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Opinions please?

 
 
Reply Thu 12 Oct, 2006 04:36 pm
My wife had an affair. We've been married 20 years and about 8 months ago, she started dancing again. She had danced once and awhile with friends in the past and I was never really crazy about it, but we had a very strong marriage and close relationship so I didn't worry. The difference was that she started going every and after 3 or 4 times started going by herself, then twice a week. I soon discovered she had met a guy and was having an affair. I confronted her and she continued the relationship, even flaunting her relationship and threatening me if I interrupted the affair. To make things worse she ended up abandoning our children for about a 4 month period leaving the two youngest crying every night for their Mommy. This was a 180 degree change in her personality and her friends were shocked.

At the end of the 4 months he moved back to his home as he was in our area temporarily on a short assignment. They continued talking by phone and emailing for the next couple of months, but this slowly reduced to a call once every few weeks.

She has since worked very hard to repair the relationship, she quit dancing and really become the loving mother she had been before all of this. We've had our struggles while trying to heal, but things have been getting really good. Until last Sunday.

We had agreed that she would not go dancing period for the time being while we tried to rebuild our marriage. I left on a business trip Sunday afternoon, called home late that night and discovered that she had left the girls with a friend and my 13 year old son at home to go dancing. She did not return home until after 1am and was unable to get the children to school the next day because she and the children were all tired due to lack of sleep.

I was angry and we talked for 5 hours about this and our entire relationship. The bottom line is that she says she still loves me, she says we are perfect for each other ( except that she says I am a lousy dancer and that is why she never wanted me to go ) and that she doesn't want a divorce. BUT... she feels that she cannot live without dancing and if I want to take lessons and go, that is ok with her.

The worse part however is she feels that adultry or cheating is only the act of sex. She says that she is romantic and passionate and that she does not feel that way towards me and needs it. So she wants to me to not give her a bad time if she wants to kiss or make out with or hava a romantic tryst with another man. She says I have 80% of her heart, she just needs to be able to save 20% for other relationships. She wants to know why I can't be ok with that as long as she doesn't cross the line and have sex.

She basically said, if I can't live with that then I need to divorce her. She really doesn't want that, but that is her way of pushing. My response was that if she wants to act single then she needs to leave and be single.

Am I crazy to go nuts when she goes dancing?

I feel I can't trust her. Am I paranoid?

How do I respond to her ultimatum?

I love my children more than anything in the world and can't imagine not living with them. So I feel paralyzed to do anything for this reason. But I do not back down in telling her she is wrong.

Help !!!!
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Type: Discussion • Score: 1 • Views: 1,016 • Replies: 13
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stuh505
 
  1  
Reply Thu 12 Oct, 2006 04:53 pm
Quote:
Am I crazy to go nuts when she goes dancing?


You'd be crazy not to.

Quote:
I feel I can't trust her. Am I paranoid?


You're not paranoid. You can't trust her. She's lied in the past and now she's basically openly admitted she'd be willing to do it again.

Quote:
She basically said, if I can't live with that then I need to divorce her. She really doesn't want that, but that is her way of pushing. My response was that if she wants to act single then she needs to leave and be single.


Why wait for her to leave? It's already clear she wants to act single. So say to yourself, "if I want to act married, I need to leave and find someone new to marry."

Quote:
I love my children more than anything in the world and can't imagine not living with them. So I feel paralyzed to do anything for this reason.


Yeah, that sucks. Start looking for a lawyer now. I have zero experience here but I suspect if you take action first, are able to convey all this information in court, you may be able to gain custody despite being a male . At least, I hope that sexism is not quite so bad as to prevent this possibility.

That's a nasty situation. I really hope you are able to make things better.
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gustavratzenhofer
 
  1  
Reply Thu 12 Oct, 2006 04:55 pm
Dump her.
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JPB
 
  1  
Reply Thu 12 Oct, 2006 06:36 pm
Re: Opinions please?
flyingguy wrote:
She basically said, if I can't live with that then I need to divorce her. She really doesn't want that, but that is her way of pushing. My response was that if she wants to act single then she needs to leave and be single.


That sums it up nicely. She's telling you to take it or leave it. I would leave it. Given that she's abandoned the kids once and has recently been irresponsible by staying out until 1 a.m. on a school night resulting in the kids missing school, you probably have a decent case for gaining custody. How old are the younger kids?

She needs romance, doesn't feel romantic towards you and wants to dance the night away with other men. It seems like a fairly straightforward choice to me.
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gustavratzenhofer
 
  1  
Reply Thu 12 Oct, 2006 07:43 pm
Isn't that what I just said, J_B?
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JPB
 
  1  
Reply Thu 12 Oct, 2006 08:03 pm
Precisely!
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ossobuco
 
  1  
Reply Thu 12 Oct, 2006 08:10 pm
I agree with all the other responders. I know it's very hard to absorb this kind of loss. All I can really say about that is that much of the loss part has already happened, and with a bit of time you can get a better situation for your children and yourself. I agree as well with the see-a-good-attorney now part. Even if you don't act on this next week, the matter of divorce, you should be apprised of your rights and good steps to take. (I'm the one who answered the poll.)
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Noddy24
 
  1  
Reply Fri 13 Oct, 2006 12:15 pm
Flyingguy--

Welcome to A2k.

Quote:
She basically said, if I can't live with that then I need to divorce her. She really doesn't want that, but that is her way of pushing. My response was that if she wants to act single then she needs to leave and be single.



She doesn't want to be married--and least in any conventional way--but she wants you to carry the onus of dissolving the marriage.

She needs. She needs. She needs.

She seems oblivious to the needs of her husband and her children. She seems pig selfish.

Let her dance off into the sunset. You and the kids will be better off.
0 Replies
 
sozobe
 
  1  
Reply Fri 13 Oct, 2006 12:28 pm
Yeah.

If it were just dancing I'd feel differently about it -- I do think the dancing per se is taking too much of the focus. There are plenty of people who are happy to dance without it resulting in all the rest of that crap (kissing making out romantic trysts), and the crap is the problem.

Definitely agree that you should see a good attorney.

Best of luck...
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martybarker
 
  1  
Reply Fri 13 Oct, 2006 12:35 pm
I agree that you need to seek some legal advice. IMO what you have decribed is not a marriage or relationship. I know it really hurts to go through something like this but you cannot change this situation. Only she can make the choice of being faithful.
I divorced recently in a no fault state, so I suggest getting some legal opinion on how to gain custody of the kids if that is what you would choose to do if this heads towards a divorce.
I also suggest some counseling. My employer has an employee assistance program and I received 6 free sessions. Maybe your employer has a similar benifit?

Good luck and I wish you the best.
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barbunny
 
  1  
Reply Thu 26 Oct, 2006 06:58 pm
i vote, get a divorce.....

she's obviously not interested in being married to you anymore, you shouldn't let her disrespect you anymore and move on....seeking legal advice first is definitely a good idea, i would get "all my ducks in a row" in regards to that before telling her the divorce.....think about you...

good luck
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jazzieB123
 
  1  
Reply Tue 14 Nov, 2006 02:10 am
You have 80% of her heart, yet other men can have the remaining 20%?
You're her husband and you deserve 100% of her heart.
This behaviour from her is not good enough and I think it shows that she does not respect 'marriage', per se, or you or your children.
Such selfish behaviour is astonishing.

If she needs to seek passion from elsewhere, then for your sanity and for your childrens' sake, let her go and do it on her own time. Minimise the damage to your children.

I also recommend seeking legal advice and when you talk to her about it for the first time, have a witness on hand. Someone who is not there to speak up or to defend either of you - just someone who's there to see what happens. And keep calm, no matter what, in all of your discussions with her. Keep notes too. Diary notes of your discussions AFTER you've had them.

Good luck and keep us up to date.

-- jazzie
0 Replies
 
Bohne
 
  1  
Reply Tue 14 Nov, 2006 03:55 am
Obviously you are not protecting your children by staying with her.
They are being neglected and unhappy.

So if this is your only reason for staying: Don't bother!
Try and get custody for your children when you leave, though!
0 Replies
 
Linkat
 
  1  
Reply Tue 14 Nov, 2006 07:49 am
I would also suggest counseling as Martybarker did. It is going to be tough on the kids if you stay with her as the situation now exists, it will also be tough if you divorce. Even if she is not the most reliable mommy she is still your children's mommy and they love her. So divorce or staying as it stands now is tough.

Counseling would hopefully be able to guide you if the marriage is able to be saved. On the positive she actually does want to stay married, but you will have to trust her and in the present situation there is no way to trust her.

If she doesn't agree to counseling or she doesn't follow suggestions in counseling then unfortunately you may need to divorce - but like others said definately get as much info as you can from an attorney as you seem the stable one and would be better for the children.
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