#relationship-boundaries

#relationship-boundaries

The New Year is generally a time for reflection, where we think about our lives in years past and, inevitably, the people in them. Today, we are privileged in that reconnecting with those acquaintances, childhood classmates, or former colleagues after years is not only possible, but, thanks to living in the digital age, easy to do. While reaching out to old friends can lead to genuine, meaningful renewal, sometimes, a "blast from the past" can also provoke discomfort, confusion, or emotional fatigue instead.

Your words are not going to make this OK. He needs to find some kind of solace within. It can be difficult to resist absorbing the preoccupations of a partner, but I think it's reasonable to distance yourself here. Chalk this up to a quirk or undesirable habit or hobby even and ask that he do his incessant measuring in private. This is his journey and you shouldn't get in his way.

When we decided to start living together, he said that he will cover the rent, which is about $1,300 a month, and I would pay for groceries and our utilities,

I've been getting close to a man for the past year and a half, and the other day we had a big blow-up. I didn't like the lax way that he was responding to me, and I wrote him a note saying as much. He got angry and accused me of speaking to him like he was my child. When I attempted to address the issue at hand namely, his unresponsiveness he got madder.

He constantly stares at other women. I've talked with him about a five-second rule, but he doesn't hear me. He told me he was raised by his mother and grandmother and that's why he's attracted to women in general. He says it doesn't mean anything. I have never been with a man who constantly looks at other women. He also prefers to have women friends rather than men friends.

Not all BO and sweat are made alike, and if the sweat isn't fresh (and, for example, dries on clothes that aren't removed or, worse, reworn), it can smell sour. But good BO can be so good. Your girlfriend is hardly alone. In fact, there's a gay party in New York called Pheromone that caters to guys who want to stick their noses in each other's pits.

My partner and I are both in our fifties. I was divorced and never had kids, while my partner was a single mom of three for most of her life. It has been an adjustment coming to live together and learning to navigate each other's space. The one place I am not willing to compromise is the privacy of our bedroom. It is an adult space for adults, but her grandchildren have zero respect for that fact, and the situation is getting very uncomfortable.

He lives with his openly gay male best friend of about 10 years, which is pretty impressive given that we're both in our early 20s. I guess he and his best friend trauma-bonded during high school, and it's made them close. REALLY close. Whenever we go on dates, he keeps his phone on alert to make sure nothing bad happens to his best friend.

Different couples make all kinds of different pacts with each other some spoken, some unspoken. In your partnership it seems you originally found parity; you both benefited from the arrangement between you. Aside from being happy in your everyday lives together, you were able to use your sexual creativity to satisfy him, and in turn perhaps he was able to avoid having to acknowledge aspects of his sexual orientation that made him uncomfortable.

Butch is a rescue who has some trauma from his earlier life. He's shy and timid and doesn't like children or vacuum cleaners. I lived with Butch for almost three years; my own dog also lived with us during that time. Last year, while our house was being vacuumed by a housekeeper, Butch bit her on her calf. I was there, and I attended to the woman and made sure she was OK.

I've been honest with him since the start of our relationship that I'm not interested in being a parent. I find kids really emotionally draining to deal with because they require so much attention and maintenance. Maybe I should never have started dating him because of this, but if it weren't for his daughter he'd be the complete package. I'm OK at dealing with the kid; she likes me and I've babysat a few times, as have my roommates.