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	<title>Not Your Mothers Playground&#187; BDSM</title>
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	<description>non-monogamy + love + sex + whatever</description>
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		<title>Three&#8217;s Company; part 2</title>
		<link>http://notyourmothersplayground.com/2011/12/threes-company-part-2/</link>
		<comments>http://notyourmothersplayground.com/2011/12/threes-company-part-2/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 05 Dec 2011 04:29:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>samantha</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[BDSM]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cheating]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jealousy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sex]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sexuality]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Harvey]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[kink]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[slap]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[threesome]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://notyourmothersplayground.com/?p=1917</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>This is Part Two to this story. If you haven&#8217;t read that one, this likely will not make much sense. So please read it first!</p>
<p>When the doorbell rang, I could feel myself getting anxious. I was about to let somebody else into this very personal space that has belonged to Harvey and I for years. I <span style="color:#777"> . . . &#8594; Read More: <a href="http://notyourmothersplayground.com/2011/12/threes-company-part-2/">Three&#8217;s Company; part 2</a></span>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://notyourmothersplayground.com/2011/10/threes-company-part-1/">This is Part Two to this story</a>. If you haven&#8217;t read that one, this likely will not make much sense. So please read it first!</p>
<p>When the doorbell rang, I could feel myself getting anxious. I was about to let somebody else into this very personal space that has belonged to Harvey and I for years. I was excited to be able to show someone else just how good I can be for him, as well as to give him the threesome that he&#8217;s never had.</p>
<p>As our guest is a friend of mine, it wasn&#8217;t too difficult to be able to relax and enjoy a glass of wine while he cooked dinner. There was something very calming about the two of us sitting there, watching as he prepared a meal. I was at once highly on edge and completely chilled. I could still feel the wetness between my legs from my alone time with him and wondered if I would feel ashamed that there was someone else in the room now. I didn&#8217;t.</p>
<p><span id="more-1917"></span>As he cooked, we all chatted. She had yet to be put into the head space that I was in, and I felt alright taking the liberty to escape mine a little. For a few moments, we were just normal, knowing that once dinner was over things would get very interesting.When the two of them started to discuss my relationship with him, I couldn&#8217;t help but start to feel proud. All of you, curious readers, know about Harvey already. My husband knows, as do my friends. But on his side, no one knows. It&#8217;s his choice to not tell his wife but he has said that it&#8217;s his burden and he doesn&#8217;t want to give it to his friends. So to be in the same room and hear him talk not to me, but about me, was kinda&#8217; thrilling. I recognize that it&#8217;s a bit lame, and of course unethical, but it felt good and that&#8217;s important here.</p>
<p>After dinner we took her on a tour of the house. It was obviously that transition period between &#8220;Ok, we&#8217;ve had dinner. Now let&#8217;s have sex.&#8221;. Walking around, nonchalantly looking at furniture was a good in between. She kissed me in the hallway and then we headed to the den area where I had been earlier shining his boots and caught up in being a good girl.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s hard to remember the order of everything, isn&#8217;t it? That time when everyone goes from fully clothed to completely or almost completely naked. I can still see how slow paced everything was still. Harvey was in a slight state of can I say, shock? Seeing two women in front of him, ready to do his bidding while being intimate with one another. It was porn come to life, which I suppose for any first time threesomer can be a bit unreal.</p>
<p>I had no idea how it was going to feel, watching him be with someone else. I was slightly worried that I was going to feel jealousy, since our relationship has been so private and intimate for five years, but watching him have his way with her; seeing him so very much enjoying the gift I had brought him, took away any fear of that. I knew that she was a good choice the moment she stopped talking. The fire in her eyes was replaced by a wonderful submissive longing and it was so sexy to be a spectator. Though she&#8217;s not a pain slut, he clothespinned her breasts as I helped. I couldn&#8217;t help feeling like I wanted him to push her. Put her in intense subspace. Break her.</p>
<p>For the first little while, we were simply abusing her, experimenting with how far she could go. He pushed her up against the ottoman and used his talented hands to make her his. We would pause occasionally, all feeling very relaxed in our den of sin, all naked and stuff. I really relished in the time when she and I were making out in front of him. Sometimes it was softer, more like two women on even ground. Other times I wanted to show him my dominant side with certain women, something we&#8217;ve talked about but he has never seen. I would hold her down, control the situation, pull her hair. All while he was watching, approving, taking it all in. Knowing I learned much of my skills from him.</p>
<p>Those moments were nice, when I felt the freedom to do whatever I wanted to. He wasn&#8217;t as dominant overall as we had discussed he would be, but his mind was slightly overloaded at the fact that the threesome we&#8217;d talked about for years was finally happening, so that&#8217;s fair. When he was though, I found it fascinating how I wouldn&#8217;t even move without knowing if it was ok with him. I wanted this to be his show. Whatever he needed or wanted, I would do. I&#8217;ve never felt so giving before. She didn&#8217;t know how to follow his rules though, was brattier and was punished for it.</p>
<p>I was really craving some more submission after a while as our three person hot mess had become less kink than I was hoping for and I needed to be dominated. My initial fantasy was for her to be tied up and told to watch as he abused me, his precious girl, while she was nothing but a slutty worthless visitor who had to wait her turn. Somehow knowing that she got off on being called names appealed to my own fantasies as well. It was obvious in reality that she wasn&#8217;t going to be tied up, but I was still begging for that attention. I needed him to hit me. I needed to show someone else how good I can be for him, so he obliged. He lay me on the floor and smacked my face until I cried. She interrupted to ask if I was ok as she was genuinely concerned. I nodded yes, and he told her I was. I knew that I was perfectly safe but I imagine it was hard for her to see. I liked that. I wanted it to be challenging to watch while sexy at the same time. I think we achieved that.</p>
<p>It wasn&#8217;t just me that he beat though. He took sometime and smacked her in the face as well despite the fact that she&#8217;s not into pain at all, but something made her stay there then. Something made her want to try, to see if she was up to the challenge, and after a few smacks, he broke her. She was crying and it was beautiful. Completely cathartic and wonderful. And really fucking hot.</p>
<p>We were there for hours but I felt and still feel like there was so much more that we could do. So many more fantasies that are still waiting to be fulfilled. I can only hope that it doesn&#8217;t take 5 more years to get to them.</p>
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		<title>Three&#8217;s Company; part 1</title>
		<link>http://notyourmothersplayground.com/2011/10/threes-company-part-1/</link>
		<comments>http://notyourmothersplayground.com/2011/10/threes-company-part-1/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 04 Oct 2011 05:20:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>samantha</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[BDSM]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Open relationships]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sex]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sexuality]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stories]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://notyourmothersplayground.com/?p=1911</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>I believe pretty strongly that every man and woman deserves to be presented with the opportunity for group sex. It might not be their thing and it&#8217;s ok to say no, but with only one life to live on this earth, why do so many spend theirs not working harder on their bucket lists?</p>
<p>I suppose for <span style="color:#777"> . . . &#8594; Read More: <a href="http://notyourmothersplayground.com/2011/10/threes-company-part-1/">Three&#8217;s Company; part 1</a></span>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I believe pretty strongly that every man and woman deserves to be presented with the opportunity for group sex. It might not be their thing and it&#8217;s ok to say no, but with only one life to live on this earth, why do so many spend theirs not working harder on their bucket lists?</p>
<p>I suppose for some, it&#8217;s a matter of circumstance. Which is why I&#8217;ve been hoping for years to be able to offer Harvey a threesome. People in my life that are nice should have nice things. And what&#8217;s nicer than two gals willing to do what you say, all nekkid and stuff?</p>
<p>So I kept it in the back of my mind for years. Relationships with others came and went; Harvey was always around. While our level of interaction has changed over the years, the idea was never shelved. Though I don&#8217;t think he really expected it would happen; and who can blame him considering we&#8217;ve known each other for 4.5 years already, sans group sex.<span id="more-1911"></span>Then a few months or weeks ago … I don&#8217;t really remember … we started to head back down into dom/sub territory. It&#8217;s always been an aspect of our relationship; but not always at the forefront of our interactions. There isn&#8217;t simply one reason why we have explored it further lately. It&#8217;s been the perfect storm of Harvey spending more time understanding his dominant streak and gaining a new understanding for both before and aftercare of someone, combined with me having a shit time emotionally in 2011 and needing some clarity and grounding.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s a funny thing, to be completely aware of the fact that you&#8217;re giving more and more control to another person and to still let it happen. A few years ago it was probably a bad thing to use myself in a psychological experiment with him. Learning about submission while at the same time experiencing it with a man who hadn&#8217;t yet learned the importance of aftercare. There were many times I would go home crying, but not cathartic tears.</p>
<p>Now though, he gets it. And the appeal is so strong. To know, feel AND trust that he knows me; what I like, what I don&#8217;t, how far to push me and when to stop and hug … well it&#8217;s unreal. I have one wonderful man at home who takes care of me in so many ways and other out there who does in completely different ways. Sometimes it&#8217;s frustrating to have gotten so familiar with my submissive side as I realize what an important role she, Samantha, plays in the life of Sam.</p>
<p>But I digress.</p>
<p>This past weekend, Harvey had the house and some time to himself. I realized a couple of months ago that I knew a girl who might be perfect for a one time deal with him. Someone who understood discretion (though I hate that element &#8211; more on that later in part 2) and submission. After much personal anguish, the choice became clear, though complicated due to her being connected to friends of mine. While it may make some weirdness for me moving forward, I hope that it doesn&#8217;t because everything fit into place, which I had been looking for for so long.</p>
<p>I wanted to make sure that before she joined us that he and I had some time alone. I got over there mid afternoon and, besides some stomach wooziness, felt instant relaxation. It doesn&#8217;t matter what we&#8217;re doing, there is an undeniable sense of calm in the air when I hang out with him. No drama or passive aggressiveness. If there is aggression, it&#8217;s clear and strangely soothing, delivering catharsis, not confusion.</p>
<p>We hung out on the couch for a while. He worked me into a gentle fever with simple denial. Easy actions that removed my control of the situation, just, for lack of a better word, nicely. His tone changed, and he told me I was pretty. He asked his trademark question &#8220;Isn&#8217;t that lovely?&#8217; and I wasn&#8217;t about to deny that it was. I don&#8217;t get off on degradation. I get off on making someone proud and doing a good job. When he called me his little girl a couple of times, I felt an overwhelming emotional surge. Feel free to Freud me up and down &#8217;til the cows come home on this one and I&#8217;ll be the first to admit that I know I have Daddy issues (and he is often surprisingly very much like how I remember my dad sometimes). So maybe being called someone&#8217;s little girl is all inter-connected to my childhood and feelings of inadequacy when suddenly my family structure changed and I got a new step-mum and three step-brothers. Or hey, maybe it&#8217;s just relaxing to feel a strong man&#8217;s arms around me basically telling me I&#8217;m ok and don&#8217;t need to worry about anything.</p>
<p>Really, who the fuck cares, as long as my vagina was amused. Which it was, so very much.</p>
<p>After some amusement and a slow burn orgasm (always frustrating, never embarrassing) for me, he let me know I was going to give him a bath. I remember when I first started exploring kink, I read this book &#8220;<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Female-Submission-Madelaine-Claudia-Varrin/dp/0806527072/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1317702998&amp;sr=1-1">Female Submission: The Journal of Madelaine</a>&#8220;. In it, the author talks about bathing her Dom and how it felt so nice to be of service that way and it was always something I wanted to do. There is something so very appealing in taking care of a person in that way. It&#8217;s indulgent to indulge him. So I was more than happy to head upstairs and turn on the taps.</p>
<p>It was calming to wash him. How strange, right? But really, it&#8217;s kind of like ironing. Hmm, except ironing sucks so maybe that&#8217;s a bad example. Let&#8217;s say it&#8217;s like baking cookies. There&#8217;s this feeling of doing something good. Taking care of him and offering him relaxation and, as I said, indulgence. It&#8217;s so easy to zone out in that moment. To focus on nothing but the task at hand. Wet. Soap. Rinse. Repeat. Service based submission was almost built for people like me with a million things on the brain at any given moment &#8230; Peace. Quiet. One task. One objective.</p>
<p>When he was clean, I dried him. For a moment it didn&#8217;t feel like human to human interaction, but more like an art project of some kind. It was important to do a good job, to not miss a spot &#8230; to stay within the lines. Moving slowly to not miss a spot. Doing it softly, with affection and care.</p>
<p>When I went into the bedroom to get his clothes, I was thankful that he didn&#8217;t follow right behind me because I was slightly taken aback and needed a moment to breathe (Remember that a couple of hours of slow subspace can give tasks like this an extra layer of overwhelming). There on the bed was his outfit, his boots and his bag of tricks. His belt folded, ever so neatly on his shirt. His shirt folded, ever so neatly on his pants. It was obvious that thought went into placing every item so precisely. And whether it was to make me feel special or just show control, make me feel special it did. He came in the room and I basically dressed him. It&#8217;s strange, thinking about it now. Almost like I was a mother dressing a child … (I did think to myself while putting his socks on that it was good practice for when I have children) … except as the &#8220;mother&#8221; I was completely not the one running the show.</p>
<p>Fucking fascinating.</p>
<p>Then we headed back down to the couch area so I could shine his boots. Not before stopping off for a quick spanking (Something I wish there had been more of. Such a relaxing feeling giving into a spanking. I&#8217;m sure some would say the same about a hot bath, but I just find that boring and sweaty face making.)</p>
<p>Why the idea of shining his boots appealed to me I&#8217;m not sure. I know that I had been looking forward to it for weeks. He could mention it in a task and I would feel my shoulders shrug. My mouth going into that weird little sub pout and my eyes feeling slightly &#8230; doe-esque. Such a simple task but the meaning behind it, pretty awesome. Here I am on the floor, making sure to get every little bit of dirt off these boots. Knowing he loves the things so much, I was thrilled to make them look nice for him. Again, the zone out zen feeling of focusing on a task, knowing it&#8217;s something that you&#8217;re doing for someone, feels absolutely wonderful. Combined with the fact that he was wearing them and lightly flogging me as I lay there shining &#8211; when I had anticipated originally that they&#8217;d be off in a corner, not attached to his feet, while I did it &#8211; it was perfect.</p>
<p>The look of aggression was getting pretty strong in his eyes at this point. Once I was finished he slammed me to the floor and tied my hands. He gagged me (cursing my small head for being too small to really fit the gag) and abused me a little. All par for the course, really. It&#8217;s lovely to be abused sometimes. To be a doll for someone else&#8217;s amusement. Again, the lack of thought is zen. Why zen translates into a wet vagina is something that scientists can figure out. I am just glad it does and consider myself lucky to have made the connection.</p>
<p>After some abuse, I went into the bathroom to wash the polish off my hands. I came out, realized they weren&#8217;t totally dry and went back in to dry them completely. I paused just long enough to realize what had just happened. These, albeit strange to some people, fantasies that I had for so long; the bath, the planning, the boots, they had all just happened. He was of course doing it for himself, but I was certainly being considered. Another emotion wave hit me and before I knew it he was right behind me. His intuition has always been one of his stronger points and over the past little while has been ridiculously on point. At that moment when my subconscious started thinking &#8220;Woah, this is intense. You sure you&#8217;re handling it ok?&#8221;, I was able to collapse into a hug and have him tell me it was ok.</p>
<p>I hadn&#8217;t even had a chance to realize I was questioning it before he told me what the answer was.</p>
<p>Next we headed to the kitchen. Our guest was due to arrive in ten minutes.</p>
<p>More on that in the next post. It&#8217;s kind of ridiculous how many words this one got to already and I&#8217;m sleepy!</p>
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		<title>BDSM. Realizations. Simple Math.</title>
		<link>http://notyourmothersplayground.com/2011/09/bdsm-realizations-simple-math/</link>
		<comments>http://notyourmothersplayground.com/2011/09/bdsm-realizations-simple-math/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 13 Sep 2011 03:39:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>samantha</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[BDSM]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Open relationships]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Realizations Series]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sexuality]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://notyourmothersplayground.com/?p=1904</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>Ah dear NYMP. How I have neglected you so much this year. You understand though, don&#8217;t you? I have been so busy planning Digifest and Playground that a) my personal life has not been very exciting; in fact mostly sad and tragic and b) fuck it, I&#8217;m tiiiired. However, don&#8217;t fret. My worn out little brain <span style="color:#777"> . . . &#8594; Read More: <a href="http://notyourmothersplayground.com/2011/09/bdsm-realizations-simple-math/">BDSM. Realizations. Simple Math.</a></span>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Ah dear NYMP. How I have neglected you so much this year. You understand though, don&#8217;t you? I have been so busy planning <a href="http://www.torontodigifest.ca" target="_blank">Digifest</a> and <a href="http://www.playgroundconf.com" target="_blank">Playground</a> that a) my personal life has not been very exciting; in fact mostly sad and tragic and b) fuck it, I&#8217;m tiiiired. However, don&#8217;t fret. My worn out little brain has many posts for you to share with the world eventually, and one by one we will make it through.</p>
<p>For now I&#8217;m going to treat you to a little revelation I had last night. Before I get to said revelation, I will give you a bit of back story so we&#8217;re all on the same page.</p>
<p>You know about my relationship with Harvey. It&#8217;s been almost five years and we&#8217;ve gone through many different phases. From curious to friends, to kinksters who need to learn more, to backburner friends. And now we&#8217;ve arrived at this nice, happy place where we&#8217;re further evolving our dom/sub relationship. Gone are the days of me trying desperately to get him to validate my existence when in subspace. They have now been replaced by more responsible and respectful lines of communication; a sense of feeling very special and wanting to please him as a result, instead of wanting to please him to prove that I&#8217;m special.</p>
<p>Lately, as a result of this new found closeness, I have been thinking a lot about our relationship. Why does it work? What are my thoughts on his &#8220;situation&#8221;? What do I get out of it? What does he get out of it? Why do we like each other? And so on &#8230;</p>
<p>Then I realized something last night.</p>
<p><span id="more-1904"></span>While it definitely isn&#8217;t this way with all non-monogamous relationships, often it can be fair to say that what we get out of them is what we are lacking in our primary relationships. When I think of my need for occasional submission I have often thought that it was a desire to have somebody be proud of me and see me as special in the way that only a Dom could, that I was craving. And while I won&#8217;t deny that it is a huge part of what I need, I feel now that I have been looking at it all wrong.</p>
<p>It isn&#8217;t fair to me or to Steph to suggest that he isn&#8217;t proud of me and my accomplishments and that I don&#8217;t crave his approval and pride inlife. It wouldn&#8217;t be fair to say that I don&#8217;t want Steph to see me as a good girl/person, someone he can rely on and someone that he can take care of, should he choose to. He already is all of these things to me. And while it might seem like simple semantics to an outsider; me realizing that I already have this at home is a huge revelation to me. I don&#8217;t need to worry about making him proud of me because that&#8217;s a given. As his partner of almost 11 years I already have his unconditional love. I have his approval and I know I am his special girl.</p>
<p>What I thought I was getting out of my relationship with Harvey are things I already have at home in my marriage.</p>
<p>So then I asked myself, what DO I get out of it? Well, it&#8217;s still the same things, really; I&#8217;m just looking at it differently. The excitement of being validated and recognized by somebody new without having that safety net of marriage to fall back on. Realizing though, that this is not a replacement of something that is lacking and instead an awesome added bonus leaves me feeling pretty great about both relationships. The unexplainable sexual thrill in having Harvey see me as a good girl. Knowing that I have made him proud. The excitement and adrenaline of giving control to someone I trust completely now. The pain. The relaxation. The lack of thought and responsibility.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s all of the same things that it was before. Just now I think I will appreciate everything even more so as an addition and not a replacement.</p>
<p>Can I get a hi-five? Or y&#8217;know &#8230; a smackdown? <img src='http://notyourmothersplayground.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif' alt=';)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<title>Why Playground? Why Now?</title>
		<link>http://notyourmothersplayground.com/2011/08/why-playground-why-now/</link>
		<comments>http://notyourmothersplayground.com/2011/08/why-playground-why-now/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 20 Aug 2011 03:14:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>samantha</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[BDSM]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://notyourmothersplayground.com/?p=1896</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
<p>When I first had the idea for Playground around the end of last summer, I had a lot more time on my hands. I had quit my job a few months prior to finish working on my non-monogamy guide book – which I promise to finish sooooon – and had seemingly all the time in the <span style="color:#777"> . . . &#8594; Read More: <a href="http://notyourmothersplayground.com/2011/08/why-playground-why-now/">Why Playground? Why Now?</a></span>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>
<p>When I first had the idea for <a href="http://www.playgroundconf.com" target="_blank"><strong>Playground</strong></a> around the end of last summer, I had a lot more time on my hands. I had quit my job a few months prior to finish working on my non-monogamy guide book – which I promise to finish sooooon – and had seemingly all the time in the world to plan a small sexuality conference. I had plenty of event experience from my time as a wedding planner and working for a digital media events company, now I just needed to branch out from behind my laptop screen and meet the people that would fill my stage.</p>
<p>I was noticing more and more sexuality / sex / relationship based events on Twitter, happening all over the States and found myself baffled at why we here in Toronto didn’t really have any events that could be considered all-inclusive. I envied the population size of America and how it seemed so easy to fill an event space with sex-positive folk from multiple backgrounds. But why should a smaller population mean that we couldn’t have open talks about sexuality for all?</p>
<p>It didn’t and so <a href="http://www.playgroundconf.com" target="_blank"><strong>Playground</strong></a> was born.</p>
<p>As I was beginning to plan and form an advisory team, I was excited to watch the plans for the very successful Momentum 2011 in Washington, D.C. take shape. I was beginning to see and read about the types of discussions that people were interested in having around sex, sexuality and relationships and wanted to continue that dialogue here. Toronto is a wonderfully sex-positive, culturally diverse city where there is an event to be found for every interest. If you’ve got a fetish or want to find the community for you, you can find it here.</p>
<p>So why the need for this event? And why me?</p>
<p>I’m not under any false impressions; I’m but an up and comer on the sex-positive scene, but in between my full time job in digital media, life coaching and workshop teaching I am throwing myself into this plan. As someone who dabbles a little bit here and there in many sex-positive communities, I wanted to create a space for others like me. Others who want to engage in dialogue and learn something new (or something old!) from some of the best names in the industry.</p>
<p>After meeting many of these amazing educators at Momentum this past April, I am thrilled to be bringing the conversation to Toronto this November. I hope that you are as excited as I am to have the walls of the Gladstone Hotel busting at the seams with so much sex-positive goodness!</p>
<p><a href="http://playgroundconf.com/registration/" target="_blank">Early bird tickets are on sale now. Rates go up September 5th!</a></p>
<p>Kisses, hugs and licks.<br />
Samantha<br />
~<a href="http://www.playgroundconf.com" target="_blank"><strong>Playground</strong></a> Executive Producer</p>
</div>
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		<title>Y. Oh Y.</title>
		<link>http://notyourmothersplayground.com/2011/05/y-oh-y/</link>
		<comments>http://notyourmothersplayground.com/2011/05/y-oh-y/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 18 May 2011 04:38:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>samantha</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[BDSM]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dating]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Disaster]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Issues]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Open relationships]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Realizations Series]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Self]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Self esteem]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://notyourmothersplayground.com/?p=1837</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>Unlike riding a bike, dating for me, is quite &#8230; unlike riding a bike. It&#8217;s not something I can just pick up again because there are so many factors like state of being, state of relationships and state of confidence that come into play each time.</p>
<p>However, I&#8217;ve come to the conclusion that maybe I should start <span style="color:#777"> . . . &#8594; Read More: <a href="http://notyourmothersplayground.com/2011/05/y-oh-y/">Y. Oh Y.</a></span>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Unlike riding a bike, dating for me, is quite &#8230; unlike riding a bike. It&#8217;s not something I can just pick up again because there are so many factors like state of being, state of relationships and state of confidence that come into play each time.</p>
<p>However, I&#8217;ve come to the conclusion that maybe I should start at least consider dating again; men that is. I am really missing having another man in my life. As much as I lust and love after my husband, I cannot deny that other men bring a new emotional and / or sexual energy to my being that I haven&#8217;t connected with in a long time. To be honest though, I am pretty sure that the idea of dating again completely terrifies me. I don&#8217;t remember how to flirt with someone new and I&#8217;m pretty convinced that I don&#8217;t think I can be bothered with the whole &#8220;getting to know you&#8221; stage &#8230; again. <span id="more-1837"></span></p>
<p>Plus, as much as I am trying to tell myself that I *want* to start dating men again; in reality, I just want my other two relationships back as they were. I miss them both terribly and feel like they&#8217;re both just floating in the ether and I can&#8217;t reach them. While both situations are very different, they happened at the same time and have both left me feeling empty. (Thank fuck I&#8217;m super busy at work and have other amazing people in my life that take me out and adore me or else I&#8217;d be a complete disaster.) The attempt to be friends with Don, which, while very difficult for me, I thought we were succeeding at, seems to have failed with no contact in a week after an intense email exchange. And while I remain hurt at Crush&#8217;s complete nonchalance about disappearing for so long, I&#8217;m also frozen at the idea of talking to him about it. What if I&#8217;m being too harsh? Or what if I&#8217;m right? It&#8217;s likely closure I need in both cases, but I feel like as soon as I get it, I&#8217;m slamming the door on possibility. And this fills my throat with a lump at the mere thought of it.</p>
<p>That&#8217;s another reason I&#8217;m scared to date. For the majority of my relationship with Don, I didn&#8217;t want to date any other guys. There were a multitude of reasons behind that, but the main one was that I felt fulfilled and just had no interest. I felt no craving for extra male energy so when Crush came along, it was a surprise to me that I fell down that rabbit hole. By now considering dating guys as a possibility, it&#8217;s like I am admitting total defeat and waving my white flag when it comes to accepting that things are no longer as they were.</p>
<p>Going back in time a few years, my relationship before this was six months long with S, and my &#8220;dating&#8221; phase before HIM was a BDSM discovery phase, which was certainly very, um, different than your standard first date, first base adventure. (First date, home run, whatever.)</p>
<p>The point is, I don&#8217;t remember how to be only in one relationship with a man &#8211; being my husband, of course &#8211; and meet a new guy as it has been a really long time since that has happened. When I met Crush, I had the security(?) of Don behind me and while I have two gorgeous and wonderful women in my life at the moment that bring me a lot of happiness, I have always found there to be distinct differences between dating men and dating women. While dating a lot of new people was something I was more comfortable with years ago when we opened up, now I feel full of fail at the very thought of it. My failure at keeping relationships healthy with two men I care deeply for has really kicked my confidence square in the nuts, despite the fact that I may be / have been helpless to save either of them. (note my not wanting to choose a tense there, as I don&#8217;t want to make assumptions on the status of either of them). Although I have met plenty of men and women that find my larger body size sexy and appealing, I have also stopped believing that the type of men I am attracted to might also be attracted to me. I can&#8217;t really explain it, but whatever that confidence was stored inside of before has cracked and now it has leaked out and disappeared.</p>
<p>I refuse to believe though that because I have suddenly reached this point in my life where I am very professionally confident for the first time ever, that I cannot have both this and personal confidence. I know that it&#8217;s up to me to just &#8230; fix it. I need to woman up, kick myself in the ass and be happy with myself again. I have done it before, although I haven&#8217;t been up against such strong interior and exterior demons. I need to date if I WANT to date, not because I feel I have to. But if I do find out that I want to, then I have to make myself available to do that. There&#8217;s nothing that says I must get into emotional relationships with  people; although those types of gigs do follow me around. Why not  consider casual and simply enjoy a sexy romp or two or seven? Either way, I will have to find time to write messages, meet people, ask people out, or respond if they ask me. I have to accept things about myself that will never change and either begin again to make changes on the things I can, or accept that I&#8217;m probably not going to. I have to not be afraid of rejection because its after effects have had me in their clutches for far too long and I am suffering for it.</p>
<p>I have to stop assuming that the cute boys I might want to get to know want me to go away. If they do, then I will. But what, I ask myself, if they don&#8217;t?</p>
<p>Maybe I&#8217;ll consider finding this out.</p>
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		<title>All-inclusive: Not just for margaritas</title>
		<link>http://notyourmothersplayground.com/2011/05/all-inclusive-not-just-for-margaritas/</link>
		<comments>http://notyourmothersplayground.com/2011/05/all-inclusive-not-just-for-margaritas/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 04 May 2011 03:35:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>samantha</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[BDSM]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Coming Out]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Communication]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Issues]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Love]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Monogamy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Open relationships]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Polyamory]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sex]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sexuality]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://notyourmothersplayground.com/?p=1829</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>I really like the concept of &#8216;community&#8217; in theory. I know there are countless people out there who have felt lost, alone, strange, weird, etc. until they stumbled upon a group of like-minded souls. Kindred spirits who would embrace them into their circle with open arms. &#8220;You no longer have to feel alone&#8221;, they might say <span style="color:#777"> . . . &#8594; Read More: <a href="http://notyourmothersplayground.com/2011/05/all-inclusive-not-just-for-margaritas/">All-inclusive: Not just for margaritas</a></span>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I really like the concept of &#8216;community&#8217; in theory. I know there are countless people out there who have felt lost, alone, strange, weird, etc. until they stumbled upon a group of like-minded souls. Kindred spirits who would embrace them into their circle with open arms. &#8220;You no longer have to feel alone&#8221;, they might say to one another.</p>
<p>For many, the fight against oppression, prejudice, sexism, suffering and homophobia gives the individual an extra sense of &#8220;home&#8221; plus instant allies in the war against ignorance. These alliances are valuable and certainly something to hold dear.</p>
<p>Communities pop up for many reasons and in the sexuality sphere one exists for pretty much everything. If you can think it, a group has formed around it somewhere. For those with specific interests like kink for example, it makes sense that a movement is created around events, similar fetishes and social interaction. People of like minds come together to share life experiences in a safe, hopefully non judgmental environment. It&#8217;s human nature to want this.<span id="more-1829"></span>We welcome like minded people into our inner circles because they share our interests or theories about sexuality and the world with us. Of course I&#8217;m going to get along well with the polyamorous, tattooed, rockabilly girl because we like many of the same things. And of course some of the hardcore non-monogamists may find themselves dismissing monogamy as a viable lifestyle style.</p>
<p>So what of those that may not like everything that we do? Can they still join our inner circles even if they are newbs or get a completely different kick out of say, balloons than we do? The idea of sexual positivity and welcoming people in with open arms is often easier said than done. Unfortunately what many encounter might end up closer to &#8220;Oh, you&#8217;re into that? Well that&#8217;s not what I&#8217;m into, so obviously that&#8217;s pretty weird.&#8221;</p>
<p>For a community made up of inclusive &#8230; communities, we certainly can be pretty exclusive sometimes.</p>
<p>Some might respond by suggesting that this isn&#8217;t a problem. That separation by interest is perfectly natural and necessary for society to sustain itself. There is a reason that &#8216;cliques&#8217; form in high school; it helps to establish expectations and unsaid understandings amongst both their participants and rejects.</p>
<p>I never worked well with cliques in high school. I often found myself jumping around, having a few friends in various groups, never settling on one set. The same can be used to describe my sexuality. I dabble in kink. I&#8217;m non-monogamous. I&#8217;m <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">bi-sexu..</span>, queer. I&#8217;m into gender bending yet sometimes pretty hetero-normative. Choosing one community to become a part of is not something that feels natural to me and I don&#8217;t really dig on &#8220;settling down&#8221; with just one. Am I greedy to want variety? Perhaps, but I would rather remain sex-positive and include in my life a wide mix of people with different backgrounds; from vanilla hetero-normatives to lifestyle kinksters to activists and so on.</p>
<p>There is no denying that I still gravitate to those that perhaps I have the most in common with but my personal neighborhood simply asks for mutual respect, understanding and peace for people with differing viewpoints and backgrounds to become a part of it.</p>
<p>Communities have their place, but we also need to come together and realize that we can all exist under one sex positive umbrella and still remain individuals. By embracing our differences we can learn what makes each other tick. We can expose ourselves to new ways of thinking, new and different approaches to love, sex and relationships that may have never crossed our path had we stayed in our little bubbles.</p>
<p>For those of you that are interested in experiencing a multi-faceted view of sexuality and relationships, I hope you will join me and many other wonderful sex-positive people at <a href="http://www.playgroundconf.com" target="_blank">Playground</a>, happening this November 4th through 6th at the Gladstone Hotel in Toronto.</p>
<p>P.S. Kind of related &#8230; I highly recommend the show called &#8220;Community&#8221; with Joel McHale and Chevy Chase. No, it has nothing to do with anything I just wrote above, but yes, it is fucking funny.</p>
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		<title>Fit to be tied</title>
		<link>http://notyourmothersplayground.com/2011/03/fit-to-be-tied/</link>
		<comments>http://notyourmothersplayground.com/2011/03/fit-to-be-tied/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 01 Mar 2011 21:24:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>samantha</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[BDSM]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Disaster]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Harvey]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://notyourmothersplayground.com/?p=1783</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>Today I had an impromptu date with Harvey who happened to be available. I needed to escape into submission and he was available.</p>
<p>It was a quick hour and a half but it was totally what I needed to calm my brain down, if only for the time he was here. We haven&#8217;t been together in a <span style="color:#777"> . . . &#8594; Read More: <a href="http://notyourmothersplayground.com/2011/03/fit-to-be-tied/">Fit to be tied</a></span>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Today I had an impromptu date with Harvey who happened to be available. I needed to escape into submission and he was available.</p>
<p>It was a quick hour and a half but it was totally what I needed to calm my brain down, if only for the time he was here. We haven&#8217;t been together in a long, long time so it was neat to see our relationship be able to go there again.</p>
<p>He tied me up, and it was my first time really being tied up with proper knots. The act of being tied up is such a good one for an active, broken brain, like mine. It forced me to slow down, pay attention to every word, every touch, every lift of my arms to get into position for whatever he was doing next.</p>
<p>It forced me to just focus on what was happening at that moment, to enjoy someone controlling the situation, falling under his spell and relaxing, regardless of it I felt embarrassed or not, which I did.</p>
<p>I sort of wanted it to go on for a lot longer, from a therapeutic standpoint, so that I could potentially cry and have a real, full release but maybe it&#8217;s better that I didn&#8217;t. Perhaps my morning panic attack had something to do with the fact that I thought that might happen. That I would be so into the headspace that I wouldn&#8217;t be able to control the emotions that would overtake me because of it and the breakup. That I would lose all control and be wailing on the floor like a little girl. It&#8217;s something that I have done before, and enjoy, but I&#8217;ve done so much crying lately that I really didn&#8217;t want that to happen today.</p>
<p>Thankfully it didn&#8217;t get too crazy. He hurt me, slapped me around, made me ridiculously turned on and was also gentle. In those moments I felt very comfortable and able to let go.</p>
<p>I have a sense of calm now. Who knows; it might only last another hour, it might last until tomorrow but I&#8217;m glad to have it while I do.</p>
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		<title>Beauty In The Breakdown</title>
		<link>http://notyourmothersplayground.com/2011/02/beauty-in-the-breakdown/</link>
		<comments>http://notyourmothersplayground.com/2011/02/beauty-in-the-breakdown/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 07 Feb 2011 22:29:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>samantha</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[BDSM]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Issues]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sex]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sexuality]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[control]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://notyourmothersplayground.com/?p=1748</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>Something I have always struggled with is letting go. It is rare that you will find me out of control because I don&#8217;t put myself into situations where it can happen. Being a control freak is not something I consider myself. I am plenty happy letting other people plan things or take over as I believe <span style="color:#777"> . . . &#8594; Read More: <a href="http://notyourmothersplayground.com/2011/02/beauty-in-the-breakdown/">Beauty In The Breakdown</a></span>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Something I have always struggled with is letting go. It is rare that you will find me out of control because I don&#8217;t put myself into situations where it can happen. Being a control freak is not something I consider myself. I am plenty happy letting other people plan things or take over as I believe in encouraging everyone&#8217;s strengths to come through. My main trouble comes with personally letting go in areas that don&#8217;t really affect anyone else, but me. It&#8217;s only recently that I&#8217;ve put it all together and realized how deep this weird control thing runs in me and here is what I&#8217;ve learned.</p>
<p><strong>Logical Fantasies</strong></p>
<p>I&#8217;ve mentioned this one before, but I&#8217;ve really thought it through now. Celebrity fantasies are a good example of something that I find impossible to do. It doesn&#8217;t matter who the celebrity is, if I&#8217;m going to dream about them in my bed I&#8217;m going to spend 98% of my daydreaming time figuring out the scenario to get them there. And yes, I can bend logic a little for this, but there&#8217;s no way that I could just have Alex O&#8217;Loughlin suddenly appear next to me in bed &#8230; or is there??</p>
<p><span id="more-1748"></span>When I was younger one of my biggest daydreams involved a snowstorm. I would have to crash at an unknown male friends&#8217; place because the weather was just too much. He&#8217;d offer me his bed and would sleep on the couch. In the middle of the night he would come into the bedroom to grab a blanket from the closet &#8211; as it was cold &#8211; and I&#8217;d wake up and tell him to stop being so polite and get in bed with me. We were friends, it was ok.</p>
<p>And then nothing. My brain was so amazed with imagining a man in my bed with me that the fantasy ended there. It didn&#8217;t matter how he touched me or what we got up to if I couldn&#8217;t justify him being there in my own mind.</p>
<p>I know &#8230; super hot fantasies, right? Sigh.</p>
<p><strong>Genie In A Bottle</strong></p>
<p>Another embarrassing thing I have always done is imagined a genie with three wishes.When it comes down to what those three wishes are, my responses are so well thought out and full of logic that you might almost forget the fact that GENIES AREN&#8217;T REAL! I wish to lose weight, but it&#8217;s not the standard &#8220;I wish I could lose 50 lbs.&#8221; It&#8217;s more &#8220;I wish to wake up tomorrow, 50 lbs lighter, with toned muscles and no sagging skin and have all of my clothes fit me perfectly and to not gain the weight back if I maintain regular exercise and healthy living.&#8221;</p>
<p>All of those ANDS. What a demanding genie-ee I am. The same goes for imagining my lottery win. It doesn&#8217;t matter how much money is currently up for grab in the lottery, I&#8217;ll pick an arbitrary amount and daydream. Instead of telling myself &#8220;Oh, well I&#8217;ll go to Hawaii and buy a fancy car.&#8221; I start breaking it all down. If it was 7 million, how much would my friends get; what about family? How much of this, how much of that? These are my Saturday morning daydreams &#8230; and I don&#8217;t even play the lottery!</p>
<p><strong>Substance Control<br />
</strong></p>
<p>When it comes to liquor and drugs, my lust for life is somewhat lacking. There is no history of alcoholism or drug abuse in my family, nor gambling addiction and yet I fear these things with such intensity that you would think there was. It&#8217;s rare that I will collapse into a glass of booze after a hard day, it just doesn&#8217;t come naturally to me. And it&#8217;s not that I think that I&#8217;m better than anyone else that does that; Steph usually has a drink when he comes home, it&#8217;s just not something that makes sense to me. I prefer to deal with problems head on vs under any influence which often means I&#8217;m confronted with WAY too much blah blah going on in my brain instead of enjoying a nice relax from a glass of wine. I don&#8217;t drink coffee so I completely do not &#8220;get&#8221; caffeine and how so many people need it every morning. Huh?</p>
<p>When it comes to drugs, I&#8217;m a bit of a newb. This isn&#8217;t really a bad thing though! There are some drugs that I have on my radar as something I want to try to enhance emotion yet not lose control. Last summer when we ended up in the hospital due to a bad drug trip (not mine), I was dealing with all of the paperwork like a pro, completely effed out of my mind, because I was fighting to stay in control instead of just getting lost in the trip. When I&#8217;m drunk I&#8217;ve always had this weird habit of reading logos, generally in bathrooms, to try and tell myself I&#8217;m not drunk. If I was drunk, I wouldn&#8217;t be able to read the logo, right? No Samantha. If you were sober, you wouldn&#8217;t be reading the logo in the first place. Dumb ass.</p>
<p><strong>Frankie Says Relax. Yes, Sir.<br />
</strong></p>
<p>So how can I lose control? Well it takes a lot. Relaxing for me is something I have always struggled with. I get bored in the bath, would rather chat than read nowadays and have only once taken myself on a hot beach vacation (this is something that&#8217;s changing, starting now.) I am ok with it sometimes. Working out, getting a massage, sex &#8230; these are all areas that can calm me down. Is it a coincidence that those things all involve the body?</p>
<p>I think the reason that I fell so easily into my first face slap from Harvey oh so many years ago, and have done so into every slap that has happened since is because a little bit of kink forces me out of control and into someone elses&#8217; hands. No longer do I have to think or struggle to turn my brain off. My lover is doing it for me with a smack on the ass, hand on my neck or rope around my hands.</p>
<p>Recently I learned how much I love sensory deprivation for what it physically does for me. When I can&#8217;t see what&#8217;s happening in a room and then a smack, words or a touch is delivered, all of the power that would have gone to enabling my eyes to see travels elsewhere in my body letting me truly experience the moment. Removing one of my senses from out of my control isn&#8217;t something that I can fight with logic. It&#8217;s not something that I can reason with or explain, it just &#8230; is.</p>
<p>Sometimes kink can be that simple. You don&#8217;t have to be a freak to be kinky. You don&#8217;t need to have many interesting fetishes to enjoy the sensation of a hand on you or the sound of your lovers&#8217; voice telling you to be still as you hang on their every word.</p>
<p>No my darlings, if you&#8217;re anything like me, all you need is a need to let someone else take over the reins. To have someone control the moment for you regardless of how much your &#8220;logic&#8221; might want to fight it.</p>
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		<title>Through My Looking Glass</title>
		<link>http://notyourmothersplayground.com/2010/04/through-my-looking-glass/</link>
		<comments>http://notyourmothersplayground.com/2010/04/through-my-looking-glass/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 27 Apr 2010 04:16:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>samantha</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[BDSM]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dating]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jealousy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Love]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marriage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Open relationships]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://notyourmothersplayground.com/?p=957</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p></p>
<p>It&#8217;s been a while since I turned the mirror on myself for a little self-examination and I think I&#8217;m overdue so here goes.</p>
<p>Most of you already know. I&#8217;ve been in an open marriage for 3.5 years and it probably saved my relationship, or at the very least saved from a life of denying that I was <span style="color:#777"> . . . &#8594; Read More: <a href="http://notyourmothersplayground.com/2010/04/through-my-looking-glass/">Through My Looking Glass</a></span>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://notyourmothersplayground.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/alice_through_the_looking_glass.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-958" title="alice_through_the_looking_glass" src="http://notyourmothersplayground.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/alice_through_the_looking_glass.jpg" alt="" width="380" height="570" /></a></p>
<p>It&#8217;s been a while since I turned the mirror on myself for a little self-examination and I think I&#8217;m overdue so here goes.</p>
<p>Most of you already know. I&#8217;ve been in an open marriage for 3.5 years and it probably saved my relationship, or at the very least saved from a life of denying that I was unhappy when it truth I must have been when I think of how ridiculously happy I am now. (I mean it only makes sense!)<span id="more-957"></span>I&#8217;ve gone from severe sluttery to love to brief BDSM relationships and back again. I&#8217;ve fallen in love at various levels on multiple occasions. I&#8217;ve drunkenly slept with friends, I&#8217;ve had strangers tie me up, I&#8217;ve been the crazy girl that&#8217;s been probably rightfully dumped and I&#8217;ve given so much of myself that I&#8217;ve lost focus and didn&#8217;t treat everyone as well as I could&#8217;ve. When I look back, it&#8217;s easy to skim over the memories, but holy shit it freaks me out when I <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>really</em></span> think about the past few years.</p>
<p>When I fell for the sous chef in 2007, I fell crazy hard. He was the first guy to affect me emotionally in a serious way. Looking back, it was the craziest lust I&#8217;d ever felt up to that point, but we were pushed into it &#8230; he didn&#8217;t own a couch. Lying down was the only option!! When he called things off, I went um, slightly off the deep end. In our relationship I had become the crazy one. My first official open marriage break-up and my brain imploded. I&#8217;d had no training for that, I was a total newb! It&#8217;s totally embarrassing when I look back on it.</p>
<p>Even after my first breakup the second big one with the Kids hit me really hard. There&#8217;s nothing like being helpless as someone tells you of their decision to change your life&#8217;s direction. Trying to hold it together at home as a wife while feeling like a freshly dumped single person is challenging beyond belief.</p>
<p>Luckily, there haven&#8217;t really been too many heartaches in our house. We&#8217;ve had some challenges, some situations that worked out not in our favor, and some people who have left our lives as quickly as they&#8217;ve come in but not with animosity. Or at least, not much.</p>
<p>Strangely, my longest relationship this entire time has been with  Harvey. He&#8217;s cheating. I&#8217;m open. He&#8217;s a liar. I tell the truth so much I  get myself in trouble. I have no excuse and neither does he, but I&#8217;m  content with it because he means a lot to me.</p>
<p>And then there&#8217;s the current crew, and they&#8217;re not going anywhere. The Drapers are the &#8220;Forever&#8221; that the Kids never stood a chance at being. While it&#8217;s been an occasionally tumultuous year and a bit, my love for the two of them is constantly growing. And it seems that everyone&#8217;s individual relationships within the dynamic of the four of us are strengthening too, which is fantastic and lately we&#8217;ve had more individual dates. I don&#8217;t know if we&#8217;ll partake in any group nakedness again, or girl + girl, but I don&#8217;t worry about them not being around for a long time to come so who knows. As for other peeps, Kitty might not always be in my bedroom, but she&#8217;s a dear friend and kindred spirit for life. And the same goes for the rest of the crew. You know who you are.</p>
<p>Sadly there are some relationships that didn&#8217;t work out this year already. Some people I had hopes for getting closer with / sharing polyamory stories / sometime sharing beds with didn&#8217;t like me as I&#8217;d wished. Or did, but I fucked it up. Or maybe they do and I didn&#8217;t, but I&#8217;m too dumb to figure it all out so it&#8217;s gone in a completely different direction than I had hoped. I really don&#8217;t know, to be honest.</p>
<p>Such is life. I can only talk about it so much before I talk myself into a deep underground grave.</p>
<p>I think I&#8217;ve gotten a handle on it all now though, kind of. Steph and I are amazing. We deal with jealousy and time management with a lot more ease than when we first started. Our sex life has improved by a mile and we understand each other now. I mean, really understand each other.</p>
<p>When I look back at myself over the past few years, I know I&#8217;ve been the same person all the way through; I&#8217;m just so much more complete now. I&#8217;ve realized now how important it is to be with people who either aren&#8217;t newbs to the whole situation OR to have extra patience with those that are, if I want to be with them for any length of time.</p>
<p>If I look at my reflection in the looking glass now, I hope that it finally shows a woman who loves as much as she can, is one helluva dirty bitch, and is worth knowing, even if just a little or just for a while.</p>
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		<title>And the lady will have &#8230;</title>
		<link>http://notyourmothersplayground.com/2009/07/and-the-lady-will-have/</link>
		<comments>http://notyourmothersplayground.com/2009/07/and-the-lady-will-have/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 22 Jul 2009 01:57:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>samantha</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://notyourmothersplayground.com/?p=559</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>The jury is still out on chivalry and its relation to equality, and I think always will be. The politically correct ninjas of the 90&#8242;s would like everyone to believe that men and women are equal, but I think somewhere along the line the message got a little skewed. Just like in that little book, oh <span style="color:#777"> . . . &#8594; Read More: <a href="http://notyourmothersplayground.com/2009/07/and-the-lady-will-have/">And the lady will have &#8230;</a></span>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The jury is still out on chivalry and its relation to equality, and I think always will be. The politically correct ninjas of the 90&#8242;s would like everyone to believe that men and women are equal, but I think somewhere along the line the message got a little skewed. Just like in that little book, oh what&#8217;s it called? Ah yes, the bible.</p>
<p>Men and women <em>should</em> get paid the same wage for doing the same jobs. Men should not let women rudely jump ahead of them in line, waiting for the bus, just because they&#8217;re women. Men should take out the trash. Haha, kidding on that last one. Well &#8230; kind of.</p>
<p>Being treated equally by government, employers, family and friends is important and something women have had to fight to win for a long time. However, ignoring the wonderful differences between guys and dolls that makes us unique and special is, in my opinion, a tragedy.</p>
<p>Our brains are generally wired differently. Men are often &#8211; and I&#8217;ll insert a not always disclaimer right about here &#8211; better at being really really good at one thing &#8211; often their career &#8211; while multi-tasking is something that the ladies excel in. That&#8217;s not sexist, it&#8217;s science and I&#8217;m sure has been proven somewhere at some point in some sort of too expensive study. Women react very differently to sexual responses, often acting on emotions and senses while men are guided more by their cocks. Also science.</p>
<p>So onto chivalry, and for the rest of this conversation, chauvinism.</p>
<p>Chauvinism by its very nature is sexist. I should not be endorsing it as an appropriate type of behaviour for men OR women, but I do find it fascinating and am going to tell you all the reasons why. Now depending on how it is being delivered, chauvinism can also be very ignorant, cruel and unnecessary. Thousands of men still believe that women are beneath them, and this behaviour is intolerable. Thousands of women also play up female chauvinism by perpetuating the idea that women are dumb and all we have to offer is our pretty lil&#8217; faces, tight asses and perky titties.  That&#8217;s why I like to daydream about something a little more playful; chauvinistic chivalry.</p>
<p>Anyone who knows me should be well aware of my love for Mad Men. We love the show so much that  &#8216;The Drapers&#8217; ended up being perfect nicknames for two people closest to us. There&#8217;s something so attractive about these male characters who at their core are really swell fellas&#8217;, but they&#8217;re living in a time when it&#8217;s expected of them to call a gal &#8216;Sweet Cheeks&#8217; and smack her on the rear. Nowadays, this probably wouldn&#8217;t fly at work &#8211; and if it would, well I want to work where you do! &#8211; but there is something to be said for the combo of chauvinistic jackass meets sweet, loving man.</p>
<p>The show makes me swoon. Countless times I have watched it and been left feeling more turned on than even I would admit to. I cannot deny the strange old-fashioned pull of a man who will defend my honor to his death but will also ask me to fetch him a beer, and by ask I mean expect. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Don Draper.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 330px"><img title="Don Draper" src="http://www.gloryfades.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/don_draper.jpg" alt="Swooning for that expression. That confidence." width="320" height="256" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Swooning for that expression. That confidence.</p></div>
<p>I see the same in Bill&#8217;s character in True Blood. Being one bazillion years old, or however old he is as a vampire, he comes from a different era. A time when men were MEN and he&#8217;s had to learn to adapt to an evolving society and changing rights for women. When he deals with Sookie his love interest, there is a sexy intensity between the two that reminds me of my own relationships. It is made up of his knowledge that &#8220;he knows better&#8221; dueling with his absolute adoration of her.</p>
<p>I think the healthiest relationships are those that can have some fun with a little chauvinistic chivalry. Sure us gals are strong enough and smart enough and by golly people like us, to open our own car doors and pull out our own chairs, but it feels NICE to have someone do it for us. Putting up a stink about being treated like a girl is kind of a waste of time. You are a girl! Milk it, honey!</p>
<p>I would much rather walk past a man, have him smack me on the ass playfully and then make me feel loved, safe and romanced, ie: like a woman, then be with a guy who degrades &#8220;chicks&#8221; and &#8220;skanks&#8221; in front of me or behind my back.</p>
<p>So. Get you a beer, love?</p>
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