I am 44 and my wife is 36. She quit her job and has been staying home to look after our children since we welcomed our second child. We are a family with a normal income, with my monthly salary between 10 million VND and 25 million VND ($421 – $1,053), depending on my performance.
We live in the neighboring province of HCMC, Binh Duong, while I work in HCMC, so I travel in total about 60 kilometers every day to reach my place of work and then back home. I suffered from back pain because of it.
I bought a used car for 280 million VND three months ago, and the money came entirely from my savings. My wife approved of the decision when I told her. I also drive it with our children to different places, from supermarkets to the houses of our loved ones, almost every weekend. However, my wife complains that I never often take her with the children.
Our discord culminated when I offered to drive my neighbors to their relative in the southeastern province of Binh Phuoc, located about 80 kilometers from our home. I wanted to do this because I also know their relative and thought I could visit them and sleep there the night before taking our neighbors back.
But my wife showed her disapproval. She said in a serious way, not joking, “If you want to go, bring the children with you. You run away with the car when you’re about to take me somewhere, you think that go ?”
The neighbors then refused my offer, even if they were happy that I could take them to their relative first. It drove me crazy and I insulted my wife. She then said we should divorce.
It was the first time she said it.
I have always tried to think of the advantages of my wife to maintain our marriage, although she often embarrassed me.
For example, once she asked me to call our children, who were staying with a neighbor, at their place for dinner. Since I didn’t know exactly which house they were in, I looked for them in each house. I reached a house where some of our neighbors were drinking before I found the children, so I joined them, thinking I would sit for about 15-20 minutes before continuing my search for the children.
But then my wife stood in front of the house where we were drinking and called me out loud, which really bothered me.
Although I was crazy, I always thought of the good things she was doing so that I wouldn’t argue with her.
What should I do now?
