So, to start I’m pretty ace and while I have sex with my husband, it’s fairly infrequent (less than he wants but that’s another issue) and I don’t want to have any additional sexual relationships.
About a year ago, a friend of a friend inadvertently fell into this daddy/princess role with me in a just friends, long distance capacity. It was almost a joke a first but over time I found I really enjoyed the emotional comfort, praise/rewards, structure, check ins, etc he provided, and he enjoyed helping me in that way. It wasn’t sustainable so it fizzled out, but it made me realize, especially with my AuDHD and chronic overwhelm in a chaotic household, I like having someone look out for and take care of just me.
I’ve brought this up to my husband and he’s just not into it at all. He’s not an overly nurturing person like that anyway, feels like he’s “forcing” me to do things, and is already constantly overwhelmed with our kids too. No capacity or desire for that type of relationship.
I’m not sure where to go from here. Obviously everything would have to be conventional with him and understood, but is having someone in this sort of role in a non-sexual way a thing, in addition to an existing marriage? I don’t do age play and likely not regression (but I have childhood trauma so I’m unsure), I just really almost need a loving, guiding caretaker.
I appreciate any info at all on this because I really don’t know what to do. I don’t want a divorce, I love my husband, but I feel like I need/want this in my life to help me feel fulfilled.
ETA: my husband was aware and was okay with the dynamic since it wasn’t romantic or anything other than friendship.
UPDATE: I’ve taken a lot of time going over all of these incredibly detailed and thoughtful replies and really appreciate you all. I wasn’t sure where to turn and when my brain thought “hey, this is the thing I feel like I need”, I wanted to as a community that was knowledgeable even if it didn’t end up being exactly where I needed to be.
To clarify, I’d never do anything without my husband and this is something we had already talked about and he’s been honest that it’s just not his thing at all, and I respect that. Regarding my kids, I didn’t realize I was autistic until after I had them, so it was easier for me to keep my cup full and not just absolutely burned out by constantly taking care of three neurodivergent people (including my husband), on top of my own needs and over the years I just became more and more neglected.
We’ve talked about my needs and his (only sex of course) a lot over the course of the last few years but nothing seems to really change. In my mind, I figured if my needs stressed him out and he didn’t have the ability to meet them, then basically “offloading” that sort of relationship would make it easier for everyone… but that’s probably a very black and white autistic thought.
At this stage, I think I’ll ask my husband to go to marriage counseling with me, in addition to talking to my own therapist about it. I have a history of childhood neglect, and a series of horrible relationships where I always give and never get anything in return, so it seems that rather than recognizing a lot of what I want is just basic relationship needs, I assumed it was extra and needed a special relationship for it (which is why my friend doing it wasn’t anything more than just him providing that check in, support and praise, but nothing more than that really). If after therapy and hopefully finding some balance in our home and relationship I still feel I want that sort of dynamic, we can open up the conversation then.
Thank you everyone for taking the time to really educate me and make me realize that I probably just need some basic emotional fulfillment to start with.