I [31F] feel like I'm in a relationship with [29M], but it often feels like I'm a single parent.
I'm a 31-year-old woman facing challenges with my boyfriend, who is 29, regarding his involvement in parenting our 6-month-old son and sharing household responsibilities. When I first got pregnant, we were both thrilled, and he convinced me that he'd be an amazing father. Sadly, his actions have proven otherwise, and he's resistant to change despite my attempts to address the issue. It feels like he only wants to engage in parenting when it's convenient for him, leaving me to handle most of the responsibilities on my own, even during the night. Currently, he’s sleeping in the third bedroom (which was meant to be the baby’s room) to help me get more sleep due to his snoring, and to have space to work through some personal issues. I made it clear that I didn't want him to treat this as a break, and I even offered him access to my Audible account to listen to self-help books while he plays games. A month has gone by, and he’s done the exact opposite—staying up late gaming and ignoring the audiobooks. On weekends, he sleeps in well past noon instead of waking up at 10 am as I’ve requested to help with the baby. It’s currently 3 pm, and he’s still asleep. I usually get him to help out for about three hours after work before I have to put the baby to bed alone and handle nighttime care by myself. His weekend wake-up times are unpredictable. I often feel like a single parent in this relationship. Whenever I try to talk with him, I’m met with defensiveness and excuses. He claims he’ll make changes, but nothing ever happens. It seems like he doesn’t genuinely care about following through, and I can't shake the feeling that he’s just waiting for me to leave. I’m honestly at my breaking point. He behaves as though he's single, while I'm the only one trying to maintain our partnership. How do you stay in a relationship where respect and love feel absent? And how can I reach someone who seems so disengaged, hoping he’ll step up as a parent even if he doesn’t want to function as a partner?