'Husband's gaming habit is ruining our marriage - he won't help with the baby'

29 August 2023 , 11:00

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The dad plays games late into the night (stock photo) (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The gaming world is an immersive one that provides endless hours of entertainment and engagement but for some people, their love of gaming goes a little bit too far according to their loved ones and for one pregnant wife, her husband's hobby is ruining their marriage.

Writing anonymously on Baby Centre, the frustrated and fed up mum explained that despite her complaints, her husband can start as early as at 7:15am with his intense gaming schedule that begins with him spending 12 hours messaging his friends about their evening gaming session which on the most recent occasion, started at 9pm and finished at 4am.

Because of his late-night antics, the wife is left falling asleep alone and doing their baby's late feeds by herself. She explained on the forum: "Our baby woke at 5am for a bottle and I asked if he could do it, not realising he had only recently come to bed, I had been left upstairs since 8pm not well and pregnant. He accused me of moaning at him. I think because he was tired, he snapped at me."

The gamer's wife says her husband gets defensive when she brings this issue up and because of this, she is at a loss of what to do. After some investigation, she found that her husband's five year long gaming habit has resulted in him racking up 3,791 hours of gameplay on just one game.

"He does help out but I want time with my husband," she admits, "I don't want him checking off his to do list then (forgetting) about me because he spends all of our free time at night gaming. I feel so lonely and like he never spends time with me. I’m close to ending my marriage over this because I've expressed my concerns multiple times and he doesn’t change at all. I feel we've become so distant there may be no fixing our marriage."

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Comments of support for the wife's frustrations flooded in, with one user writing, "I wouldn't have this. He's neglecting you, and some of his parental duties… If he's not going to make time for you, I don't see the point of the marriage." Another said: "It sounds like your husband doesn't prioritise you over the gaming which sucks. He needs a wake up call! But I don't think gaming itself is necessarily the issue, it's how he fits in to your life, he needs to compromise."

Offering a different perspective on the dilemma, another user wrote: "Go out? If he is gaming, do your own thing. It's not healthy to totally rely on him to be entertained in the evening. That's a lot of pressure for someone."

What do you think the mum should do? Let us know in the comments...

Naimah Archibald-Powell