What are the signs your husband loves you but doesn’t like you?
You’re reading this and probably thinking, “How can my husband love me and not like me? What a load of rubbish!”
Let’s rewind to the early stages of your relationship when that man struggled to peel his eyes off you, and his stare rang an alarm, waking up the butterflies in your tummy.
Then, the thought of him filled your day almost as intrusive as the light of dawn.
Fast forward to today, you’re married, and something feels off; the butterflies have grown extinct, and your husband doesn’t stare at you with wonder in his eyes.
He has lost the wonder in his eyes as the cares of this world have squeezed out the longing he used to have when coming to see you or hear you or even just talk to you every day.
Now, it seems every good deed is mechanical, not magical.
Even though you admire how he’s holding the fort of sturdy love for the family, you miss the spark of old romance you two shared.
It tells you that something is off.
What Is The Difference Between Being Loved And Being Liked?
Many ancient languages, such as Latin, Hebrew, and even old Norwegian, tend to associate love with a deep sense of care for a person.
They even closely relate it to giving care or affection from one person to another.
So, we can loosely say love is sacrificial, unconditional, and selfless.
When a person tells another person, “I love you” (and means it), the person lets the listener understand that they want to live a lifetime caring for the other.
However, the common idea being communicated when told “I like you” is that the person gives you an appeal, and a certain rush of pleasure whelms up within them around the listener that you cannot describe.
The butterflies take center stage in your stomach, and with every eye contact both of you make, time seems to pause, even for just a moment.
It’s a feeling that gets your blood flowing and excitement welling up inside you.
It is safe to say that in terms of importance, love takes center stage because it is lasting.
However, the aesthetics associated with being liked inspire one to begin their love journey, which is why they both need to work hand in hand.
When love begins to feel like a duty, it is a good time to sit and reflect on how to introduce the magic of romance to your marriage.
Now let’s explore seven sure signs that your husband loves you but doesn’t like you anymore;
7 Sure Signs Your Husband Loves You But Doesn’t Like You
1. Over familiarity
First, you will observe the level of comfort he has already started to have around you.
To do this, take a trip down memory lane and begin remembering your wooing days.
Remember the level of effort he used to put into how he looked, how his apartment looked, how his car smelt, and even his personal hygiene?
Can you now see that truly something has changed?
What inspired him to put loads of effort into his everyday looks has now disappeared from the scene.
He went the extra mile because he liked you.
Fast forward to now, you are currently coping with new habits, possible sweaty smells, and even outfits screaming zero effort from the fashion killer of a man you once knew.
This, in Nigerian parlance, is called “see finish.”
That overfamiliarity can make him put little or no effort into the things that used to trip you.
Don’t get it twisted; the guy might really love you.
It’s just that he doesn’t like you and isn’t excited about you enough to do those things.
2. “Look at Me”
Another sign is that he stares more at his gadgets than at you.
It’s not that he can’t put down his phone to run to the drugstore when you’re sick, but the intensity of his gaze has changed.
He used to look deep into your soul, but now he only gives you quick glances, and his body language is more distant.
Even though it seems small, you notice the withdrawal in his eyes, which hurts you more than you would like to admit.
He may still hold a torch of love in his heart for you, but he doesn’t just like you as much.
3. “Talk to Me”
The number of his words has reduced to phrases.
At first, he would spend time engaging your mind with long questions, showing how interested he is in knowing you, but it seems all that stopped when you married him.
Now all you hear is the occasional, “Any food?”, “Yes,” “Maybe,” “ No, please,” etc.
Conversations feel like a drag lately.
Guys talk freely to people they like a lot, so this tells a lot.
Your husband still cares about you, but maybe you are not his favorite person at the moment.
4. “You’re not smiling”
The hidden smile at the edge of his lips that shows up when you are on his radar or send him a text message begins to take a backstage.
His only smiles you’ve seen recently are at memes or TV sitcoms, but not with you.
You recall when he would bite his lips to hide his smile because of your presence around him.
Your husband’s infatuation with you has faded with time and has now been replaced by responsibilities of time.
5. “You don’t want to hold my hand”
At first, he would find every excuse, but not anymore.
The excuse to touch you, play with your hair, and gently stroke your reddened face.
This could be by playfully poking your arm, squeezing your cheeks, or even filling your dainty hands with his rough palm.
But recently, the tiny brushing of your arms when you pass each other has no spark and begins to feel abrasive.
Even though he’s still active in the sheets, he’s not eager to touch you when you leave the bedroom.
6. “You’re passive-aggressive”
His body language is almost nonexistent, a far cry from the early days of your relationship when he would lean in close to you, his breath hot on your face, as he listened intently to your every word.
His pelvis would sway unconsciously as he moved closer to you, and the space between you would shrink until you were almost touching.
He wanted you to be aware of his presence and desire for you.
But now that you are married, you can no longer hear his body crying out for you in its unspoken language.
The distance between you has grown wider, and he seems comfortable with it.
You wonder if he still feels the same way about you as he once did.
7. “You don’t see me”
He would previously read you like a book and notice the instant change your mood takes when you are upset or when you are hiding a laugh.
He was intuitive and watching to know you.
You knew this because you’d felt his gaze follow you around a place.
He would be annoyed by your mood swings but enthralled by your emotions, so exploring them felt like an adventure.
Now, his response to your mood swings ranges between irritated and annoyed in a subtle dismissive manner.
Those little quirks that drew him in are now making him stay far away; no matter how harmless it is, the fun of teasing you about them has been lost.
The truth is that he loves you but doesn’t like you anymore.
Final Thoughts
The list, my friend, goes on.
A successful marriage takes a lot of intentionality and nurturing to attain.
Different factors can make couples drift apart from each other and lose the fondness they once had for each other.
They will still be in love and committed to each other, but their relationship will lack the spark.
Some of these factors include lack of intentionality, the toll of parenting, family responsibilities, stress, conflict, etc.
Whatever the case, it is not too late to get back on track and stoke the fire of fondness in your marriage.
This article has covered the common signs your husband loves you but doesn’t like you.
Now that you know these signs, it’s time to start taking steps to reignite the love in your relationship again.