Please help me out

phillip140981

New member
I need help, guys. I started an open marriage about 4-5 weeks ago, but I am finding it hard to deal with my wife seeing someone. I know they have only kissed, and had a little boob grab, but she is seeing him again tomorrow. I know they won’t do sex yet, but more under-clothes touching and maybe a nipple lick will happen.

How do I deal with this? It's so hard to get past my jealousy.

One more thing-- it is normal for her and him to sms all the time, like 10-15 times a day? I get so angry. I thought it was just a thing, you get together, have fun, maybe a message every few days, maybe a meet once a fortnight. Should it be more? Should I be concerned about the amount of messages being sent?

Please help me asap, as I don’t know what to do and can’t focus on my life.
 
This is the transition phase. It's hard, but you're going to be okay. She's not going to be great at managing her self (and her texting) around you until she's also learned her way through the transition phase, but you can tell her that you're feeling overwhelmed by the speed of everything. She may not slow down, but at least she can then be aware of your feelings during this period of adjustment and you can actively talk about how she can still show you love and respect while also being excited for her new beau.

You're now discovering it was never going to be just like the script you had created in your head, and you'll need to accept that. You aren't a movie director and she and her beau aren't your actors to direct. You'll need to let go of your expectations, and learn to roll with it.

You seem a little caught up in what they may or may not be doing physically/sexually. Again, this should pass and you will come to appreciate their autonomy and privacy, just as you will want yours when you start dating someone new.

It can be a big leap from monogamy to open relationships, and perhaps on to polyamory. Make sure you are doing things that foster your autonomy, too. Have a read of this and see if you perhaps rushed through this bit: https://polyamory.com/threads/most-skipped-step-full-article.157088/

Have you got someone, a friend, who you have told about this transition? Someone you can call when your feelings are intense. Someone who will help you with the anger in the moment, because I'm sure you don't want to direct that poorly. Maybe you could put 1300 78 99 78 in your phone for those times.

This is still really new, and the new normal will be a while off, but you've made this agreement to open the marriage, for whatever reasons you had between you and her, and once you both adjust to managing the transition, it will become just...normal...and not something to get angry about or jealous over.

Speaking of jealousy - this is a fear of loss, where as envy is a fear of missing out. Have you and her taken the time to talk about what you're losing by letting go of monogamy? Have you talked about what you're fearing missing out on when the other person begins dating? Have you done much talking at all about the feelings, the logistics, and how you can be courteous to each other (such as when it can be phone down times so there isn't so much texting happening in front of you, and vice versa when you start dating and she has to go through feeling what you're feeling now?)

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/17627888 has some good conversations starters in it.

Perhaps you could talk with her about this https://www.kathylabriola.com/articles/are-you-in-poly-hell

I hope you're both communicating about this transition, but also having times where you don't talk about it and enjoy each other's company without it always returning to the transition from closed to open. Keep finding the joy in your own relationship, after all, surely you didn't open your relationship as some kind of "fix" for it! (If you did, then why bother? Just go get that divorce lawyer, serial monogamy would be so much easier than an open relationship). So, given that your relationship surely isn't fubar'd, then don't let it get that way. Date each other, too. Text each other about more than household maintenance/bills/kids/extended family holiday planning/etc. Text her about pina coladas and rain...i.e. don't let the romance between you die because you opened up to non-monogamy.

She'll be right, you're just going to have to do the inner work to let go of the mono-normative narrative and the bullshit that jealousy=love. Most of us have had to; we were taught it from a young age, but don't let any romantic notion of our parents or grandparents generations being the perfect monogamous husband and wife model trick you either. Non-monogamy is pretty common, you're just embracing a model of it that aims to remove infidelity. Kudos.
 
This is the transition phase. It's hard, but you're going to be okay. She's not going to be great at managing her self (and her texting) around you until she's also learned her way through the transition phase, but you can tell her that you're feeling overwhelmed by the speed of everything. She may not slow down, but at least she can then be aware of your feelings during this period of adjustment and you can actively talk about how she can still show you love and respect while also being excited for her new beau.

You're now discovering it was never going to be just like the script you had created in your head, and you'll need to accept that. You aren't a movie director and she and her beau aren't your actors to direct. You'll need to let go of your expectations, and learn to roll with it.

You seem a little caught up in what they may or may not be doing physically/sexually. Again, this should pass and you will come to appreciate their autonomy and privacy, just as you will want yours when you start dating someone new.

It can be a big leap from monogamy to open relationships, and perhaps on to polyamory. Make sure you are doing things that foster your autonomy, too. Have a read of this and see if you perhaps rushed through this bit: https://polyamory.com/threads/most-skipped-step-full-article.157088/

Have you got someone, a friend, who you have told about this transition? Someone you can call when your feelings are intense. Someone who will help you with the anger in the moment, because I'm sure you don't want to direct that poorly. Maybe you could put 1300 78 99 78 in your phone for those times.

This is still really new, and the new normal will be a while off, but you've made this agreement to open the marriage, for whatever reasons you had between you and her, and once you both adjust to managing the transition, it will become just...normal...and not something to get angry about or jealous over.

Speaking of jealousy - this is a fear of loss, where as envy is a fear of missing out. Have you and her taken the time to talk about what you're losing by letting go of monogamy? Have you talked about what you're fearing missing out on when the other person begins dating? Have you done much talking at all about the feelings, the logistics, and how you can be courteous to each other (such as when it can be phone down times so there isn't so much texting happening in front of you, and vice versa when you start dating and she has to go through feeling what you're feeling now?)

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/17627888 has some good conversations starters in it.

Perhaps you could talk with her about this https://www.kathylabriola.com/articles/are-you-in-poly-hell

I hope you're both communicating about this transition, but also having times where you don't talk about it and enjoy each other's company without it always returning to the transition from closed to open. Keep finding the joy in your own relationship, after all, surely you didn't open your relationship as some kind of "fix" for it! (If you did, then why bother? Just go get that divorce lawyer, serial monogamy would be so much easier than an open relationship). So, given that your relationship surely isn't fubar'd, then don't let it get that way. Date each other, too. Text each other about more than household maintenance/bills/kids/extended family holiday planning/etc. Text her about pina coladas and rain...i.e. don't let the romance between you die because you opened up to non-monogamy.

She'll be right, you're just going to have to do the inner work to let go of the mono-normative narrative and the bullshit that jealousy=love. Most of us have had to; we were taught it from a young age, but don't let any romantic notion of our parents or grandparents generations being the perfect monogamous husband and wife model trick you either. Non-monogamy is pretty common, you're just embracing a model of it that aims to remove infidelity. Kudos.
Thank you so much. You have given me a lot to think about and how we need to talk more.
 
I thought it was just a thing, you get together, have fun maybe a message every few days, maybe a meet once a fortnight. Should it be more? Should I be concerned about the amount of messages being sent?
It sounds like you've been assuming how it would be, which means you didn't actually talk about it. Sit down. Tell her what you thought it would be. Let her say what she thought it would be and if that changed since she met someone. Get on the same page and make agreements that BOTH of you can comment to. If you can't both be 100% on board with the plan then you might be incompatible in non-monogamy.

There are so many ways to do non-monogamy, and if you want different things, then it won't work. Compatible in monogamy is not the same as compatibility in non-monogamy. You may work well in one, but not the other.

Learn together, work things out together and know it's hard emotional work but does get easier over time. For some people it's harder work than it's worth. Only you can decide that for yourself.
 
I want to add that agreements can change frequently in the beginning. The key is to talk about them and change them together. Nothing is set in stone and things will change as you go along.
 
I need help guys I started an open marriage about 4-5 weeks ago but I am finding it hard to deal with my wife seeing someone.
How long have you been married or together as a couple prior to opening?

Why or how did you arrive at opening your marriage?

I know they have only kissed and a had little boob grab, but she is seeing him again tomorrow. I know they won’t do sex yet, but more under-clothes touching and maybe a nipple lick will happen. Gow do I deal with this? It's so hard to get past my jealousy.
Have you had a discussion about safer sex practices, STD labs, and what would happen in case of an accidental pregnancy?

Why are you convinced they won’t do sex yet? Probably one of the first things you should learn is that people caught up in a sexual moment tend to not stick to a plan or a static agreement based on the comfort of the struggling third party. This is the end game. Better get your head right with it.

Is it normal for her and him to sms all the time? I thought it was you get together, have fun, a msg every few days, meet once a fortnight. Should it be more? Should I be concerned about the amount of messages being sent?

YES, unfortunately, it’s more normal than not. Look up NRE and "poly hell."
 
I know they have only kissed, and had a little boob grab, but she is seeing him again tomorrow. I know they won’t do sex yet, but more under-clothes touching and maybe a nipple lick will happen.
Oh wow, that's a lot of detail you know and assume right there. Try and drop that. You don't need to know how they touch, it will only make you micromanage and imagine specifics. Also, agreements that fine, even if they were ok with your partner, are not fair to the third person.
 
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