Active Users:917 Time:15/09/2025 08:49:39 AM
I think this is about priorities. rebelaessedai Send a noteboard - 20/04/2011 01:07:20 AM
That doesn't mean I think it's good, either - just that many couples become resigned to this kind of thing.

To me a successful relationship/marriage is about valuing the other person's happiness as much as your own. This entails doing things like holiday dinners (and never speaking condescendingly about them in public!). You also want to have a good (or at least respectful) relationship with your partner's family if they are remotely important to him/her.

I don't like the idea of lowered expectations. I saw a study recently which found that couples with an idealized view of each other on their wedding day tend to be happier five years into the marriage than those with a more cynical perspective. Your partner should be someone you enjoy more and treat better than the rest of the world - not necessarily 100% of the time, but as a general rule.

So my view is that a relationship is not "better" just because you regularly get by with acting how you'd want to act if you were single.

Of course I am engaged too and haven't been with the guy all that long (dated 15 months, friends for ten years), so maybe I have a naive view of things. We'll be flying across the country soon to spend the spring holiday in our hometown... my family lives there too, but I'll be staying with his because my relationship with my family is so complicated. To be honest, I really don't want to go, I don't want to see them (my family) right now, and I wish that his first vacation in a year were to somewhere like Hawaii instead. But it's important to him, so I'll shut up and go. :P


I mean, Nick would like me to visit his family when he goes, but it's not of the utmost importance that I do so. I probably won't go if his brother is involved because we got into it and I don't like him. Nick understands and respects that. But at the same time, he doesn't particularly like his brother either. ;)
It just depends on the people involved. I'm sad that you would rather not go and feel like you're obligated to go anyway, but maybe your relationship works better that way. To each his own.
Atheism is a religion like abstinence is a sex position. - Bill Maher
Reply to message
Relationship - positive development or signs of eventual break down? - 19/04/2011 08:48:26 AM 2030 Views
Helene, I want to give you an answer but... - 19/04/2011 08:58:45 AM 1173 Views
Fair enough - 19/04/2011 10:01:51 AM 1126 Views
inlaws are not always bad - 19/04/2011 02:10:18 PM 1091 Views
I spend way more time with my in-laws than with my own family. - 19/04/2011 02:17:41 PM 1071 Views
I'm like this with my future in-laws too. *NM* - 19/04/2011 04:47:05 PM 559 Views
I think they are right - 19/04/2011 10:20:39 AM 1308 Views
I see your point - 19/04/2011 10:42:51 AM 1262 Views
Re: I think they are right - 19/04/2011 01:59:57 PM 1140 Views
I think that's an unfair assumption. - 19/04/2011 02:16:54 PM 1053 Views
What he said about his wife's mother - 19/04/2011 02:59:32 PM 1237 Views
No offense... - 19/04/2011 02:35:53 PM 1213 Views
yes but have you found such a thing? - 19/04/2011 03:05:35 PM 1144 Views
For now I have *NM* - 19/04/2011 03:08:17 PM 585 Views
how long has it been? *NM* - 19/04/2011 03:16:32 PM 570 Views
Don't try to corrupt me with your long term pessimism - 19/04/2011 03:34:39 PM 1090 Views
sadly I seem attracted to the crazies *NM* - 19/04/2011 04:08:14 PM 556 Views
Could be either - 19/04/2011 10:30:50 AM 1187 Views
True enough... - 19/04/2011 10:44:28 AM 1164 Views
My opinion is the latter. - 19/04/2011 01:55:00 PM 1155 Views
He definitely has a point about realistic expectations - 19/04/2011 01:56:49 PM 1131 Views
Re: He definitely has a point about realistic expectations - 19/04/2011 02:07:34 PM 1126 Views
Re: He definitely has a point about realistic expectations - 19/04/2011 02:13:25 PM 1238 Views
I should have read this first. - 19/04/2011 02:25:16 PM 1168 Views
Re: He definitely has a point about realistic expectations - 19/04/2011 02:23:14 PM 1149 Views
The fact that you are referring to a fiancé and comparing it to wife says a lot - 19/04/2011 02:09:27 PM 1251 Views
To be fair, me and my fiance have been together for about as long as they have - 19/04/2011 02:57:03 PM 1083 Views
I don't know about everyone but things changed when we got married - 19/04/2011 03:16:11 PM 1127 Views
How did things change? - 19/04/2011 04:14:56 PM 1128 Views
Like I said I can only speak for myself - 19/04/2011 04:54:04 PM 1164 Views
There's already a 10 year old in the picture for us - 19/04/2011 06:52:44 PM 1113 Views
My husband and I don't understand why people say this. - 20/04/2011 01:03:31 AM 1249 Views
I did say I was only speaking for myself - 20/04/2011 01:58:45 PM 1130 Views
I know. - 20/04/2011 09:01:11 PM 1374 Views
Sorry for some reason I thought you had just got married. - 20/04/2011 09:52:24 PM 1590 Views
Good luck to them! *NM* - 22/04/2011 04:25:38 AM 546 Views
From the information that you have presented... - 19/04/2011 03:50:19 PM 1312 Views
I am in agreement with you, and I'm not particularly Christian. - 19/04/2011 04:11:57 PM 1064 Views
Could go either way. - 19/04/2011 04:36:02 PM 1095 Views
I get the impression that it's more about her forming toward him than vice versa - 19/04/2011 06:56:37 PM 1112 Views
Giving up is one thing, growing past is another. - 19/04/2011 10:00:55 PM 1059 Views
Oh, to be fair, he's the friend and she's the wife - 20/04/2011 08:43:12 AM 1018 Views
I don't necessarily think it will end in a breakup or divorce. - 19/04/2011 04:44:11 PM 1076 Views
I think this is about priorities. - 20/04/2011 01:07:20 AM 1251 Views
Our priorities may shift over time, too. We're still very young and more tied to our families. - 20/04/2011 03:09:54 AM 1073 Views
Even when younger, I was independent. - 20/04/2011 05:29:59 AM 1007 Views
*nods* - 20/04/2011 06:25:29 AM 1168 Views
- 22/04/2011 04:29:32 AM 1360 Views
Not the former for sure, and maybe not the latter. - 19/04/2011 05:55:03 PM 1128 Views
Can't tell. - 19/04/2011 10:04:27 PM 1054 Views
I'm with the 'can't tell' crowd. - 19/04/2011 11:37:17 PM 1497 Views
hell, or she could just not care too much at all - 19/04/2011 11:43:21 PM 1079 Views
I'm leaning more towards your interpretation. *NM* - 20/04/2011 02:15:22 AM 525 Views
I'm with you on this. *NM* - 20/04/2011 10:00:41 AM 572 Views
*sigh* - 20/04/2011 09:25:02 PM 1214 Views
Re: I mean, it's not good. *NM* - 20/04/2011 11:50:21 PM 514 Views

Reply to Message