Violet - this pretty much sums up why I'm not married today.
My ex-wife was very controlling. She had to have the final say with everything. It didn't start out this way, but this was what it turned into very quickly.
She also had a child before we were married (not mine). After two years of marriage, my ex-wife turned to me one day and out of the blue told me: "Don't ever try to make me decide between you and her, because she'll win."
Wait a minute. I thought when we were married, we became one flesh? Things fell apart quickly after that. They rattled apart. I was 26, she was 42. I was her third husband.
After I divorced her, she married a 28 year old man. He died of a heart attack a year later.
Just think.......... that could have been you
Today she lives a single life in her mother's house with her daughter at her side.
I also know men who have taken advantage of the rules by which women should live. He used his wife as an uncompensated servant, a driven slave, a punching bag (mental and physical). When he was disciplined for it, he always quoted the bible. After his wife passed away, he went mad.
My point is: There are rules to be a good wife...yeah. But with those rules, men should realize that there are also rules to being a good husband. A wife isn't like a pet or a toy, she's an extension of you. One in the same flesh. The rules Violet mentioned don't give men the right to treat women any way that they want to and get away with it. All of God's creations should be treated with respect. Including women, the mothers.
Just wanted to add my two cents into the pot.
Women are tender, beautiful, delicate gifts to any life; as mothers, sisters, aunts, grandmothers, wives, girlfriends, friends, etc. They're built more delicately and should be handled with care.