More things my ex-boyfriend taught me
NOW that he is in the past you can finally have some clarity and be able to reflect on your experiences with him. For sure there were happy moments with him, filled with tons of excitement and laughter. But of course there were the times he made you cry.
Many women, given adequate time to reflect, will admit that they did indeed learn something from their former spouses — some good, some bad. Below some women share.
Andrea, 32:
I dated my boyfriend for three whole years before we broke up. There was this one incident which I remember so vividly. His sister and I had a falling out. I believed I was right and so did she. He knew I was right but because it was his sister, he sided with her. I realised then that for some men, blood is thicker than water.
Danielle, 28:
The last boyfriend and I decided to move in together. It was great the first few weeks, as if we were playing house — him the husband, me the wife. Before I moved in with him I thought he was going to propose to me, so I figured that moving in was the right step. Weeks turned into two years and no ring. I realised, why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?
Alicia, 31:
This relationship only lasted for a few months. As usual, at first things were great in the honeymoon stage. But as the months wore on I realised that he didn’t keep his word. It started with the little things and then it mushroomed into the important things. After a while he had to resort to lying to cover his tracks. I broke up with him. Honesty is too important a thing to me to compromise.
Kathryn, 30:
When I was younger I used to man-hop. I would just date random guys for dating’s sake. Never did I take time out to say to myself, ‘Ok, this is what I do and don’t want in a man’. This habit of mine followed me into my late 20s. I dated this one guy who more or less left me bankrupt not only financially but emotionally as well. Ladies, know what you want in a man and don’t waste time like I did.
Susan, 27:
I’m a Christian but at the time my boyfriend wasn’t. In my head I thought that I could change him. Bad mistake. You can’t change a person, they have to actually want to change. I didn’t value or respect myself enough to stand up against some of the things we were doing. Not that he forced me to do anything I didn’t want to do, but in retrospect I compromised my Christian principles.
Wendy, 26:
Chivalry is most certainly dead, at least in my book. The initial stages of my courtship with this young man, things went OK. He wasn’t the most mannerly of persons but I was willing to overlook that. But I had to put my foot down when would blatantly disrespect me. For me, romance is an important part of any relationship.Using words like ‘Honey Bunny’ and ‘Sweetie Pie’ when conversing with my loved one adds to the relationship. These young men nowadays don’t seem to understand this.
Stacey, 24:
I had my first boyfriend when I was 18. Back then he was my whole world. A little under a year of being together he decided that he wanted to break up with me. My world crumbled at that point. I mean he was more or less my entire world. It took months for me to finally pick myself up and move on. Now I’m in the prime of my life and the men are certainly knocking at my door. Ladies, your first break-up will be tough, but take it from me, the world does move on and so will you.
Natasha, 30:
My last boyfriend and I weren’t always on the same page and for us this created major confusion. I have come to value the importance of communication in a relationship — taking the time out to check in with your partner to ensure that you are both on the same page and not going in opposite directions.
