I am wondering if most women feel this need for alone time? DH and I have been married 40+ years, no children - just the two of us. We are both retired and still have a great marriage and relationship. Yet, I NEED alone time. He doesn't seem to be this way so much, and this made me wonder if this is a woman/man type thing. Do women crave time alone more than men? I might add that DH is also a very inside kind of person. He is a reader, a writer, and not one to go out to piddle around with an automobile, or work in the yard, etc. So most of his activities are inside. I know there are some wives who may go through a whole day and barely see their spouse even thought he is home due the things he enjoys being outside the house. We have actually had discussions about this, more than once, and while DH is very understanding, and makes an effort to do differently, he falls back into the same routine after a few days. We have a nice little library just a couple of blocks away, so that is a place he can frequent, and does. He goes to a walking track most days, so that's good. It's just getting him out the door to do these things! In fact, it seems that morning is the preferred time I want alone. I feel guilty, wanting him out of the house, but even just an hour or two alone makes me a whole different person. Something I can't really explain, but it is there - a part of me and who I am.