With all this recession talk, all this "we may be headed for the next Great Depression" talk, many of you are having trouble sleeping, eating, motivating themselves from the mornings through the nights of otherwise-ordinary days.
Some of you are having unpleasant conversations with your husbands: "How long will our savings last if one of us is laid off? What would happen if both of us were laid off?" They're powerful questions involving joint decisions about your joint future that can create an atmosphere with an intense sense of team—or one that's just plain tense. You'll feel like you're in this together—or like it's every family member for him- or herself. You'll talk about how you'll make it work—or you'll argue that someone isn't pulling his or her weight.
It's a time of extremes.
Do you feel like your relationship is recession-proof? Take this poll then share your story below.
MORE RESOURCES:- Dr. Gail Saltz and Carmen Wong Ulrich: Money panic and therapy
- Sex on My Desk: Cheap (and, better yet, free!) dating ideas
- Dr. Gail Saltz: Financial panic and mental health
- Dr. Gail Saltz: 5 ways to mesh marriage and money
- Dr. Gail Saltz: Surviving the stresses of recession
- Chris Self: Ask the iVillage love and money expert
The iVillagers on our Betrayed Spouses Support message board are talking about this recent article: "Peter Cook Blames Christie Brinkley for His Affair." Yes, really:
"In an interview set to air Friday on ABC's "20/20," he says he cheated on the supermodel because "I was seeking a connection I could not find in my own marriage."Do you think the cheater is always to blame? Is there ever a circumstance in which the cheater's spouse is at fault? Will you watch the Barbara Walters interview tonight?
I just received this press release from the Sundance Channel:
"Based on Isabella Rossellini's highly acclaimed Green Porno short films, Sundance Channel has launched a new interactive quiz, "What Kind of Green Porno Star Are You?" [It allows] you to uncover your inner bug and determine if your mating rituals match those of a bee, an earthworm, a snail, a mantis, a fly, a dragonfly, a firefly or a spider!"
I mean, we have quizzes on your erotic personality... your flirting style... whether or not you're a sex goddess... But your inner bug?
Wow. Clearly we just can't compete with that.
Plus: What are the best green sex toys? Watch this video.
"When I deployed, she [text] messaged a guy and told him that if she were single she would have sex, cuddle, kiss with him. I was hurt when I returned and found out about this message. She continued to say it was just something they were talking about, that we are married, she loves me and no one else. Well, now our sexual life is down to about once, if that, a week. I have a fear of her cheating on me."I agree with Dr .Gail Saltz's definition of cheating. She writes...
"An affair really has to do with secrecy, deception of the partner and therefore betrayal. It also has to do with the amount of emotional energy you put into the new person that you therefore are not giving to your partner."So what do you think? Is Dr. Gail right? Based on your definition of infidelity, does sending sexy texts count as cheating?
