Need to vent....new elliptical

ksnurse25

Ok, I really need to get this off my chest. I just bought a brand new Sole elliptical and my husband helped me put it together tonight. Needless to say, I have the type of husband that likes to take control of projects and does not work well with others. I have read reviews on the new Sole, and everything is great...heavy duty, lasts long, works awesome.....but the only issue is with putting the dang thing together. Reviews only commented that it was hard to put together and that the instructions were difficult. Ok, I figured my husband and I could tackle this in an hour or two working together. OMG!!!!! by the end of the night I wanted to drink a couple stiff drinks to feel better! I was going too slow for him (only because I was back tracking to steps he missed), he had to use all of his fancy tools that were huge and couldn't get into the small areas available...and he complained about that, it was too hot (it was 68 degrees in the house), and he would not let me do a thing...not a single dang thing!!!! I tried helping by putting some of the plastic protective pieces on and screwing them in....but he said I was not getting them tight enough....so he went behind me with his fancy *kitten* tools tightening it 1/32 of a rotation. Seriously???? My husband is not one to exercise, so he will never be using this machine. I worked hard and saved up my money for it and will be using it on a daily basis. So, we finally get the last piece put on....and what does he do? He turns it on...hops on...and starts trying to program it. I was a little irritated by this because this is my baby....my elliptical.....how would he like to bring home a new power tool or sports car.....and not be able to play with it first??????? I bit my tongue..because he did help me put it together...wait...he put it together for me.....and I grabbed the manual and started reading on what I needed to know to run the machine. He kept nagging me....what's your weight..i want to enter it. I told him, hold on....I want to learn some more about this. it didn't stop there....his voice got louder and he asked me again what my weight was......finally...I couldn't handle it any more. I yelled saying that I want to do this...you haven't let me do a darn thing on this yet...and I want to do it myself so I can learn. He got pissy and said I didn't just stay up this late helping you for you to turn into a *****. Oh boy....I had enough. I didn't ask him to help me tonight...he wanted to do it. I wanted to help...he wouldn't let me. We didn't have to finish tonight, but he wanted to. I wanted to get to know my new best friend and he wouldn't let me. GRRRRRRRR!!!! I finally told him to shut his mouth and open his ears. Needless to say he stormed off threatening to use a sledge hammer on my new friend. Seriously???? Well, I will let you all know how I like the new elliptical when I calm down enough to use it. I was on it for a little bit but was too distracted to concentrate on all the new flashy buttons. It looks pretty...and the fan helped cool me off! Anyone else have issues with non-supportive husbands that don't think you do anything right and want to control everything? I need some support here!!!!!!!

LJCannon

Mine is exactly the same way. I have learned to just keep my mouth shut because everything turns into a Competition if we try to do it "Together". Sorry I don't have any advice for you, but I do know how you feel!!

NoAdditives

My husband is handy with electrical stuff, after all, it's what he did in the Marine Corps. But he learned fairly early on that I was fully capable of putting things together myself. I was raised in a family without men and had lived on a farm for 10 years. I know my way around a tool box and am plenty strong. While I was pregnant with our daughter he wanted to put her crib together but was having all sorts of trouble. I decided to help him, even though he didn't want me to. He quickly figured out that without me he wouldn't have gotten it together right. Since then I've been the one to put together everything for our children. Well, except for my daughter's play kitchen, but that was only because he put it together on her birthday while I was baking cakes and making all sorts of food for her party.

He really likes that I am capable and confident enough to handle things myself. It's actually one of the reasons he married me!

So...I'm sorry I can't share in your frustration. My husband does plenty of things that drive me crazy, but that's not one of them.

Mamoonie

Hi there,

I too have such a husband. It's been that bad that my self-confidence was/is down to the floor. When everything you do or say is bad or wrong and you're told often enough, you finally start believing it to the point that you don't dare doing or saying anything anymore.
I'm a bit lucky though that I now have a job "on my own", which has nothing to do with him. I had to study for exams, which I passed with great results, I'm doing my job now and I'm doing things right. This actually helps with my self-confidence.
Other than that, I try to bite my tongue, "close my ears", and walk off.

MM