My husband can afford a hair transplant, but not our vacation

My husband was a generous, wonderful man. But now that he’s in his 40s, I barely recognize him. He’s been losing his hair – which we expected since his father is bald – but instead of taking it into his own hands, he’s obsessed with it.

And now, she has booked a hair transplant at a smart clinic costing £4,000. Good for him, you might say.

The problem is, at the same time, it’s denying the rest of us family vacations for the rest of the year. Our family loves our annual vacation. In fact some years we have two. We like to go to the Canary Islands in the spring and somewhere like Italy or the south of France in the summer.

It’s something I’m looking forward to bringing our family together – we have a 20-year-old son and a teenager who still lives at home. But since his hair loss has become more noticeable, my husband has gone from being a generous man.

I wasn’t complaining to him about the cost of his procedure when we first talked about it. In fact, I encouraged him if it meant getting his confidence back. But now that he has closed it, he will go to Turkey for a week, stay in a hotel, get his hair done and come back.

As a result of this spending amid the cost of living crisis, he said: “No leave until next year.”

I am absolutely amazed. He loves holidays just like me. But if he chooses to waste £4,000 on his appearance, why should we lose?

Our kids aren’t so upset about it – they’ll see their friends. But now I feel like I have nothing to look forward to this year except him coming home and chirping about his hair. He has also become much more vain and arrogant. Since doing his hair transplant research, he spends all his time watching surgery videos or reflecting the back of his head in the bathroom mirror. He rarely talks or thinks about anything else when the truth is I don’t mind his receding hairline. Men can still look very attractive hairless, in my opinion.

As you can imagine, this has all led to arguments. He says it’s only a year and we can have “nice walks and barbecues in the garden” to calm me down.

But I live for those two weeks a year when I can dress up, feel relaxed, relax all day and not have to cook in the evenings. He has no idea how much our vacation means to me.

I asked him to wait longer for surgery if it was going to wipe out our vacation fund. His reply was that there was no time to waste and he must do it while he still had a little hair left. He’s obsessed!

I’ve started talking about going away with a girlfriend for a few days to Croatia in the summer. But then I think that our kids don’t get holidays and they feel terribly guilty – why should we all suffer because of my husband’s insecurity or vanity? But with him blowing our holiday budget on his hair, I can’t see it any other way.

I am also worried about the results of the surgery. I have read horrifying reports of people undergoing surgery and returning incorrectly or needing repairs to the NHS. I don’t think I could bear him talking about it any longer. I’d rather have a bald husband and my annual holiday…