Kelsey Domiana - Help! My Husband Is Hardly Home: 8 Steps to Feel Supported While Raising Your Family

KELSEY DOMIANA

NEW YORK

LONDONNASHVILLEMELBOURNEVANCOUVER

Help! My Husband is Hardly Home

8 Steps to Feel Supported While Raising Your Family

2021 Kelsey Domiana

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in New York, New York, by Morgan James Publishing in partnership with Difference Press. Morgan James is a trademark of Morgan James, LLC. www.MorganJamesPublishing.com

ISBN 9781642799019 paperback

ISBN 9781642799026 eBook

ISBN 9781642799033 audio

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019953682

Cover Design: Christopher Kirk www.GFSstudio.com

Interior Design: Chris Treccani www.3dogcreative.net

Editor: Todd Hunter

Author Photo by: Nathan Clark

Book Coaching: The Author Incubator

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I dedicate this to myself.
This is your reclamation, Kelsey Domiana.

Also, this is for my Honey Buns. Had you been home more often, this book wouldnt be possible.

I would like to thank all of the women in my life. Each and every one of you has taught me something about myself, and I am so grateful to have learned from all of you.

Shout out to you, Mom. You are the most supportive person I know. Thank you for always answering my phone calls even when you are in important meetings and workout classes. You are such an incredibly loving, powerful, and beautiful woman. I appreciate you more than you could imagine, and I thank God for your being.

Memommy, Aunt Mel, Aunt Val, Darienne, Kelly, and Danyeleall of you have shaped me into the woman I am today whether you know it or not. Thanks for being examples of phenomenal women. I love you all so much.

And to my Juni Love, you are my greatest teacher. You are true to your name. Despite your journey, you never compromise your integrity. You gave me the courage to be my authentic self and share my story. You make me proud to be your mama, and I am honored you chose me to guide you Earth side. I am humbled to be able to share in your ancestral wisdom.

Thank you, Jada, for trusting in me to help you navigate through your journey toward healing. You were with me during the grassroots, which would not have been able to flourish without you.

Jemini, you are such a light in my life. Thank you for your continued support, teaching, and accountability throughout.

And Lara. I said your name, happy? Thats enough of an acknowledgment for you. Kidding. Thank you for your open ears, open arms, and open heart. Also, thanks for giving me my nephewsManboy, Jaxsonian, and Mr. Burrito. They are beyond blessed to have you as their mama.

Dad, you are one of my biggest cheerleaders and my biggest advocate. Weve come a long way, and I value our relationship more than ever before.

Thanks, David for keeping it real and logical, as always. You told me, but I had to experience it in order to really know.

Chandler, thank you for loving me despite actually knowing the real me and for being in my corner always. My guy.

Thank you to Angela Lauria and The Author Incubators team, as well as to David Hancock and the Morgan James Publishing team for helping me bring this book to print.

Last but not least, thank you to my loving and generous husband and soul mate, Maurice. I am forever grateful for your constant encouragement, unwavering faith in me, and unconditional love. You always see the strength in me. Thank you for being so supportive through all of this. I love you, Honey Buns. Bisou.

You are playing the supportive role to your husband and his career while raising your family. Where do you fit in with all of that? How do you maintain your identity when your entire world revolves around your husbands career and your childrens needs? The challenges you may face are endless. There are tons of situations you have encountered or are likely to encounter.

You wake up exhausted from a day that hasnt even begun. You are overwhelmed with the endless responsibilities that fall solely on you. Life has spiraled out of control, and you can never seem to catch up on housework and that never-ending to-do list. You are depleted and your children are sucking the life out of you, literally and/or figuratively. You are sad and cant quite figure out why. You are not the most pleasant person to be around. You look run-down and haggard. You feel down, unfulfilled, and empty but dont know how to lift yourself up. You have lost yourself at some point along the way, and youre unsure of how you reached this dark place.

Maybe you did not want to be in a lonely partnership or thought you would never be carrying what feels like all of the weight of the family responsibilities. Youve probably said some variation of...

Im over it.

I didnt sign up for this.

I cant bear this anymore.

I didnt think it would be like this.

Perhaps you cant really talk to anyone about what you are going through because they dont get it. They think you live a luxurious basketball-wife life, do nothing all day, and get the privilege to stay at homewhich is only their perception, not your actual reality nor truth.

You are isolated in a city away from everyone you know and love, and your husbands gone on long, road game stretches. Or maybe you see him in clumpsa day, weeks, or months at a time because he works the second shift, two jobs, or is back in school. You are bothered by the attention your man gets from other women when the only attention you get is from your littles, asking everything of you and, well, your manbut hes not really around to answer. It makes you feel like what you are doing is not enough.

Your kids are on a schedule, so you feel comfortable scheduling something for yourself during naptime, but of course, that particular day, they dont go down for a nap at the regular time. Or, maybe you have to scramble to make your midterm paper deadline, but your sons sixth sense flares up, and her instantly becomes fussy and clingy instead of playing by himself as he normally does. Or when you are touched out, and in order to feel human again, you just need two minutes to yourself without any tiny fingers jabbing into your thighs, bodies tackling you, or a little face pressing up against your face. Or your kids wont listen, and you are about to explode.

I am almost positive you yearn for some form of physical touch from your spousehugs, kisses, holding hands, cuddling, waking up next to him in the morning. You could be pregnant and just want a belly rub from his meaty, strong hands. You desire for his finger to interlace with yours or for him to curl up next to you on the couch. Maybe you need that emotional support and reassurance from him because you feel deflated.