When my wife, Lucy, started watching TikTok videos about being a “tradwife,” I never imagined it would change our lives drastically. We’ve been together for 12 years, sharing a life filled with love, challenges, and raising our two kids. We both worked—me at 80% of a full-time schedule, and Lucy at 50%—to balance work and family life.

However, about a year ago, Lucy got deeply interested in the tradwife lifestyle and suggested quitting her job to embrace it. I thought she was just fascinated by a romanticized idea and didn’t take it seriously. But Lucy was persistent, saying, “Imagine coming home to a freshly cooked meal every day, and everything organized and calm. Wouldn’t that be nice?”

I appreciated her efforts but reminded her, “Our current setup works great for us. The kids are in school all day, and we manage fine.” Despite her disappointment, she let it go, only to bring it up repeatedly.

One day, Lucy quit her job without discussing it with me. She explained, “It’s what I need to do—for me, for us.” I was upset and felt betrayed. We argued, realizing we needed to make decisions together. I devised a plan to show her how it felt. I pretended to sell our house without her input, which shocked her. “I wanted to show you how it feels when someone makes a big life decision without your input,” I explained.

In the end, we agreed to discuss such significant changes together and decided to find a compromise that worked for both of us.