Am I the only one who feels like they’re living with a stranger? I’m 21. Most people my age are out getting wasted or failing midterms but I’m here. I’m always here. I haven’t slept more than four hours straight in two years. I’m the one who knows exactly which blanket Leo needs or how he likes his crusts cut (off, obviously). My whole life is this house. It’s diapers and Cocomelon and cold coffee. And I was okay with it, I really was. I thought we were a team. I thought we were building something. But tonight was just... it was too much. Sarah gets home from the office and she’s already pissed. I can hear it in the way she drops her keys on the counter. CLANG. Like she wants the whole house to know she’s had a hard day. I’m in the middle of trying to get Leo to eat some damn peas and he’s being a typical two-year-old. He swiped the spoon and green mush went everywhere. All over his shirt. All over the floor. I was reaching for a paper towel, just laughing it off because what else can you do? It’s just peas. And then she just snapped. She grabbed his arm—hard—and leaned right into his face. I’ve never seen her look like that. She started screaming at him about being a "spoiled brat" and how she works all day to pay for the food he’s throwing away. Leo just froze. His eyes got so big and he didn't even cry at first. He was just terrified. Of his own mom. She dragged him toward the hallway and shoved him into his room and slammed the door. Hard. I could hear him start to wail from the other side and my heart just dropped through the floor. I stood there with a wet paper towel in my hand like a total idiot. I felt sick. Just actual, physical nausea. I told her he’s a baby, Sarah, he’s TWO. He doesn’t understand money or whatever the hell she thinks she’s teaching him. She just looked at me with this cold, dead stare and told me I’m making him soft. That I’m the reason he’s "difficult" because I don't give him "real consequences." CONSEQUENCES? For spilling peas? He’s literally still learning how to use a spoon! Anyone else wonder if they even know the person they’re raising a kid with? Because I looked at her and I didn't see my wife. I saw someone mean. I saw someone who thinks fear is the same thing as respect. We grew up so differently—my parents were chill, her dad was a drill sergeant—and I thought we’d moved past that. I thought we agreed on how we wanted Leo to grow up. But now I’m sitting here at 2am and I’m wondering if we’re even on the same planet. I'm wondering if I can even stay. It’s not just tonight either. It’s been building. It’s the way she sighs when he wants a hug. It’s the way she tells him to "stop being a baby" when he scrapes his knee. HE IS A BABY. That’s the whole point! (Sometimes I think she actually hates that he needs us). And because I’m the one here all day, I’m the one who has to fix the damage. I’m the one who has to hold him while he shakes after she loses her mind. It feels like I’m protecting him FROM her instead of parenting WITH her. I'm a shield, not a father. I’m so TIRED of being the only one who cares about his feelings. I’ve given up everything for this. I dropped out of school. I don't see my friends. My entire identity is being "Leo’s dad" and "Sarah’s husband" and I don't even know who I am anymore. I’m just the guy who cleans the floors and gets yelled at for not being "tough" enough. I feel like a servant who’s also a bodyguard. It’s exhausting. It’s soul-crushing. I just want to take him and run away sometimes. What happens when he gets older? If this is how she treats a toddler, what happens when he’s ten and actually talks back? Or sixteen and breaks a rule? Is she just going to break him? I can’t let that happen. But I also don't know how to stop it without blowing up our entire lives. I have no money of my own. No degree. Nothing. I’m trapped in this house with a person I’m starting to actually despise. I’m 21 and I feel like my life is already over. Does anyone else look at their partner and realize your values are just... totally different? Like, fundamentally different ways of seeing the world? I want him to feel loved. She wants him to be obedient. Those aren't the same thing. Not even close. I used to think she was just stressed but now I think this is just who she is. This is the "real" her and the person I married was just a mask. And it scares the absolute shit out of me. Leo is finally asleep now but I can’t close my eyes. Every time I do, I see her face when she was screaming at him. I see his little hand trying to pull away from her grip. I’m just sitting on the kitchen floor in the dark. The peas are still dried on the tile because I couldn't even finish cleaning up after she left the room. I’m just... I’m done. I don't know what to do but I know I can't keep doing this. I just can't. He deserves better than this. I deserve better than this.