...meaning like a 3 year old is involved.
my girlfriend and i have been going out for 3 1/2 years now. very early in our relationship we had a child together. it wasn't so much a mistake as us being lunatics, as we were far from financially or emotionally prepared to raise a child. nonetheless we have raised a really happy, cute, and healthy boy, who brings a ton of joy into our lives.
but there are some issues in our relationship.
first off my faults: i'm an extremely jealous guy, really bad i'll admit, i have a tendency to expect the worst, and i draw conclusions that can sometimes be a bit far fetched. i have always constantly asked her "what's wrong?" or "do you love me?" to the point where she will generally snap at me if i say those things. there were a couple of times that i caught her in a lie, she went to meet other dudes from her past both times. my jealousy got so bad at one point that i went looking for information that was not meant for me to see. i started snooping, and i did not like what i found. she was arranging another meeting with a guy who would obviously make me jealous. she says she lies to avoid conflict and because i would freak out. which i understand but do not agree with. she has a lot of guy friends and a few of them flirt with her incessantly, and she somewhat encourages it.
so needless to say i told her what i did, full well knowing that it would become a huge fight which it did. so what was the result? well i have completely acquiesced, i don't pry into her affairs, i don't constantly ask her for confirmation of love, i don't ask her if guys flirt with her or anything. i realize what i did was basically wrong and evil, i love her so much, and i am wrestling with knowing this person is a person of great integrity on one hand and this sort of insecure build up on the other hand. i always expect doom. it just overtakes me!
anyways things are getting better again in our relationship, she is slowly warming up to me again, and i think i'm acting in a way that proves how much she means to me, and how much our family means to me. doing everything i can to become a better person, and not heft my personal issues into her lap. she is already stressed with work school and our son, she doesn't need a freaked out jealous boyfriend breathing down her neck. i know.
but there are things that are nagging at me that are not phantom, paranoid feelings of jealousy.
so i have a few questions:
is she justified in keeping meetings and general contact with men from her past from me?
really to be honest it's the lies and hiding of things that gets me more freaked out than her actually hanging out with these people. but for some reason i just cannot get her to be straight with me about it.
she is not as affectionate as i am, never really was, yet she seems to offer casual friends more respect and friendliness than she does offer to me. i always have to ask her for hug. she never initiates any affection with me. she more often than not makes me feel like a nuisance to her.
is this a really bad sign or are some people simply like that? she's not a total ice queen its just really hard to get a hug out of her sometimes.
i feel like i would move mountains to be with her and raise our son together, because i love her in such a profound way, i can honestly say i have never felt this sort of depth of love before. and i'm in my mid 30's. but i feel like everytime we get into a disagreement she just wants to take off. she often talks of how unhappy she is and she seems to really miss going out to bars and hanging out all the time. i am always home with our son (when i'm not working) i hardly ever go out, she goes out at least twice a week, when a friend visits from out of town she takes days off of work, drives our son to her mom's to hang out with them. when i ask for just a night alone with her or to plan something with her she just says that i'm being selfish for asking her mom to watch our son for basically "no reason"? she has even broken plans with me to drive to another city to hang out with her friends and lied to me about it.
so like i said she's really an amazing beautiful strong intelligent woman who i love so so much. but i'm starting to think that maybe we are trying to force ourselves to be compatible for our son.. that maybe i'll never get the sort of affection that i need. which is generally just someone who takes an interest in my life and thoughts and seems at least happy to see me most of the time. i just feel like i'm walking on egg shells and just giving and giving but it's hardly being noticed. our situation is stressful as well trying to make ends meet and raising a son, and i'm sure it contributes to our distance... i'm just really confused at a critical time in my life. and i know the best thing is to wait and see what happens.. but it's very very difficult.
she does love me i know. she does little things like make breakfast and is affectionate some of the time with me. our sex life is as good as can be expected with a 3 year old running around. but the magic is lost even when i try all the tried and true flowers poems gifts and favors, i clean the house constantly. i do as much as i can to make her environment a positive one. but i cannot get her to spend quality time with me. if we talk for like an hour it's a really amazing feeling for me, cause it's somewhat rare. i just don't know what to do right now. and now i don't ask her about guys or anything so my mind is going into a feedback loop. i want so bad for this to work out. what can i do to cope?