Can I go back to being monogamous?
My new boyfriend, Mark, whom I met when I was married and non-monogamous, recently asked me if we could explore a closed relationship.
Mark and I have known each other for years and have had an up-and-down, sometimes casual sometimes less casual, type of open relationship. However, since my husband and I split up, my relationship with Mark has become more serious. Rather than seeing him every other week or so, we now have more frequent date nights and even some weekends together (a kid-free situation I find myself in on alternating weekends thanks to my husband leaving me and having our kids move back and forth between two homes).
Over the last few months, Mark and I have been remarkably silent about the whole non-monogamy thing.
But a few nights ago, Mark broached the topic.
He told me that when I was married, he could handle that I was non-monogamous. He struggled with jealousy and preferred a don’t-ask-don’t-tell approach to me sleeping with my husband and other men, but it wasn’t to the point of massive discomfort.
I understood. When I was still married, I also struggled with jealousy and I preferred not knowing about his other partners. But I felt pretty secure that what we had between us was special, and so wasn’t eaten alive with gnawing jealousy if he went out on a date with…
