I was playing a bassline with my guitar yesterday using transpose and my wife said I had to pluck the strings with my fingertips like a real bassist instead of using a pick --so I have that critic to deal with.
Clearly you married the right girl! Far better than someone who couldn't give a rat's rear end about your music, or worse still was actively hostile to you spending time playing at all. I've experienced both. I'll take the critics any day.
We learn and learn and then just when we know everything we need to know we die.
Then we're reincarnated and make our way back to being a 20 year old, at which point we once again know everything there is to know.