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Here's another poll : how many spouses have you had?


I have had ____ spouses.  

  1. 1. I have had ____ spouses.

    • None
      1
    • 1
      394
    • 2
      32
    • 3
      6
    • more than 3
      1


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I have this sister-in-law (who just called a little while ago) who laughs at me for only being on my first marriage. :confused: She claims most women she knows are on their 2nd or 3rd marriage. I just don't think that can be right. Even if, statistically, half of marriages end in divorce, that isn't a remarriage rate. Or is it? Maybe I'm missing something there.

 

Anyway, it bothers me because my brother is her second husband, and this is his first (and as far as he's concerned) his only marriage. He's even adopted her children as his own.

 

I know she could be joking, but if she is, it sure is hard to tell sometimes.

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That's kind of a weird attitude. Huh.

 

BTW, the divorce rate has been falling for the past several years. Not a whole lot or anything, but the "50%" thing is no longer accurate. And one thing to note about that statistic is that it doesn't mean that 50% of people will get divorced--since second and third, etc. marriages are more likely to end in divorce, people who go through several marriages drive that number up. (For example, I had a friend whose mother was on her 4th and father was on his 3rd. Which made something like 6 marriages among 7 people.)

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I've only been married once (still married).

 

Surpisingly to me, considering the statistics of divorce, most people I know have only been married once and have stayed with their spouse.

 

Even so, it's totally bizarre that your sister-in-law laughs about you being on your first marriage. It's the laughing about it part that I find weird.

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Guest jmh45881

It's possible that most people SHE knows ARE known for multiple marriages, if that is the "culture" she grew up in. I use the word culture here very specifically ... I don't mean "in general," as in her city, state, or country. But the people she specifically grew up with ... relatives and friends and friends of friends, etc. If that is the standard in those circles, it might be what she's accostumed to.

 

In the meantime, she might suddenly be realizing that multiple marriages is NOT the standard everywhere, and is starting conversations now that open the door to being encouraged to stick out the tough parts of a marriage in order to stay married. Maybe her eyes and mind are opening to "another way."

 

Maybe you have the opportunity to be the encouragement someone else is looking for.

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I was married to my older son's dad just shy of 4 years when we divorced. I have been married to current dh for almost 7 years.

 

I wish I could have done it right the first time. It was hard for me to choose divorce, but in the end, there was just no other option. I actually admire folks who stay married to one person. I can't imagine why your SIL would find that funny!

Edited by Tree House Academy
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My dad is currently in the process of divorce with his 4th wife. My mom divorced her 3rd husband when I was 14 (and he was AFTER my dad)! :001_huh:

 

I never knew any of my dad's other wives. My mom was his last wife & he never had any other kids.

 

My dad's sil once said to me that when he brought my mom around, dad's family said to each other --- She seems like a nice girl from a nice family. Why in the world is she with him?

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I've only been married once (still married).

 

Surpisingly to me, considering the statistics of divorce, most people I know have only been married once and have stayed with their spouse.

 

Even so, it's totally bizarre that your sister-in-law laughs about you being on your first marriage. It's the laughing about it part that I find weird.

 

 

Yes. It is weird. And, very uncomfortable. I mean, what does one say to that without creating drama?

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That's kind of a weird attitude. Huh.

 

BTW, the divorce rate has been falling for the past several years. Not a whole lot or anything, but the "50%" thing is no longer accurate. And one thing to note about that statistic is that it doesn't mean that 50% of people will get divorced--since second and third, etc. marriages are more likely to end in divorce, people who go through several marriages drive that number up. (For example, I had a friend whose mother was on her 4th and father was on his 3rd. Which made something like 6 marriages among 7 people.)

 

However, if a remarriage is a first marriage for one spouse, the stats are the same as that of a first marriage for both spouses. I don't think I explained that very well, but it's the situation I'm in. This is my first--and only, as far as I'm concerned--marriage but not my husband's.

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I have this sister-in-law (who just called a little while ago) who laughs at me for only being on my first marriage. :confused: She claims most women she knows are on their 2nd or 3rd marriage. I just don't think that can be right. Even if, statistically, half of marriages end in divorce, that isn't a remarriage rate. Or is it? Maybe I'm missing something there.

 

Anyway, it bothers me because my brother is her second husband, and this is his first (and as far as he's concerned) his only marriage. He's even adopted her children as his own.

 

I know she could be joking, but if she is, it sure is hard to tell sometimes.

 

Making fun of someone for being on her first marriage is just bizarre. Maybe it's more normal than I think, though. A few months ago a caller to a radio show said her mother (who'd had several marriages herself) advised her to marry the first time for money and plan on marrying again for love. :001_huh:

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The other day I was waiting for dh to come start watching a movie with me, and I happened to see a few minutes of a wedding dress buying show on TLC. There was one family where the mom and daughter couldn't agree, and the mom said in the interview something about how she wanted her daughter to look "at her first wedding". I did a double take. Her *first*?!? Surely we aren't already *planning* for our *children* to have multiple marriages?!? Or maybe she just really hated her soon-to-be son-in-law...

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The other day I was waiting for dh to come start watching a movie with me, and I happened to see a few minutes of a wedding dress buying show on TLC. There was one family where the mom and daughter couldn't agree, and the mom said in the interview something about how she wanted her daughter to look "at her first wedding". I did a double take. Her *first*?!? Surely we aren't already *planning* for our *children* to have multiple marriages?!? Or maybe she just really hated her soon-to-be son-in-law...

 

Yowzer!!!! :glare:

 

I'm on my first. Plan to stay that way!! Sometimes it's hard work!!!

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I'm on my first (and only). We'll be married 15 years in November. We married relatively young, I was 23 he had just turned 21. All of our friends made bets that we wouldn't last more than 3 years. I think it's time to collect on those bets, huh? :o) It hasn't always been fun or easy but it's always been worth it.

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I was engaged to another man and broke it off 2 weeks before the wedding.

 

When I was telling a new colleague about what all that entails (sending out un-invitations, returning shower gifts, canceling caterers, etc, she said, "I would have just gotten married, then divorced him later.":confused:

 

This is the first marriage for both dh and I, but we have 3 previous engagements between us.:D

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Yowzer!!!! :glare:

 

I'm on my first. Plan to stay that way!! Sometimes it's hard work!!!

 

No kidding; one is enough, thank you very much.

 

Even if something were to happen to dh (heaven forbid, but if...), or something goes terribly awry, I do not foresee another actual marriage in my future.

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I think she was being rude. I wouldn't act like that, and I'm on my 2nd marriage.

 

I've known 2 couples who have only been married to one another. My ex-husband's parents were married for about 50 years until they died. My aunt and uncle have been married for about 35 years.

 

I've always seen divorce as a very common thing, so I'm surprised by the results of the poll. But in a pleasant way!

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I have this sister-in-law (who just called a little while ago) who laughs at me for only being on my first marriage. :confused: She claims most women she knows are on their 2nd or 3rd marriage. I just don't think that can be right. Even if, statistically, half of marriages end in divorce, that isn't a remarriage rate. Or is it? Maybe I'm missing something there.

 

No, you are right. Half of the marriages end in divorce but that doesn't mean half of the people will get divorced, some people marry over and over.

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I married into a this family:

 

in-laws will celebrate 65 years next March

sister has been married 43

brother and his wife 38

other brother 29

and dh and I almost 19

 

grandchildren all still married to original spouses

gret-grand children are too little to marry!

 

We all get along with each other and love to be together!

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This is my first (and only) marriage and my dh's third. When we first started dating he didn't tell me he had been married twice before. He had a 5yo dd, so I just assumed he had one previous marriage. After about 2 or 3 months of dating, we were looking at some of his old pictures and I saw a small one of a wedding that was out of focus and taken from far away. I couldn't make out any faces and asked him whose wedding it was. I had already seen wedding pictures from his wedding to his dd's mother, so I knew it wasn't from that wedding. When he said his first....well I just about fell out of my chair.

 

I had to think long and hard about whether I wanted to continue dating him. He said he didn't tell me at the beginning of our relationship because he was ashamed of going through two divorces. After many discussions and prayers I realized that he wasn't the same person who had made those mistakes and I should give him a chance.

 

We just celebrated our 15th anniversary yesterday! :hurray:

 

BTW - My parents still don't know that he was married twice before. :huh:

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One, a little over 7 years now. My parents however have 7 marriages between them. (My mother is on her 3rd and my father is on his 4th. Of course, my mother has been married to her current dh for almost 20 years and my father has been married to his current dw for 12. I'm hoping these will stick :D)

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I'm still on my first marriage (almost 27 years), but my mil is on her 3rd marriage.....however.......she has had NO divorces; her dh's all died.

 

So, wouldn't that mess with the stats, lol! Or....would it? One her dh's was a 'first and only', but the other two guys she married had all divorced once. Hmmm......glad I'm not a statistician. :D

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I have this sister-in-law (who just called a little while ago) who laughs at me for only being on my first marriage. :confused: She claims most women she knows are on their 2nd or 3rd marriage. I just don't think that can be right. Even if, statistically, half of marriages end in divorce, that isn't a remarriage rate. Or is it? Maybe I'm missing something there.

 

Anyway, it bothers me because my brother is her second husband, and this is his first (and as far as he's concerned) his only marriage. He's even adopted her children as his own.

 

I know she could be joking, but if she is, it sure is hard to tell sometimes.

 

This is my one and only marriage...22 years and very happy. :001_smile:

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