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Relationship of 8 years: stay or go.

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Yup, I agree with this post.

She is not listening to weight advice. I gained weight over the course of 2 years too but I have put a stop to it since I am prone to heart disease and diabetes. Lost 20 pounds myself and still dropping.

You mother and brother living with you two, this idea seems to not go well with her. My significant other also has a physical handicap that I am very mindful of. Things like purchasing the right house or getting the right type of bed to accommodate their needs is a high priority for me. If she doesn't see those two family members as a priority that a huge warning flag for me. She would probably hate living with them given how you wrote your OP.

Best to move on, sounds like she's done with the relationship.

To be fair, you're not going to meet a lot of people thrilled about the prospect of moving their SO's family in with them in the future.
 
- 8 year relationship w/ girlfriend (I'm a dude)
- living together for almost 3 years
- compatible in terms of shared interests, sense of humor, and I really like her smarts & personality, or at least most of it
- For the most part, I like her parents and 2 siblings (and they like me as well) and have a good relationship w/ them

But, having said all that, I've been falling out of love w/ her for more than a year:

- My mother is divorced and my brother has developmental handicap (meaning he has limited mental capacity won't be able to live independently). My mom and my bro live together in our original house (where I also lived before I moved out). This may not be an issue in other countries since family members may prefer to live separately anyway. But in the future (not in the present or anytime soon), maybe when my mom is old and in her senior years, I would like her and my brother (who will be dependent on others too) to live with me and my girlfriend (who would have been my wife by that time).

Any thoughts or similar past experiences? What did you do then?

Sorry if I trim over most of your post OP, but I have a looot of experience on the bit I just bolded.

DONT
DO
THIS.

My father was in the very same position as you. He took care of gramps and granny. But, he also took care of his sister that has special needs (took care as in she is living with us). It's been over 20 years, and I can tell you that my mom (who has been through a whole lot on her life) is really tired of the situation. Just as my brother and I are. The three of us, try to deal with it as much as we can, just because we love our dad and because he is in a impossible situation (low wage, high responsability job). If you ever have a choice, do not drag your own family to that kind of hell.

I know it's a bit harsh, but in those cases, you have to be one of 2 things. A better brother/son. Or a better partner/father.
 
I don't want to judge your GF too harshly based on what you are saying, because I'm only getting one side of the story, but you didn't mention whether she had a job, and what kind of job. Is she motivated/ambitious when it comes to her career? If she's working at a walmart, and acting like that, it's hard to tell you to stay with her. If she's a busy professional, it's a bit more understandable if she can seem disengaged at times. In that case, I would advise trying to work things out, and if you fail, you bail.
 
OP is all negative which tells me you made up your mind yet. Why not write a post about the things that you DO like about her? Then it would be easier for you and us to see which side weighs heaviest.
 
It sounds to me like both of you have relationship fatigue, but unlike her you're still looking to put in the effort to stay together. If she isn't willing to meet you halfway and at least try then it's no longer a mutually beneficial relationship.

You need to have a frank discussion where you tell her that you're ready to take the next step, but you're not sure if she is. If she doesn't respond to the seriousness of that conversation in a genuine manner I think you should end the relationship. She either wants to work at keeping your relationship alive or she doesn't, you can force her to care.

And with regards to sex I don't know her situation, but with my wife and I it's always a matter of time and energy. We have two young children and we both work, so time and energy are in short supply. I wish we could have sex a lot more often, but it isn't a realistic thing to expect given the constraints of our lives. That said being in shape and working out helps a lot with that, so you're right to want her to do that. It's good for her health and it's good for the health of your relationship.

Whatever happens I wish you luck OP, you have a hard decision to make either way. But in the end it's a decision you need to make for your future. Trust your instincts and do what you believe to be the right thing.
 
sex life is at the lowest point in the history if our relationship.

Bad, very very very bad.

But in the future (not in the present or anytime soon), maybe when my mom is old and in her senior years, I would like her and my brother (who will be dependent on others too) to live with me and my girlfriend (who would have been my wife by that time).

Uhuh. I can imagine that kind of freaks her out. Keep in mind that your mother might get ill and will most likely need more and more care in the future, next to the care for your brother.

I feel like she hasn't been taking enough care of her figure as she's gained a bit of weight in the past 2 years. I already asked her about this politely several times over the course of the last year or so, and she just shrugs me off, saying she's watching what she eats and even enrolled in a yoga class (which she didn't even go to). So yeah, there's no results.

Keep on doing that, each time you make a 'polite' comment about it (and you can bet your ass she won't see it as polite), you distance yourself even further. Why not try to find another way, take walks together, get on a bicycle together, go to the gym together?

over the years, I've felt she has the tendency to only think about herself in moments of panic or time pressure. While these may not be really big issues in the greater scheme of things, it's in-line with the sense of selfishness I feel from her. Recent examples are: 1) we were taking different buses in the bus terminal so we were to queue in different lines. I was taking here to her queue but since there were a lot of people and the queue was moving, she suddenly walked quickly and left me behind. 2) we were about to watch a movie but as I was purchasing popcorn, she realized she wanted to buy a different drink which was at the lower floor of our cinema. She asked for her ticket since our movie was about to start and I think she thought we can see each other inside the cinema after she bought her drink. The problem was that I was carrying popcorn and bottled water and I needed to go to the bathroom first and I wasn't bringing the shit I was carrying inside the bathroom. I stayed out of the cinema first and tried calling or texting her. When she responded, she said she was already at her seat inside the cinema. I mean, maybe she could have checked her phone or tried to contact me first before going in.

So, sounds perfectly reasonable. She though 'hey, I'll meet him inside anyways' so....yeah? Does she need to check up on you every 10 seconds? You're a big boy. And..is getting separated inside a cinema a moment of pressure? wow. Wait until she gets pregnant.

So yeah, with all of the shit above, I feel like I can no longer stay in our relationship. I believe I'm being pretty reasonable here, given all of the reasons above.

This is the so-called 'shit'?

Look, I'm not trying to belittle the circumstances ot the both of you, since around that 7-8 years you get those thoughts, I had them too and you need to consider and wrestle with those seriously. But are you really really really sure you're not reading too much into things? The sex life one is bad though...fix it asap if you want to stay together.

(This is coming from someone who has been married for 15 years, I'm a dinosaur probably @ 43)
 
OP, how much weight has she gained? Is she overweight or just has gained some weight vs being skinny before? Any comments you make on her weight are not going to be seen as polite. You should go biking, hiking, walking, running with her.

Do you expect oral for every single time you have sex with her? It sounds like she does it sometimes but just not always. That's pretty normal. Do you go down on her every time you have sex? If so, then maybe you can be disappointed you don't have a 1:1 ratio going on but you can't force her to give you head lol.

The family stuff sounds like something you are pushing on her right now, when you don't really need to be.
 
Say bye bye. You're still young, you deserve better, and CAN get something better, in no time. Life's too short for compromises.
 
Have you and your girlfriend talked at all about retooling/mixing up your sex life? This is something that can go a long way with some really basic conversation -- have you gone that route yet, and/or does she seem generally disinterested in talking about it?

I think your sex life complaint is fixable, and I think convincing any partner to take in your mother and brother into the same household is going to be a really tough sell, no matter who it is. But from my perspective it looks like you're already leaning hard in the direction of breaking up anyway.
 
Honestly sounds like you've already made up your mind. But looks like you're slowly falling out of love with her but are only staying together because you're both comfortable with it as its what you're used to after so long. Honestly if you try to talk it out with her and she still loves you she will likely say she will try to change. But she won't. And you shouldn't want somebody to change so you can stay with them.

I'd say talk with close friends and see what they think as they'd know you and your girlfriend better than any of us on gaf. But if I had to give my opinion, break it off.
 
You are obviously looking for a way out, so maybe take it. Personally, I wouldn't make a big fuss about weight gain to the point of breaking up after 8 years. Your family situation is a big ask for anyone. No one is going to jump for joy, "fuck yea!"
 
To be fair, you're not going to meet a lot of people thrilled about the prospect of moving their SO's family in with them in the future.

This is very true. I get that perspective, however the original post came off as telling their girlfriend that this could be a likely scenario later on in life. If she knew that for this long a period of time, why stick around?

I guess that is moreso a question directed to the OP. But you get what I am saying.
 
Individually that stuff doesn't seem that bad, but all together it seems like she doesn't give a fuck. When your mom and your brother need you shit will probably go south quickly. All together she doesn't want to have sex, doesn't take care of her self, and doesn't care if you find her attractive. Plus she constantly does little things that show her selfish nature. As a "nice guy" that constantly got taken advantage of that last thing is my ultimate pet peeve. Those kind of people chip away at you until one day you can't take it and you break everything off. It sounds like you want to break up, I say do it. She'll be pissed she "wasted" all that time with you but you got to do you too man.
 
You are obviously looking for a way out, so maybe take it. Personally, I wouldn't make a big fuss about weight gain to the point of breaking up after 8 years. Your family situation is a big ask for anyone. No one is going to jump for joy, "fuck yea!"
Yeah this is the thing. OP you expect your partner, whoever it is, to be fine to have your family live with you and her. And not only that to be ecstatic. Do you realistically think anybody would be happy to have that situation? Nobody would. You should be happy that a partner even says 'it's fine I guess'

Me personally, that'd likely be a deal breaker. I don't want more people in my future household than necessary.
 
Yeah this is the thing. OP you expect your partner, whoever it is, to be fine to have your family live with you and her. And not only that to be ecstatic. Do you realistically think anybody would be happy to have that situation? Nobody would. You should be happy that a partner even says 'it's fine I guess'

Me personally, that'd likely be a deal breaker. I don't want more people in my future household than necessary.

Yeah. I'd barely be okay with my own family members living with me in the future, let alone people I never grew up with. That's asking a ton.

Politely asking

lol

Seriously OP, it sounds like you already gave up. Do you really feel such little connection to a person you've been dating for 8 years that you're willing to just walk away without communicating better?

Instead of thinking about what she could be doing, have you asked yourself what you could be doing? It's really easy to tell other people what you think they should do, but that's not how good relationships work. If you have an issue, you should talk about it together and come up with solutions that involve both of you.

Honestly, based on what you've written, you don't sound all that different from her. Self centered and unwilling to work with one another. But that's an outside perspective through the limited window you've drawn.

Try to work with her instead of throwing out something you worked on for 8 years. Exhaust all avenues before you just bail.
 
OP, have you tried just sitting down with her and conveying all of your worries, unequivocally? Maybe this will do a better job than politely asking for things––as in, you just say how you're feeling and why, instead of beating around the bush.
 
- sex life is at the lowest point in the history if our relationship. I mean yeah, we've been together for a long time so it could be partly that, but we don't have sex regularly anymore, and to make this worse, she rarely initiates things in the few times that we do have sex. She also consistently doesn't to do some pretty normal stuff in bed like oral (even if I've asked her for this from time to time). I've also been politely asking if she could keep it clean down there (but least she does is a trim)

So she keeps it trimmed and doesn't want to give you blowjobs? I don't see the big deal here. Blowjobs suck to give. Why force her to do something she doesn't want to, just for your own pleasure? Why not just find something you can both enjoy?

- My mother is divorced and my brother has developmental handicap (meaning he has limited mental capacity won't be able to live independently). My mom and my bro live together in our original house (where I also lived before I moved out). This may not be an issue in other countries since family members may prefer to live separately anyway. But in the future (not in the present or anytime soon), maybe when my mom is old and in her senior years, I would like her and my brother (who will be dependent on others too) to live with me and my girlfriend (who would have been my wife by that time). This is not because I'm trying to shoehorn family members into me and my future wife's home, but it's just because I want to take care of them since my mother is divorced and likely won't remarry and my brother has special needs. My girlfriend has known about my family ever since but I recently asked her about this (about my mom and brother) living with us in the far future and while she said she was okay w/ it once it became necessary, her response didn't give me a sense of inclusiveness and acceptance for my family and my family situation (and more like it was a drag to her). And this is something that I feel is a must have for any woman I would date and eventually marry. Plus, she still doesn't have a close enough relationship w/ my mother or brother even after 8 years of knowing her and me being her boyfriend (not enough effort on her part the way I see it). Lastly, it's been relatively hard to bring her along to reunions and other family gatherings (and these aren't a frequent thing).

So, let me get this part straight. You told her you want your family to move in at some point in the future. She said, "Yeah, I'm okay with that" And you're bothered that she didn't show enough enthusiasm about it? Its a burden you're pushing onto her, of course she's not going to be happy about it. But she gets how much that means to you is willing to deal with it.

- I feel like she hasn't been taking enough care of her figure as she's gained a bit of weight in the past 2 years. I already asked her about this politely several times over the course of the last year or so, and she just shrugs me off, saying she's watching what she eats and even enrolled in a yoga class (which she didn't even go to). So yeah, there's no results. I mean, I'm not a buff model or anything, but I at least try to care of myself and my body. The fact that she's repeatedly ignoring me on this, after having promised that she'll work on her weight is really saddening to me. And I'm not even after immediate results. I just want to see effort.

What's her weight at exactly? And what's yours at for that matter?

- 2) we were about to watch a movie but as I was purchasing popcorn, she realized she wanted to buy a different drink which was at the lower floor of our cinema. She asked for her ticket since our movie was about to start and I think she thought we can see each other inside the cinema after she bought her drink. The problem was that I was carrying popcorn and bottled water and I needed to go to the bathroom first and I wasn't bringing the shit I was carrying inside the bathroom. I stayed out of the cinema first and tried calling or texting her. When she responded, she said she was already at her seat inside the cinema. I mean, maybe she could have checked her phone or tried to contact me first before going in.

What? You say its on HER to contact YOU? So, you didn't want to have to call or text her, but she should have to? And why didn't you just tell her to hang on a second before she walked away, and that you need to use the bathroom? You're an adult, you can follow people, you can talk to them when they tell you that they're going to go down a floor to grab something.
 
No kids? I'd bail. Too many flags.

Yup its time to bail out OP, trust me. I'm still in your situation and the same shit happens weekly. The longest I've went without sex is probably 2 months, fucking ridiculous. I don't even get oral(yet she asks me) anymore and i'll be lucky to have sex twice a week, LUCK. If it wasn't for my son I would've left by now.
 
I have a close friend who ended an 8 year relationship for similar reasons. If you are not happy and you feel things aren't going to improve then you know what you have to do.

As for the sex stuff she won't do, things aren't going to get better since a lot of women have less of a libido once they have children. Blowjobs is a thing that a lot of us dudes would like a woman to do, but surprisingly a lot of them aren't a fan of giving them. That isn't a dealbreaker for me personally, but she has to be willing to do other stuff you like. If she isn't willing or you feel she puts no effort, then that's going to be a big problem.
 
Honestly, your list of reasons makes me kind of angry. Oh no, she doesn't enjoy putting dicks in her mouth? The horror! What, she's not shaving her vagina every day? Maybe she even prefers to be unshaved? Disgusting, what a dealbreaker! Oh no, she's gaining a bit of weight? How could you possibly still love her! She's not super enthusiastic about living together with your family? It's a miracle she's okay with that future to begin with. living together with my future parents in law is nightmare fuel to me.

Your reasons just strike me as incredibly superficial. That being said, if that's how you feel, do whatever you must. *shrug*
 
It definitely sounds like you made up your mind, but if you're willing to throw away an eight year relationship because you don't get your dick sucked enough, you don't like how your partner trims her pubes, and you perpetually harangue her about her weight, cool.
 
OP I'm in a position with some parallels. My mom moved in and it really damaged our relationship bigtime. But she moved out years ago. I wasn't happy with our sex life for 7 years, she gained a ton of weight and didn't take my sexual out cries seriously. Not to mention we were both depressed (unaware) and needed each other more than we wanted one another type of thing. I almost broke it all off, but I had a heart to heart with her on everything. Now things are getting way better and she's exercising (positive effect on her libido) and everything missing is improving. Still not sure if it'll work out between us but you gotta communicate. I wish we did more a lot sooner.
 
Honestly your decision to live with and take care of your family for the rest of your life sounds absolutely miserable and you are lucky she tolerates that shit
 
you already know your answer and you are just asking around to check if anyone thinks you are an asshole. Ignore what people say about you, most relationships fail after 4-5 years and most marriages peter out to a level of comfort and companionship, if you can't even achieve that after 8 years then you will just be absolutely miserable after marriage.

I've been married 23 years, when you find the right person you will just find yourself unable to breath thinking about not being together with them. Sex, weight gain, financial stuff, all that stuff slowly becomes unimportant over time but I assume at your younger-ish age you are having deep, deep, deep subconscious regrets at not dating around (and sleeping around, lets face it) a bit more and you need to go do that while you still can.

Just don't talk about the weight gain stuff with her when you break up, its a low blow and she already knows about it, its an extremely difficult thing to tackle for most people. Simply saying you don't really love her anymore is enough I think.
 
I think the strongest indicator is that you're asking random people on the internet whether you should stay in a relationship or not. You need to be talking with her about this.

Also, the whole moving your family in with you is a going to grenade any future relationships, baby bird needs to leave the nest. It's harsh but you need to live your own life.
 
Other than your mom/brother situation, your issues seem pretty minor to me. I think you can deal with most of this stuff just by having better communication with her. I'd recommend looking into relationship counseling before breaking it off.

You also have to understand that asking your mom and brother to live with you (even in the far future) is a huge deal. Very very few people would be "enthusiastic" about the idea. That she even okayed it at all is more than most people would do. If this plays a big factor into why you think she is selfish, then you need to think about more about how this would affect her life.
 
You're bitching about her weight and having to hold popcorn and she has to put up with your mom and brother moving in in the near future?

Communicate and figure this out lol. That's gonna be a hard sell in the dating world as noble as it is.
 
You skim over the top part so quickly, it's hard to gauge how important having someone with shared interests, a family you get along with, a good sense of humor, and personality that meshes with yours is to your life. Even if I was cold blooded about the history you share (those eight years are "sunk costs" in econ terms), those things would be HUGE for me. But maybe they aren't for you.

Getting to your long points:

- Sexual lulls happen. Find something to spice it up. If getting head is important to you (and after eight years of not getting it, I find it hard to believe it suddenly is) then be more open about it. Be more open about what you like and dislike sexually, then find out what would really turn her on and do that. If all that fails, talk to sex therapist who could help you through it.

- Asking someone to commit to supporting two members of your family long term is a big ask. Not getting the "sense of inclusiveness and acceptance" that you want sounds like subjective hindsight now that things aren't going well. She said she would be okay with it once it became necessary. You pushing it further or not taking that as accepting what you want is on you, not her.

Also, are you two planning on having kids if you did get married? If so, did you think that might be weighing on her mind when making the decision to accept this premise?

- The "think of herself in times of panic"...like, those two instances are the best you can come up with of her being selfish in eight years of a relationship? That is absolutely nothing. Stop being petty.

- If you think that you're disappointed with her weight gain, think about how she feels. Not everybody is great at taking care of themselves or, after promising to do something about it, sticking with it. And I'm sure she's real keen on you "politely asking" about it.

If it is honestly killing the relationship, then figure out a way to participate in getting healthier together, as many people have said already.

Overall, you sound pretty selfish yourself and are projecting some of that onto her. If you are thinking of making the next step (either proposing or leaving her), you should do some couples therapy to work out these issues before you do something drastic. Make the time and effort to make the relationship work, because those things at the top aren't just window dressing, they are seriously important.
 
The popcorn thing is pretty weird. Calling and texting her cause you can't find her? You both had tickets to the movie, you both would be in the same theatre!
 
I change my vote op. You should stay with her and work it out. When your parents move in, you will​ be in no position to make sexual demands. You could date a porn star and I can ensure you that she will leave your ass if she has to keep it down during sex so she doesn't wake up your mom. You've already molded this girl for 8 years and based on your demands, I don't think you will be able to find a woman better than this.
 
I change my vote op. You should stay with her and work it out. When your parents move in, you will​ be in no position to make sexual demands. You could date a porn star and I can ensure you that she will leave your ass if she has to keep it down during sex so she doesn't wake up your mom. You've already molded this girl for 8 years and based on your demands, I don't think you will be able to find a woman better than this.

That's pretty much my take as well.

Honestly this woman doesn't sound bad to me.
 
This is very true. I get that perspective, however the original post came off as telling their girlfriend that this could be a likely scenario later on in life. If she knew that for this long a period of time, why stick around?

I guess that is moreso a question directed to the OP. But you get what I am saying.

My guess is it wasn't a likely scenario for the last 8 years, but more recently. And then the simple answer we all know is - inertia.

So many relationships continue until someone cheats or explodes about something because a lot of them truly die much earlier and everyone just goes with the flow until you hit a bump.

From what OP is saying, I feel like that's where they are, and this is the time to decide whether it's worth working on fixing or not. They really need to sit down and have a completely open conversation about their relationship now, and in the future, and see if they're even on the same page.
 
OP, you sound very immature and not ready to have a real adult relationship with someone. What you want are the feelings of a new relationship (fun, sex all the time, no "issues") and not someone who is your partner and be there all the time through good and bad times.

Sex declines when you have been together a long time, if she does not like giving you a oral is hardly a reason to break up with someone.

People gain and loose weight ( have you thought of doing exercising with her? Cooking healthier with her? doing an active activity together?)

As for moving a family members in, do you REALLY understand the time and commitment that takes? Can you really take care for not 1 but 2 people 24/7, an elder and an adult with disabilities? If your brother cannot live on his own and your mother gets dementia/Alzheimer's/breaks a hip and cannot walk/etc and cannot *ever* be left alone, who will care for them when you and your gf/wife work? Moving a family member in is great and noble, but you need to know what that really entails. Are you ready to bathe your mother? Take her to the doctor? Sit in the ER with her when she falls (the elderly fall), give up vacations and long days out because someone needs to be with your mother 24/7? "Baby proof" your house so she doesn't turn on the stove and burn the house down? (All issues I went through while taking care of my grandmother who had dementia and was 93 when she died.)

Also, the movie thing, seriously? That was even an issue for you? If that is an issue for you, do HER a favor and break up so she can find someone mature enough for a relationship.
 
I'd go OP, or atleast talk to her very seriously about your concerns. She's getting complacent and letting herself go. That's not cool.
 
No kids? I'd bail. Too many flags.

The family living with you will be a hard sale for many women though. Don't hold that one against her.

This.

I have been there, done that (albeit on a 3 year relationship). If the relationship is sucking, then it's time to bail. When you know it's time, it's time. It'll hurt, but you'll be better off.
 
The amount of people that are saying to dump her purely over the sex thing is kind of upsetting to me.

That is a very normal thing in long term relationships and the way OP worded it is coming across like he's not really trying to do anything to bring it back beyond being selfish himself. That doesn't just solve itself by throwing yourself at the person and requesting they do things like "keeping it clean".
 
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