A model of marriage

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7Wannabe5
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Re: A model of marriage

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

@GandK: I'm sure we would make good roommates too. My current and frequently in the past very compatible housemate is my NF sister. Unfortunately, although it has also been my experience that NFs make excellent lovers, I am not currently available for any sort of group menage ( please, also convey my regrets to your husband -jk- ;) situation, due to the fact that I am finding the task of forming a poly-amorous circle of men about as challenging as adopting pit-bulls from the Detroit pound. I was contemplating baking all of them loaves of zucchini bread this morning, but then I remembered that they are all supposed to be on low-carb diets, so they are all getting lemon squash soup instead.

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Ego
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Re: A model of marriage

Post by Ego »

A few weeks ago I stumbled upon the Gottman Institute and signed up for their Marriage Minute email. Twice a week they send a short research based message....

Our goal is to teach you one thing each day that will deepen your friendship, allow you to use conflict as a catalyst for closeness, and enhance the romance in your marriage.

I think it would be useful for those in a marriage and those considering it.

https://www.gottman.com/the-marriage-minute/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gottman


Today's was particularly interesting....

You don't have to solve your problems
Research shows that almost 2/3 of marital issues are unsolvable. We call these perpetual problems.
Psychologist Dan Wile says, "When choosing a long-term partner, you will inevitably be choosing a particular set of unresolvable problems.”
Sam is clean and organized. Jessica is messy.
Susan wants sex twice a week. Jake wants it twice a month.
Kris wants to have a baby. Stacey doesn't want to have children.
Despite what many therapists will tell you, you don’t have to solve your problems for your marriage to thrive.
The key is to dialogue about your problems. Otherwise, your conflict will become gridlocked. Gridlocked conflict leads to resentment.
Happy couples don’t sweep problems under the rug. They use them as an opportunity to understand each other better over time.

FBeyer
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Re: A model of marriage

Post by FBeyer »

Ego wrote:... Kris wants to have a baby. Stacey doesn't want to have children.
Despite what many therapists will tell you, you don’t have to solve your problems for your marriage to thrive.
The key is to dialogue about your problems.
- Stacy I would love to have children. I really feel like my life would be empty if I never had any.
- Yeah I know Kris, but I don't want that responsibility. I treasure my own freedom above all in the world.
- Oh! Okay then, I'm glad we had this conversation.

*lives happily ever after*

I don't get how dialogue solves anything for anyone. Solutions, by definition solve things. I 100% do not understand what that mail is trying to say in regards to unsolvable problems. Dialogue and getting shit cleared as soon at it bugs you, I totally get. Talk with each other and find out what makes the other person tick, something I wholly expect to change over time, but unsolvable issues solved with dialogue? Color me flabbergasted, I don't get it!

Dragline
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Re: A model of marriage

Post by Dragline »

You can dialogue over what to have for dinner and anything trivial or that allows each to have his/her own way in due time.

But some stuff is not fixable, unless one side just capitulates -- which can work just fine if the capitulator doesn't really feel that strongly about the issue.

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Ego
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Re: A model of marriage

Post by Ego »

FBeyer, that's a good point. If I were to guess I'd say it has to do with the fact that as relationships grow they become stronger and more valuable to each partner. Talking is the medium (in both senses of the word) that feeds that growth. At some point the relationship reaches a point where it is more valuable to the partners than their individual wants. So, Stacy relenting to Kris's desire or Kris to Stacy's is secondary to the relationship they built. Together they can find the best solution for both. While the solution may not be both person's ideal regarding children, they strive for the ideal for their relationship.

ERE attracts those who value independence, which can be a very good thing. But there is such a thing as needing too much independence where capitulation (as dragline put it) is impossible.

7Wannabe5
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Re: A model of marriage

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

I agree that open dialogue is the amiable path out of relationship gridlock. The way it works is rather analogous to the method a frugal person might use to deconstruct a specific "need" they were fulfilling or planning to fulfill in the marketplace. "I need a Ferrari." becomes "I value excitement, speed, the color red, and the ability to exert control over power." and then a variety of options for otherwise fulfilling the desire at lower expense can be brain-stormed. Thus when two individuals in a relationship deconstruct their specific needs, they may find that they have more common ground on which to reach agreement. For instance, the desire for 3 or 4 kids rather than just 1 or 2 might have to do with wanting feeling of "coziness" or "more the merrier" that could be achieved with smaller house, hobby of quilting and/or larger extended social circle.

However, I don't agree that this process will always lead to solution inclusive of maintaining the relationship, or "the relationship such as it is under current terms." The truth that may come out is that there is something(s) one or both of the partners value more than the relationship. For instance, in my marriage I was Susan and my ex was Jake (except even further apart in preferences!!-lol), and once our children had achieved a reasonable level of maturity (19 and 16), I determined that I valued my sexuality more than my marriage. I suggested option of open marriage, but my ex said he was "too American." OTOH, our sexual incompatibility was not our only issue, so it is difficult for me to say whether I would have been more flexible under conditions where all other things were ideal.

7Wannabe5
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Re: A model of marriage

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

My point being that individuals likely have some sort of core values system that they form prior to ever entering into marriage, that will inform whether or not they would ever place the value of any marriage above other values. For instance, if you had asked me when I was 14 whether I would prefer to never have sex, never be married, or never have any children. Marriage would have definitely been #3 with no doubt whatsoever, and sex would have been deeply regretted only very slightly edged out #2. And this is still how I would order them.

Dragline
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Re: A model of marriage

Post by Dragline »

Ego wrote:
ERE attracts those who value independence, which can be a very good thing. But there is such a thing as needing too much independence where capitulation (as dragline put it) is impossible.
Come to think of it, you could say I have a "capitulation" budget. And from a happy wife, happy life perspective, its well worth every penny! :lol:

Then again, it's not really that large of a budget deviance given our joint preferences.

jacob
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Re: A model of marriage

Post by jacob »

@scriptbunny - Absolutely. There are Wheaton levels for all dimensions that concern kids, e.g. parenting, family, DNA, legacy, future environment, ... and so on. Compromise is possible as long as the relative difference isn't perceived as crazy, etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWQsgTD3ifY

FBeyer
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Re: A model of marriage

Post by FBeyer »

scriptbunny wrote:... but are there really people out there who are like, "Babies? I mean if my wife wants them I guess."
Yes. Generally we call those people men.
However, men are wonderfully adaptive in a lot of ways.

Whomever is naked with us right not, is by definition the most beautiful women in our world 'cause our worlds shrink down to just two people. In the same vein, as a rule of thumb, no man is ready to have children before he gets to hold his little infant in his arms, at which point he becomes ready instantaneously. BAM! IT'S ON MOTHERFUCKER! THE FIGHT STARTS NOW!

Very few men come to resent children that they kind of sort of wanted, but most men come to resent a woman they only kind of sort of wanted in the first place.

From my personal observations anyway, I obviously cannot tell if my experiences are tinted one way or the other.

So although I'm being somewhat facetious I have to acknowledge that there ARE in fact people who are like: If my wife wants them I guess. :)

FBeyer
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Re: A model of marriage

Post by FBeyer »

scriptbunny wrote:... but I still have a hard time believing that someone who was just in it for their spouse is going to stick around when times are tough, either with the kid or with the spouse.
We'll see how I fare. How many years do I have to stay with my GF and not-leave my daughter before I pass your test?

FBeyer
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Re: A model of marriage

Post by FBeyer »

That she gets. Every single waking hour. That is kind of the point I'm trying to make.
I really, truthfully didn't know if I wanted children, but that little three year old twerp is the light of my life[1]. And every one ,with one exception, of my friends felt the same about children before and after they got them, hence my line about not being ready until you're holding the infant in your arms.

Men who don't quite know if they want children is not such a bad thing in my experience. Men who evade responsibility are. Those two things should not be confused.

[1] and a complete bitch. Three year olds are tough on the nerves :D

FBeyer
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Re: A model of marriage

Post by FBeyer »

scriptbunny wrote:...You probably shouldn't ...
I'll put that unsolicited lecture down to a cultural misunderstanding... :shock:

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