How Do You Handle Those Embarrassing Moments In Marriage?

By SheSpeaksTeam Oct 18, 2013

You may have agreed to stick with your spouse in sickness and in health, but what about when your partner is being embarrassing at a dinner party? It may sound benign or even funny, but most everyone has been in a situation where their loved one is being not so lovable in front of all your friends.

Duke University Psychology professor, Mark Leary, talks to the Wall Street Journal about some of the ways spouses can embarrass each other and how we should cope with these sticky situations. From clothing choices to bad jokes Leary explains, “The number of ways for spouses to embarrass each other is almost endless.” And the reason why an embarrassing moment with our partner may bother some of us so much is because spouses represent one another and we are generally harder on ourselves than anyone else.

After an embarrassing moment occurs, some of us may be unsure of how to react. Should we confront our spouse about it or just try to forget it ever happened? First of all, you should ask yourself if it was really as bad as it seemed. For example; were you the only one in the room that didn’t laugh at your spouse’s tired old joke?

Leary advises that if it was an isolated incident to just let it go. There are bound to be times that your spouse will find something you do to be embarrassing so give them a “get out of jail free” card once in a while. But if it’s repeated behavior that’s just going to bother you “’til death do you part” then it is probably best to sit down and talk about it.

What do you do when your spouse does something that embarrasses you?