Hi thanks for your response.

I spoke to him today and he feels by visiting them it’s sorted it out even though I’ve had no apology or heard anything from his parents. He feels I should draw a line under everything and move on..maybe I should, but if I do then all this stuff will just keep happening. I told him I can’t have a relationship with his sisters and parents because I find the negativity they project is too much for my mental health.

I’ve always been able to speak up for myself and I’m the kind of person to be extremely honest if someone has upset me. My father-in-law has always been rude, the way the whole family speaks to eachother at times is shocking but no one ever stands up to him, apart from me and other people who are outside of the family say this is his problem with me. I dare to speak up and to add insult to injury I’m a woman.

My self-esteem in others parts of life isn’t great tbh. I’m a full-time housewife and don’t feel as if I could cope financially if I were to split up from my husband. I used to work before I had kids but that was 10 years ago and feel completely terrified of ‘going out to work’ again. I’ve tried various things to help me, taking online courses, even starting freelance work for a little bit but I felt out of my depth and scared of failing. I think feeling dependant on him makes me feel trapped in a very unhappy situation. Then there’s the whole issue with the kids mental health and how it would effect them.

Its all such a mess.