July 11, 2015
The Hardest Part of Happy Poly
I’m finding that the difference between my husband dating a woman I don’t know (which can be nervy for me, I admit, just because of all the unknown), and my husband dating my best friend is… there is so much love to go around. Elisa is enjoying getting to know and care for Michael (and him for her, of course), but she’s also very focused on being respectful of my feelings and boundaries and on making sure that I’m comfortable and still okay with their relationship (I am, hon!) There’s already explicit trust between all of us, and it makes the complications of our poly arrangement that much more worthwhile and the little ups and down that much easier.
Actually, the hardest part of this relationship has to do with how comfortable we are all with each other. Or, more accurately, what that comfort leads to. For example, Elisa was hanging out with Michael the other day when his mom called and said she was in town. Want to do lunch? We’re still pretty poly-closeted, mostly for the comfort and ease of the people around us, so when they went to lunch, it was strictly as (apparent) friends. And my poor mother-in-law was… let us just say confused. Why is Michael spending so much time with my beset friend lately? She’s got her suspicions, I think, and she’s fighting as hard as she can to convince herself that her son would never cheat on his wife. And he wouldn’t. But she’s also not exactly wrong.
Likewise, I just got a text from my next-door neighbor who was trying to find a subtle way to let me know that he’s seen my best friend’s car around the house a lot when I’m not home. It’s natural in our society for people to see a married man and a woman hanging out a lot and assume the worst of those people. I just wish that saying “Yup! They’re dating and it’s great!” wouldn’t make things even more awkward with people around the edges of our life. (Bonus fun: our neighbors across the street are famous all up and down the block for top-of-the-voice fighting about the boyfriend’s cheating ways.)
Polyamory from the Inside Out 
Brittany said,
November 6, 2015 at 3:54 pm
Hi I like how you put it that the hardest part of your relationship is how comfortable you are with each other. My couple relationship that is or isn’t kinda evolving was rocked badly because we are so comfortable with each other, and had such a strong though strictly platonic connection that it was a non issue for me or my husband to be alone with the opposite member of our other couple, and I made the mistake of attending a get together with my best male friend while our spouses were working. We had their children with us and it was with my family. A few months later, I had a falling out with my family who then attacked my female best friend with rumors and tall tales about me and him. At that point jealousy and mistrust began to grow in our quad like an infection, in a way leading us to the sad point we are at now. We are trying to fix our family, but as there is sexual tension present it has become very complex and difficult for all parties.