Negotiation: It’s Required for Success in Polyamory
Relationships, like most of life, are never as easy as we think they should be.
We haven’t seen each other in a few weeks and it is getting harder to find open spaces on our schedules as the world is opening back up from the pandemic lockdown. Looking at our scheduling trying to find a date night was becoming tedious. “Could you do next Wednesday evening? Not sure if it could be an overnight right now, but we could grab dinner and have some time together,” he offered with an optimistic tone.
“I can’t that night. Dance mom duty,” I replied discouraged but offer, “What about Thursday after next? I would need to arrive later in the afternoon than usual.”
“There may be something already on our schedule here — a family birthday celebration,” he responds somewhere between sad and frustrated. “Let me see what I can work out on my end.” I just wanted to cry. It shouldn’t be this hard.
“It seems like our relationship has been one continuous negotiation,” my love sighed. We are both frustrated with the seemingly endless complexities and the push and pull of life. We are both balancing a lot of different responsibilities, roles, and demands that impact our connection. It is just the reality of relationships.
