EDIT: As I was writing this, I was beginning to see how petty this was on my part. I wasn't sure whether to post it or not. I am glad I did though. Writing and posting this has put the emotions completely to rest. I look at it now and it seems ridiculous. I am free of this bullshit negativity that was sticking to me.

New guy here. Saturday day trip to the beach. We all have a great time. I am light, making fun of the wife, petting her on the head, having fun with the kids. Love it.

Evening is approaching. We need to get going soon. The kids need to eat and go to bed. If they are hungry or tired, the fun will turn to whining, complaining, and fighting. That's just the way things are.

Wife: "Oh, it's so nice here, do you want to hang out more?" In the past, she would not have even asked me. She would have said that this is what she wants, and that we never do anything fun, and that the kids will be fine, blah, blah, blah. It was a nice change that she asked. Took me by surprise. But I am able to hold frame. In a very straightforward way, I say, "No, let's go home." And we do. No problems, no complaining. The magic of MRP.

(No complaining from her that she wants to hang out more. No complaining from me that she is not thinking about bedtime. I am very happy that I don't complain. I hate being the beta bitch complaining guy. It's disgusting.)

At home, I whip up a healthy, quick, no-cook meal. I do this occasionally, and the kids love it whenever I do. They are eating up the food and asking for more. I go to another room for a minute to put away some stuff from the beach. One of my kids yells, "Dad! This is so good! You are the best cook ever!"

Wife: "He's not a cook." Or some crazy shit to that effect. I don't remember her exact words. Kid: "Oh, mom, I like your cooking too." Terrible. I didn't feed them for the compliments. I enjoy making them food and I enjoy watching them eat. I didn't ask for a fucking compliment. The wife's response was so manipulative. To hear my kid being manipulated really hurt me. Wife: "Oh? Which of my dishes do you like?" Kid starts listing her dishes. All of a sudden, they are discussing HER dishes. I made fucking dinner. The kids love it. But they are talking about HER dishes. Because she is offended that the kids might like my food better than hers?!

I was at a complete loss. Didn't know what to do. Had to do something. I walk back into the room. Me: "WTF are you saying? The kid can't say that he likes my cooking? What's wrong with you?" Her: "Well, you don't cook." On a very technical level, she was "right". That evening, I prepared a quick meal without actually cooking. Plus, I don't cook or prepare meals very often. I could if the schedule allowed and if I wanted to. I enjoy it to some extent. But there are other priorities.

Arghhh!! I didn't know how to respond. I just shook my head and left the room again. And I dropped it. Didn't bring it up again.

I don't think she did this "on purpose". She has a thing about her food and I hope this was a knee-jerk reaction on her part. However, this cannot happen again. She cannot manipulate the kids. That is completely way out of fucking bounds. And she cannot disparage me just to feel better about herself. Also way out of fucking bounds.

What the fuck was this? How should I have handled it? Now that I didn't handle it, is there any damage control that I should do?