My H is primarily of a sanguine temperament: doesn't like rules, schedules ... puts an emphasis on fun and spontanaity .... this is an agressive / outward temperament, a people peson, he wants people to look at him, listen to him and follow him due to his charm.  He doesn't want to command people, he wants to persuade them with his smile and his jokes.

I am a melancholic primarily.  I also have enough choleric in me to be strong willed.  I am a schedule person.  I like rules.  I like to make lists and plans.  

I have had the worst time trying to follow a leader who doesn't go in a straight line, doesn't give directions, doesn't make clear requests.  Another aspect of his temperament is that on the down side he has the potential of being morally flexible and also tolerates the errors of others to an extreme degree ...

I love him. But he drives me insane.  If I were to do things the way he wants to ... I'd go to bed late, get up late, not have time for prayer, blow off appointments and play all day.  

I just can't follow this!

Do any wives here have this experience?  I've tried to learn from the saints .. but the type of husbands that makes saints of their wives seem to be cholerics: prone to anger, strong willed, demanding, confrontation "my way or the highway" types.

My husband has a temperament like this too. I think that obeying and submitting to one's husband will increase sanctity, no matter what temperament he has.

One temptation that I have with a husband like this is to be self-indulgent because my husband makes few demands on me.  But, even if he does not give direct orders, I can still figure out what will please him and try to do it.

When I explain to my husband that I need routines and schedules to be able to function, he understands and does not expect me to do what is too difficult for me.

My husband is choleric:really-mad2:melancholic, so he's very much "the type that makes saints of their wives". Alas it hasn't happened yet!

Marriage ca be hard whatever our temperaments.

God's Will in all things!

But we clashed often and badly around the issues of child rearing. Things like him wanting to go on trips away from the kids ... and us not having friends or family we could leave them with so we never did dates or trips. He resented that.

 More importantly, we clashed about living the Faith and raising our kids. I had issues with movies and music, he thought I was overreacting. He would say things in front of the kids that were inappropriate or embarrassing (language or gossiping about his friends and their shameful behavior) etc.

 He didn't take initiative on spiritual matters ... has taken umbrage to my seeming "obsession" with reading about the Faith and talking about it and being concerned about it.

This sounds just like my husband. Add that to the fact that he is not a Catholic, so this type of worldly behavior is expected.... but I would expect a Catholic to know and do better. Talk about crosses and uphill battles!

Yes, there are temperment issues, maturity issues for both of us of course.  We've come a long way since our early years and for that I am grateful.  

Yes, I realize that about striving for perfection and how the temperaments become refined in the process.

I guess it's just the day to day reality of having to make decisions and be concerned with another person's choices and example in regard to raising children that made this so challenging and difficult for me.  A more mature wife, a person better at controlling their own temperament, may have come up with better strategies to be both obedient, "fun" and yet also making it possible for the other person to take the situation more seirously.

We did take the kids on many trips ... business trips ... tag along kind of things.  

The other trips .. there were a few that were company related in the early days where other colleagues were bringing their wives ... but they also were older than we were and had grown children.

Anyway, those days have passed.  It's just that H can be foolish in his demeanor sometimes and blurt things out .. and he's not very discriminating in the types of friends he chooses and there just always seems to be something where I'm being forced to say "No" because of the way he sets things up ...and then I think that I'm being disobedient .. and it goes around and around.

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More importantly, we clashed about living the Faith and raising our kids. I had issues with movies and music, he thought I was overreacting. He would say things in front of the kids that were inappropriate or embarrassing (language or gossiping about his friends and their shameful behavior) etc.

He didn't take initiative on spiritual matters ... has taken umbrage to my seeming "obsession" with reading about the Faith and talking about it and being concerned about it.

This is a whole lot different than everyday matters that require obedience.  What does your priest advise?

It is not just everyday matters that require obedience.  In general, a wife always has a duty to obey her husband unless it involves her committing a sin.  I agree that the OP should ask a priest.  Asking for advice on a forum tends to get responses from a bunch of people criticizing the husband and encouraging the wife to rebel against him, although a trad forum might not do it as much.  Here is a blog post illustrating that problem: link

Just wanted to make a quick note, and maybe ask that everyone do some self reflecting. The person that mentioned that she “should play hard ball”, you about (and still might) cost us a family. The thing is, if anyone has to put up with unfair things in this marriage, it’s me. But I generally don’t complain, I don’t bother trying to change things. So long as everyone ELSE is content, comfortable, and safe, I don’t really mind. My place is to provide, and yet I constantly get stepped on. With this thread, I about had enough. The dangers of these “helpful” threads are that you don’t know all the circuмstances, but still you give advice that might be taken seriously. Would you trust a doctor to diagnose you with something over an email? Everyone wants to swoop in and “help” or “save” a needy stranger, but without knowing any of the details other than what was given.

All we can really talk about on a forum is general principles.  We have one such principle stated by St. Peter: " In like manner also let wives be subject to their husbands: that if any believe not the word, they may be won without the word, by the behaviour of the wives."

Also Casti Connubii

Domestic society being confirmed, therefore, by this bond of love, there should flourish in it that "order of love," as St. Augustine calls it. This order includes both the primacy of the husband with regard to the wife and children, the ready subjection of the wife and her willing obedience, which the Apostle commends in these words: "Let women be subject to their husbands as to the Lord, because the husband is the head of the wife, and Christ is the head of the Church."

I agree with Jayne's comments.

I'm discerning my thoughts on this and realizing that my whole attitude is one of defense against being asked to do this or that, or being constantly challenged.  But since I am in a constant battle mode, I have to ask "what came first?"  Have I really tried a different way of communicating with my H ?  Also, I've really developed a disagreeableness in general to most of H's ideas and plans due to past experience with things going wrong in one way or another. But that's not a sin issue.  

So, my take on this brings it back to me and what I've done and not done and how I've become rigid in dealing with H due to past disappointments and disagreements.

I guess I've just got a rebellious spirit.  Both because of my temperament and because of experience with H and mistakes being made. A lack of trust has developed over the years and I haven't wanted to listen to him about anything.  And as you can imagine, it's caused a lot of problems.

I have to find a better way of being in relationship with him.

Leave sadness to those in the world. We who work for God should be lighthearted.

St. Leonard of Port Maurice