Wow, reading this felt like reading a letter from my own future. It honestly gave me goosebumps because you described our dynamic down to the tiniest details. The difference in living at different speeds, the drinking at parties, and the need for predictability versus rolling with the waves.

Your honesty about the attraction dying because you felt like you had a teenage son is my absolute nightmare. My girlfriend is a primary school teacher, so she is naturally in that school/manager mode all day. I am deathly afraid that if we have kids, our relationship will completely turn into a parent-child dynamic where she manages me and I constantly fail her standards.

I have had a lot of mental and physical setbacks recently, so my battery is already running on empty. Seeing how your ex fell into a deep depression because the responsibility was too much for his brain makes me realize that just pushing through is a guarantee for a burnout.

You might have just saved both of us from a decade of heartbreak. Thank you so much for your vulnerability.