I recently started seeing a married ENM man with the expectation of becoming consistent FWBs. This is my first experience dating someone ENM and the communication/openness has been refreshing. Our relationship is relatively new and we've texted every day for over a month. His availability to play is limited so we have only seen each other twice. Some of his boundaries with his wife include the fact that our relationship is just for fun and if feelings were to develop then it has to end. I clarified what "feelings" meant because inherently some feelings of connection and care develop with an ongoing sexual relationship (for me at least). He said what they mean is if someone wanted more of his time than he could offer or didn't respect their other boundaries, then it would have to end.
My question comes from the frequency at which we text. Initially, I thought he was just trying to make me comfortable, but we still text every day. He checks in, asks about my day, shares what is going on with his, and at minimum will wish me a good night or morning. Yes we sext too. I enjoy this but have been feeling that I should clarify how much communication is okay. I want this to be an ongoing thing and want to respect their boundaries but I also want to protect myself, because I know I will wonder what changed if/when the frequency of communication changes. Currently he is my only partner so I think it would help if I got another partner so I don't place too much importance on our communication because yes, I enjoy it and he makes me feel wanted. He encourages this and actually would prefer if I was seeing someone else. Can someone offer advice in this situation or share what frequency of communication has worked for them and how to approach this conversation? I am new to this so I don't know if I should even question it if there is no problem with it yet. Thanks in advance.
I’ve had similar arrangement with my husband. We have a family with all that entails, and I expect him to be around for that, so although we play with others, we can’t offer as much time as someone untangled can.
That said, husband has had two FWB, and they are true friends (and remain so after de-escalating the benefits part). They would text daily, he would help with stuff at work, they would support each other if one of them had a hard day etc. Absolutely no problem for me.
As Henri says, you do you and let him manage his side. If it gets too much, he’ll scale back.
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