all of the issues we have in our marriage.

EVERYONE is entitled to their feelings. Whether you "hate" your SCs, love them like your own, or somewhere in-between. Whether you "hate" the BPs/Exs, are intimidated by or feel insecure around them, or just plain don't care about them. Whether you're a first time SP or multiple times over. Whether you are a SAHM or a working parent. Whether you're the primary breadwinner or the primary caretaker. Whether you're on the brink of separation/divorce, recovering from one, or reveling in the success of overcoming the obstables - ALL points of view are welcome!

I think the problem with H and I is that we were both so accustomed to our single lifestyles (i.e. parenting styles, personal finance management, etc.) for so long that we are having a very hard time with the concept of marriage and living together. We are really NOT "partners" - none of our finances are joint, none of our purchases are joint, we even have different ideas and approaches to how the children should be parented!

was good and bad.

Good in that we spent a lot of time away from the house - more than usual - and I realized that the weekends that we have SD are more tolerable to me the less time we spend at home because the feelings of "space invasion" and feeling like a guest in my own home don't exist outside the home. Of course that means I'm chauffering us everywhere, because of course the little sporty luxury car that H treated himself to on the day before Mother's Day is apparently not a "family" vehicle because it cannot accommodate us all when we have SD, but I digress...