Jake and I always seemed like a team. We collaborated whenever a decision needed to be made, and I thought that was our greatest strength. That is, until I found out that my husband makes fun of me in front of his friends and the entire internet community.
Jake and I agreed that it would be best if I left my lucrative marketing job to be with Lily after the birth of our autistic daughter, who requires the kind of care and attention that the kindergarten was unable to offer.
I was afraid of being a stay-at-home mother. Lily was more important than anything, even though I loved my job and everything about it.
Although I initially struggled to adjust to the new life, I eventually came to appreciate baking, cooking, and household chores.
At least I believed that Jake was appreciative of the sacrifice I made for Lily.
When I was vacuuming his home office one day, I saw that his Twitter feed was open and his computer was turned on. As I looked at the screen, I noticed the word “#tradwife.”
There were pictures of me baking, taking cookies out of the oven, and a lot more.
As I continued to scroll, I discovered that my husband makes fun of me online by portraying me as a happy, conventional housewife who voluntarily gave up her job and swapped the office for the kitchen.
As I browsed his account, pictures of me wearing the apron kept appearing. He never once brought up the fact that our autistic daughter was the true reason I chose to be a stay-at-home mother.
was deceived. My heart became angry.
I confronted Jake after taking numerous screenshots of his degrading posts.
“Jake, why would you generalize me based on the likes and comments of strangers?” Crushed, I asked.
He made an effort to defend himself by claiming that those posts were pointless. He simply enjoyed himself online and never intended to offend me; he didn’t mean it to be serious.
I felt hurt and ashamed as I said, “No, Jake, you disrespected the sacrifice I am making for this family and a simple sorry isn’t enough.”
The damage was already done when he pulled out his phone and erased his Twitter account.
I shared screenshots of my husband’s posts on Facebook because I wanted everyone to know how he felt about everything I did for the family. Have you ever found out that your spouse makes fun of you in front of his friends? It was captioned by me.
My family and friends messaged me and called to check on me, as was to be expected.
Jake was now the one who felt ashamed for his treatment of me.
He pleaded with me for forgiveness, but I was unable to do so—at least not immediately.
It was a long time before I began to trust him once more.