Last week my wife and I had an argument about me traveling with our 2 year old to visit my family across state lines. My wife decided she did not want to travel because we had traveled “too much” over the holidays. She was unwilling to let me travel with our two year old. The argument spiraled and she ended up charging at me and slapping me on the chest while calling me an “idiot”. I stated that if she hit me again I’d call the police. She proceeded to taunt me for being a “chicken” and called the police herself. She described the situation to the dispatcher and there was an immediate look of dread once she realized she was the aggressor.

The police arrived and I gave my statement and boiled it down to postpartum depression on my wife’s part. I decided not press charges since she’s a teacher. Luckily during this entire incident, our 2 year old was asleep in the room. We’ve gone through couples counseling over the last 8 months and very little process. I’ve recently noticed bad patterns of behavior from my wife such as: she gets upset when I get a haircut at a barbershop instead of her, we’re subsidizing her brother’s living expenses at $400 a month in her old house because it’s “less work” (this arrangement was done without my knowledge-until she was short $5k for property taxes), she always seems against any interaction with my family, she’s refusing to go back to work full time as a teacher (she’s currently a SAHM- tutoring 2/3 times a week in the evening).

I’m troubled because she was a great person until the last year. I’ve started having health issues which I’m addressing now (stress related health issues). My family has advised for separation from my spouse in private.

Since our police involved incident we’ve taken a break for a week total. During the break she seemed caring for our child and towards me. I’m unsure if she’s “acting” nice until after we would theoretically attend one of her friend’s wedding in about one month.

I’m unsure if I should file for a divorce petition or hope we work it out. We’re both in our late twenties.