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February 6, 2019 1:46 pm  #1


Giving Ultimatums: Are they a waste?

Is there a point to giving someone an ultimatum, or is it better to use actions instead of words?

My spouse has ceased contact with the other woman she cheated with, but I occasionally catch her searching for the woman's business page on social media.
Part of me wants to tell her that I have no more patience for any of this and that I am done next time I see any hint of her checking in on OW. But then I think, she already knows it hurts me and that it is not conducive to any measure of "trying to work things out" or "keeping the peace for now."
I feel like putting pressure on my wife for something that she should already be aware of will either have no real impact, or just drive her to be even more covert and sneaky in how she checks up on this person.

 

 

February 6, 2019 2:46 pm  #2


Re: Giving Ultimatums: Are they a waste?

She's really not embraced the idea of 'ceased contact' if she is checking up on her surreptitiously. For what good reason does this need to happen? I'd suspect none. It would be like you periodically searching a site for someone you dated back in high school or college. As for saying something about it? i guess it depends on how much it bothers you. It's hard to say if she would get the message or just take it underground a bit further. Whatever course of action you choose, have a plan for dealing with whatever reaction comes back to you.


“The future is unwritten.”
― Joe Strummer
 

February 7, 2019 4:18 pm  #3


Re: Giving Ultimatums: Are they a waste?

Stop looking her up or (what would you insert here?).

Are you willing to follow through with whatever consequence you throw down? If not, then she knows you are not serious.

Perhaps you could reframe it. Instead of an ultimatum, call it a boundary. In trauma groups, people talk about boundaries all the time. Boundaries are something you put in place to make you feel safe (emotionally as well as physically) while you work on yourselves and your marriage. So, you would tell her how it makes you feel, and then say if it continues, you will ______________. You are doing it not to punish her, but to protect you.

 

February 7, 2019 4:44 pm  #4


Re: Giving Ultimatums: Are they a waste?

If you’re going to give an ultimatum you probably should at least be prepared for an outcome you don’t want.   In my case they were useless.  This should be about them going the extra mile to win your trust back.  Not you having compromise on the very thing you’re holding onto to save the relationship.

 

February 8, 2019 8:16 am  #5


Re: Giving Ultimatums: Are they a waste?

I think Stronger makes an excellent suggestion here. I know I didn't react well to STBX's ultimatum that he wouldn't enter couples therapy with me and tell me what he had really been doing all these years unless I promised I'd never leave him. That pretty much put the nails in the coffin for me. Recasting it as a boundary is better, but consider Laurence's cautions--and my own experience--no amount of pressure (or loving support) stopped STBX from going right back online again and again and again to arrange trysts, sex chat, look at porn, etc. The crux is that they literally are not thinking of anyone but themselves. I am not even a three-dimensional person with feelings to my STBX -- I often wonder if he actually has damaged or undeveloped Theory of Mind. It's quite possible. Anyway, good luck. My dad, a guidance counselor, would say to me when I was young: you can't MAKE anyone do anything. If it isn't their choice to do it, if they can't imagine why you would want what you want and then freely offer it, then you don't have much to work with in terms of shared values and caring.

 

February 8, 2019 12:27 pm  #6


Re: Giving Ultimatums: Are they a waste?

I used ultimatums at a time before I knew he was gay and I was just trying to get our marriage on track.  He would refuse to talk if I pressed and I ended up saying well I give you three months and it was helpful because I could see he had gone past the ultimatum and I could stop hoping for him to talk to me.

To me this post is not so much about ultimatums as the state of play in your marriage - are you saying you've got this deal stitched where you will stay together as long as she doesn't contact her girlfriend?  Have they broken up anyway?  do you think it might be a temporary split and they might get back together?
 

Last edited by lily (February 8, 2019 12:34 pm)

 

February 9, 2019 1:33 pm  #7


Re: Giving Ultimatums: Are they a waste?

Lilly, we are trying to live amicably right now as there are multiple family events and vacations already planned and paid for. I just want peace and it is not looking like I'm going to get it as long as we are still together.

     Thread Starter
 

February 9, 2019 5:17 pm  #8


Re: Giving Ultimatums: Are they a waste?

ah okay, sorry to hear that.  I know that feeling of just wanting peace very well.  I did another 15 years of my marriage trying to have that.

You are the only responsible adult in the house, you have a lot on your plate, don't let it be about her and what she is up to.  She is causing you a lot of emotional pain.  

Don't do the trying, make her do the trying to be amicable bit.  



 

 

February 10, 2019 3:02 pm  #9


Re: Giving Ultimatums: Are they a waste?

When I first confronted my husband, I really wasn't sure what I was going to end up doing, but I did have one ultimatum.  I said I refused to be lied to in my own house.

It didn't actually change his behavior, but there was one thing it did for me: it committed me.  It made me stop and think what my own personal "line in the sand" would be.  When it finally happened, there was no room for me to back out or second-guess myself.  There was no "am I overreacting" moment.  I hadn't promised my husband that the marriage would survive, but I did tell him that I would not be lied to in my own house, and that was an absolute dealbreaker.

So when it happened, I knew that the marriage was only important to one of us, and it was time to throw in the towel.  He was devastated, and to this day he tells me he doesn't remember me giving him any kind of ultimatum, but he heard me loud and clear.

 

February 10, 2019 5:57 pm  #10


Re: Giving Ultimatums: Are they a waste?

walkbymyself wrote:

....... It made me stop and think what my own personal "line in the sand" would be.  When it finally happened, there was no room for me to back out or second-guess myself.  .........

 

This takes inner strength. To be true to the line you drew in the sand.
And to know for certain you can't step back from it

Good on you Walk
 


KIA KAHA                       
 

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