"I don't think you should be blaming your wife for anything. She has every right to feel angry with you, and you need to accept that she'll probably need to take more time than you'd like to re-build this relationship. She is not "punishing" you...to be perfectly honest, I think her reactions are completely understandable."

Interesting to see this picked out of a moderately long post by a person looking for help for an immanent crisis. Not the first time I've seen this sentiment expressed by the same person. I suspect there's a story in there somewhere.

I have never denied responsibility or culpability for my actions. I have said, and will continue to say, that I'm not the only one who did anything wrong. As one example, I have grown somewhat tired over our years of marriage of being physically attacked when she gets angry. I think most honest people would have to admit that being repeatedly punched, kicked, and even bitten during numerous temper tantrums does provide a certain incentive to seek comfort elsewhere.

So why stay together? Because she's not always like that. At other times she is good hearted, loving, supportive, and a good mother to our children. And I'm not always a cheating lowlife. I've even been accused of being a good husband and father on occasion. We both have our own issues to work on before we can work on the marriage.