Advice please.

Kerowax

New member
When I met my partner 15 years ago she told me she was poly. I was not. I asked her to give monogamy a chance and she did. Over the last 15 years the topic has come up two or three times. We have two young children and recently we have come to a headpoint. She wants to be poly and I don't think I can hang. I am curious about poly but I feel my jealousy and the way I was raised would get in the way. I recently found out she was having a sexual relationship online on a kink site. I was devastated. Both because she came to tell me about it after the fact and because I felt like she had cheated. I love her, I adore her. Our children are our world. I don't want our family to be torn apart. She feels she tried for 15 years to be monogamous and thinks I should try and be open to her being poly as a matter of fairness. What should I do???

Kerowax
 
My sympathies. :(

Do you think you could find some to cope with trying? You might fail, or just partially succeed, but you'll both know you tried. That matters.
 
Confused.

Leander,
I guess I don't understand, what do you mean by:
"Do you think you could find some to cope with trying?" I really want to try and make this work, my family is at stake. I am willing to try, I am just blind to all of this and don't know how to meet her in the middle?

Thank you :)
 
She did cheat.

By trying is talk about what she wants, what you fear and try to find some middle ground and boundaries so you are somewhat comfortable and she feels she has some freedom to experiment. Like maybe she can have 1 night a week to go out and do whatever she wants and she doesn't tell you about it if that makes you uncomfortable. My boundaries with my husband is he dates when I'm at work, at school, or with my boyfriend. He uses condoms, He doesn't bring people to our home, and he doedy't pay for them. He can otherwise do whatever he wants and he doesn't have to check in with me about it.
 
Inyourendo,
Even that seems extreme to me. We are going to counseling and boundaries are what we are currently working on. I don't think I could be ok with watching her walk out the door and know that she's going out to have sex with someone else. How do poly people deal with jealousy? She cut things off with the guy she was online with because I was so hurt and enraged by it. Is it wrong for me not to be ok with that guy? I feel like he completely disrespected me and our relationship. He constantly was telling her I was hurting her and that she couldnt allow me erase who she was. My intent is not to hurt her, I want her to be happy but I hope it involves our family as a unit :-(
 
Start with a "Tag Search" under the Search heading above. Look at boundaries, jealousy, etc. There are some great threads to read through. Also browse through the Golden Nugget section. http://www.morethantwo.com/ has got a lot of information and some very good articles on dealing with jealousy.
 
I typed out a longer reply and my internet crapped out as I was trying to post it... so here's the short version.

Some poly people experience jealousy, just as some mono people do. Emotions happen. However you feel is completely acceptable--it's how you *respond* to that feeling that matters.

If you feel jealousy, acknowledge it and own it. Something like, "Honey, I'm feeling jealous when you leave to see your other partner. This is my problem to deal with, but I could use your help. Can you reassure me that your other relationship won't affect ours? I want you to be happy, so I'm glad you've found someone else who helps you feel that way, but I'm a little insecure about it." (Which is exactly what I've said to Hubby and S2 on the couple of occasions when one of them had a date with someone else.)

Note that in that example:
- I acknowledge the feeling--without blaming it on my partner. "I feel jealous when you..." instead of "You make me jealous" or "Your other relationship makes me jealous."

- I own the emotion. "This is my problem to deal with."

- Since both of my guys get twitchy if they can't solve a problem, I come up with a solution. "Can you reassure me that your other relationship won't affect ours?"

And all of that is said very calmly (though I admit I cried when I had the conversation with Hubby, because I cry a lot).

If you were "hurt and enraged", how did you act? Did you yell, threaten, slam doors, etc? Did you simply *say* you were hurt but that you want her to be happy? (I'm guessing it wasn't the second one, or she probably wouldn't have broken off the other relationship...) You don't have to answer that, it's just food for thought. It isn't "wrong" for you not to be okay with her seeing someone else, but the way you acted and spoke to her because of that might have been hurtful or upsetting to her.

If you're a hundred percent not okay with her seeing someone else and don't believe you ever could be, then you and she have reached an impasse, and you'll have some other decisions to make.
 
SNeacail,
Thank you. I will definitely read up and see if this helps. I do believe that getting my emotions under control will allow me to see things clearly so that I can figure out whether I can do this or not. I appreciate all the help.

Thank you.
 
KC43,
Point well taken. I have been working on not crying, yelling, and being a basketcase in general. I do have to take responsibility for my jealousy but I feel that her actions are what makes me jealous and insecure. I don't understand how I can't be jealous when intimacy that I barely get is trying to shared with others. In her defense, she has told me that because she can't be intimate with other that she shuts herself off completely. This in turn makes me feel like she has to go get turned on elsewhere to be intimate with me :-(

Again, thank you for listening.

Kerowax
 
I just wanted to chime in and say that it's totally ok to go away and do that thinking about whether you can handle the jealousy, but still decide that you do not want to do be in a poly relationship. Yes, she was upfront with you about what she wanted all that time ago, and yes, you asked her to try monogamy with you and it worked for 15 years. That was a decision she thought about and made because she wanted to. You don't 'owe' her an attempt at living polyamorously because of it, and nor should you feel guilty that you somehow forced this cheating behaviour/suppression of her self upon her. She's a grown up, who made a grown-up decision to marry you and have kids with you, also knowing that you didn't want to be in a poly relationship. So let her own that decision, and ignore the comments her online partner made about you hurting her. It was her choice, and nothing you've said makes me think she regrets it.

With regards to your question of 'how do poly people handle the jealousy', well, I think that in most cases we have an extra incentive in getting a handle on it because we too want the freedom to pursue other relationships. That doesn't make it *easier* per se, but in the case of two poly people who want the same thing, it does mean you are not battling the extra baggage that comes with getting your head around why your partner even wants to explore things outside your own relationship in the first place, which is a really hard thing to accept if you are strongly monogamously minded. My best advice is to try to see if you can see any benefits to you personally in opening up. Even if you don't want to date others yourself, might you like the freedom to do more things independently from her? If she is taking time away from you and your family to spend dating others, it's only fair that you get the same time to go off and do something nice that you'd like to do. I appreciate you may feel quite a long way off from finding that appealing, and that now more than ever, you might just feel like you want to cling to her and your relationship all the more tightly. But I think it's an important place to start. This has to work for everyone if it's to work at all.
 
In the beginning when nate went out to have sex it was at night and I just took a sleeping pill and forced myself to sleep. If I woke up in the middle of the night hours later I would be furious, My heart would be pounding, My blood would feel like it was boiling but eventually after several occurrences of him going out over the years I got over it and just became numb to him going out. It was only when he started dating and I needed to create dating boundaries such as going dutch and notbbringing people into our home (that he was resistant to) that I acted on jealousy.
 
KC43,
Point well taken. I have been working on not crying, yelling, and being a basketcase in general. I do have to take responsibility for my jealousy but I feel that her actions are what makes me jealous and insecure. I don't understand how I can't be jealous when intimacy that I barely get is trying to shared with others. In her defense, she has told me that because she can't be intimate with other that she shuts herself off completely. This in turn makes me feel like she has to go get turned on elsewhere to be intimate with me :-(

Again, thank you for listening.

Kerowax

You're welcome. But see... the bolded part is exactly what I'm talking about. *She* does not make you jealous. *Her actions* do not make you jealous. You feel jealous *in response to* her having another partner. That might sound like the same thing, but *you* own your response.

Saying something else "makes you feel" a certain way implies that that person or action has control over you, and is blaming. You have control over yourself; you might not be able to choose not to feel jealous, but you certainly are able to control what you do and say as a result, and whether you let yourself wallow in the jealousy or try to find constructive ways to handle it.
 
She is not causing you your jealousy and insecurity - feeling insecure and jealous is on you. The only way to feel more secure and less jealous is to look inward and work on you.

Likewise, her feeling stifled and like she cannot be herself is on her. It may be that she wants other relationships in order to become more like the person she feels she is, but it also could be other outlets that could do the same thing. Essentially, she agreed to monogamy and then cheated on you rather than communicating about what she was unhappy with first.

This is not to say that you don't have issues to work on together. It seems very clear that you both do. There is a lot of blaming going on by both of you, and you are now terrified of losing everything, while she is frustrated and feels like she has been denied something she needs.

I suggest couples counseling with a therapist who is familiar with alternative lifestyles and/or polyamory, so that there is a good understanding of what you both are dealing with. Your partner should know that you can't just change the dynamic of your relationship suddenly just because she demands it. There needs to be discussion, total honesty, acknowledgement (on her part), and forgiveness (on yours) for her betrayal before either of you should consider opening up your relationship. Know that it could take a very lo-o-ong time to get there.

Most couples come to a point where they realize that certain things that have been unspoken for a long time now need to be said and looked at. It does not necessarily mean the end is near.

You might find eventually that you can cope with the drastic change in your dynamic that her having another relationship would be, but that could only come after some good hard looks at the relationship you have with her currently - but she absolutely should not be seeking another one if she is simply neglecting you. Saying that she is not sexual or intimate with you because you won't allow her to be with others seems cruel and like bullshit to me. It is more likely that she wants more out of what she has with you AND wants to be with other people, too. It isn't fair to blame you - but each person in a relationship is 100% responsible for their part in how it evolves. Have you romanced her regularly since she became a mom, dated her, told her how much she means to you, helped with housework and the children so she doesn't feel like a bedraggled housewife instead of a desirable sexual partner to you?

Furthermore, the person who is in the "hinge" position of a poly "Vee" arrangement (meaning someone who has two relationships while their two partners are not involved with each other nor anyone else) means that they now have double responsibility to manage both relationships well, and make sure both partners feel respected, loved, appreciated, valued, and given the time and attention they need to thrive in that relationship. So,if she thinks she is going to get anywhere in being able to have two relationships, she needs to give you all those things. The relationship between you needs to be loving, stable, secure, and attentive - to both of you. If your relationship is anything less than happy, strong, stable, and secure, polyamory could help bring it to its demise. People should never look to have multiple relationships out of unhappiness - that is cruel to everyone they are with.
 
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Wow. Where have you all been??? I have been a basketcase for over a month and I am relieved to have found this site and your feedback :)

@ Inyourendo: What you speak of is exactly how I felt. Granted she isn't going out and sleeping with anyone but when I found out that she had written sexually to a guy online, I flipped. My heart pounded, my blood was boiling, I felt betrayed. It was a single occurrence but it really knocked me down. I want to be ok with this. I don't want to be numb to it even if it sounds tempting.

@ KC43: I think I'm starting to understand what you're saying about taking responsibility for my jealousy. Also would like to point out that what you said really hit me. I have been wallowing in it and It's eating me up. My kids are asking me why I'm being grumpy pants all the time and I hate that! I want to find a constructive way to deal with it.

@ tenK: I feel I may portrayed her incorrectly. She does not blame me for anything and she doesn't make me feel like I owe her anything. She made a point to tell me that I was quick to walk away from everything rather than giving Poly a chance. Does she play secret squirrel? Yes, and I feel like her not wanting to get me upset and crazy gives her her own reason to not be fully honest and up front. With that said, and everything I have read today, we need to be responsible for our own choices. Because of these incidents I feel insecure and like you mentioned earlier, I definitely feel super clingy and that in turn makes me feel pathetic and angry :-(

@nycindie: I'll get back to you in a bit because I have some questions.

Thanks to all.
 
Kerowax, I just want to tell you that you can do it if you want to. I'm not telling you what is right for you, only you know that, but it is possible to make the adjustment and to accept your partners poly (and kink) lifestyle.

I was cheated on by my husband. He had tried to tell me about his need for kink about a year before but I reacted with horror and he 'shut down' and started living a secret life. It's a long story and it was hard to cope when I found out that he had another partner and that he was into kink, but I loved him and I decided to try to support his need for poly and kink. It was hard at first, it took me a while to understand that his need for other partners was not a rejection or criticism of me.

We had a few rules at first and I was probably a bit controlling because I felt insecure, but we got through it. Now the only rules we have are about honesty and the usual safety stuff. It's been about 5 years since our new start and there have been a few problems along the way but I don't feel jealous now, I'm comfortable with our lifestyle and I wouldn't want to go back to the way things were before.

I hope you manage to find a way forward that works for both of you.
 
Kerowax, what happened with your partner having a sexual relationship online, well I put my wife through something similar some time back. I became involved in adult roleplaying on kink sites and similar. One difference is I asked my wife if I could do it beforehand and she agreed. Keeping it strictly online seemed like a way to express my poly tendencies while not threatening our everyday relationship. I really hoped it would be ok but it wasn't.

I got to know partners personally and there were a lot of them. I spent a large amount of time writing each day and talked about my experiences to my wife. When this started we were going through a dry spell in the bedroom so it was especially grating to her. She felt like it was cheating. I disagreed and we had a lot of arguments before we found ways to compromise.

One partner in particular made a strong romantic connection. Although I gradually lost interest in roleplaying I still chat with her pretty much every day. My wife simply tolerated it at first. Later it became normal, such that we share a Netflix account with her, play games online together and things like that. On reflection what happened could be seen as a kind of polyamory-lite.

I mention all this because agreeing to online relationships may be a potential way for you to slowly test the waters and work out ways you can, or can't, be okay with your partner wanting to be polyamorous.
 
nycindie,
We have gone to couples counseling about three times now. It seemed the last session wasn't very productive so I'm hoping it gets better. I don't think she is neglecting or blaming me as much as depressed. She gets upset when I complain about not getting the sex because she feels I'm quantifying it. And I have a fault in that I will say that we haven't had sex in months and my coworkers get it a few times a week :-( We have been trying to be a lot more open with our communication. I feel we are moving forward there. Do you have any suggestions on what I need to look at within myself to deal with the jealousy? I don't feel like I lack self esteem, I think outside our relationship I feel pretty good. I do tell her I love her all the time and what a wonderful mother she is. I do however have to work on taking on more responsibilities with the kids. I feel lost and unstable and I hate feeling clingy. I want us to be happy together and I'm not sure my heart works that way as cheesy as that may sound.
 
Wait, she's not having sex with you but wants to seek out other partners? THAT I would not be cool with. I would not bw okay for a second being denied while nate went out having sex with others
 
@ Inyourendo:
We are having sex just not very often. But when I mention wanting more she says that because she can't be with multiple people, she turns off her sex drive completely and she is not often in the mood. I usually am the one trying to get things going :-/
 
@ Inyourendo:
We are having sex just not very often. But when I mention wanting more she says that because she can't be with multiple people, she turns off her sex drive completely and she is not often in the mood. I usually am the one trying to get things going :-/

Sounds like emotional blackmail. She's not getting what she wants so you don't get what you want. Yucky, so sorry to hear that. Sounds super unhealthy
 
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