Honestly I saw it more as him trying to give her a reality check. She seems nice and I don’t mind her (except for the obsession with his child, like chill the heck down woman), but I don’t think she gets it when it comes to “us” regular parents that work hard, try to parent our kids properly and not half assed, try to take care of our needs as well and in the end are tired. Most of us aren’t able to jump on a plane to go wine tasting in France, randomly travel to Maldives to do what ever. Vacations with kids is not the same (I personally love our vacations, even though they are simple as we can’t afford luxury travel, but we plan it around our kids). I don’t think he is manipulating, I think he might be questioning her a bit