Dear Abby: My retired husband wont stop bothering me while Im working from home

DEAR ABBY: I am at my wits’ end with “Barney,” my husband of 35 years.He retired two years ago, but I am still working and likely will for several more years.

I’ve worked from home successfully since long before the COVID-19 pandemic, which was fine while Barney was working.When he retired, I talked to him about respecting boundaries during the day while I work.

My home office is on the second floor of the house, which leaves him the entire downstairs to enjoy without disrupting me during work hours.Unfortunately, Barney has not shown me the respect I asked for.He frequently yells upstairs for me to come help him with something, or he comes into the office and wants to talk.

He wants to know what’s for dinner, and he gets upset if I’m not done working at exactly 5 p.m.He also gets upset with me if I won’t let him caress and hold me while I’m trying to work.

When he worked, he often stayed late and went in after hours or on weekends.I never complained or showed him the disrespect he is showing me.For a while, I tried to give Barney more attention because I do love him.

Now, his constant complaining is so annoying that I don’t even want to spend my free time with him.I am certainly not interested in any physical expressions of love.

I’ve tried to discuss this with him and even asked if he’d consider going to couples counseling, but he refuses. I’m a happy woman except when I’m with my husband.That makes me sad, and I’m tired of feeling this way.

I’m not sure what to do.I’ve thought about renting office space, but that would only solve the disruption issues during my workday.

It wouldn’t solve the other issues, notably Barney’s lack of respect for me.— GIVE ME SPACEDEAR GIVE ME SPACE: A partial solution is better than no solution.

Go ahead and rent the office space.It will be helpful to learn how much of the pressure that relieves.

Once your work frustrations are out of the picture, reassess Barney’s treatment of you a...