Open Marriage

tidetravel

Oh yes.  It was the emotional crap that screwed everything up.  Sounds like the husband is getting a pretty good deal out of the whole situation.

Soon-to-be Mrs. Vogt

I've worked with kids in almost every family situation over the course of my career. And I find myself explaining over and over again that family's can be made of many different people, and every family is a little different (parents, step-parents, grandparents, god-parents, siblings, foster parents, etc.)I hope this is handled in the same way and the kids have a sense of security in their family and themselves to withstand the teasing. But I do think parents have an obligation to teach their children to value their bodies physically and not show them that it's okay to bring home random partners. Kids (teenagers) can't really understand the difference between what's going on with an open relationship and just sleeping around, I don't think. Even if they think they get it, chances are they can't distinguish between love and lust. And, what happens when they want to be in a monogomous relationship, but would feel like they're the black sheep in their family?

ggmae

Vogt - I suppose some people get married for different reasons and marriage means different things to different people. I do agree that marriage implies that you will be faithful toward one another, so if you don't plan to then why bother? Why not just remain in an open, dating relationship. If the open marriage comes later on in the marriage, then I guess as long as both adults consent to it, it's fine. My younger brother (who is in the military) suggested the idea of marrying a close friend of his so that she could get benefits that she wouldn't have otherwise. To me, that's not a good reason to get married but to him, it made perfect sense. I told him he was a bit crazy and thankfully, he didn't do it

Soon-to-be Mrs. Vogt

I guess that makes sense, Game. I also think that that is one of the reasons I strongly believe in domestic partnerships...because then people could get insurance benefits and tax breaks if they wanted to declare that kind of commitment, without having to be married. Marriages are individual commitments, so I can't say that marrying just for benefits or just for tax breaks cheapens my marriage. Nothing could do that except for me and FI. But it still doesn't sit right with me for some reason that I can't articulate.

saschaduran

Most of my prior relationships were open relationships. But that was because I knew they were not someone I could completely commit to. When I met my husband and lost all attraction to other guys I knew he was the one I was meant to be committed to. So we got married. If I still wanted to sleep with other men I would not have bothered.

Puppylove*85

That wouldn't work for me, but I don't want to judge what works for someone else.  It does seem like a situation that could easily end in disaster though...

salt78

I failed sharing in kindergarten so this would never work for me, but I have known many people in open relationships before and respect whatever works for them. :-)

alliejo725

Don't be silly, that's not a marriage. That's just a relationally immature couple who thought it would be fun to dress up and eat cake.