Being dishonest or deceptive with your romantic partner is never ok. But there are some little white fibs that aren’t wrong to keep to yourself. Here’s a helpful guide to some of them.
1. Your brutally honest feelings about their family members. Every family has its own brand of crazy, but it’s not necessarily your place to tell him that you can’t stand his aunt or find his sister overly talkative and annoying.
2. Or vice versa – if your family or friends aren’t the biggest fan of your partner, that’s not their fault and they don’t need to know that and hear all about it. It will just make them insecure and hurt their feelings, along with making them wonder if you might feel the same. Instead, talk to your family and soothe their fears instead.
3. How many people you’ve slept with. This is totally private information that belongs to you and you shouldn’t feel pressured to reveal if you’re uncomfortable with it.
4. The precise details of what you gossip about with your friends. He doesn’t need to know about your promiscuous bestie’s weekend in Vegas or that awful stomach flu you and your cousin both got.
5. Your alone time rituals. We all deserve alone time and privacy in that manner, as long as we’re not doing anything wrong. Whether it’s your beauty day at home or you just ate an entire large pizza in bed, that’s your knowledge that you don’t have to share.
6. Secrets that friends or family ask you to keep. As long as it doesn’t implicate you or your partner, there’s no reason to break someone else’s trust. If someone else confided in you, you need to respect that the same way you would your partner.
7. All the details of your exes and past relationships. While being open about some parts of your past might be integral in moving forward with your relationship, you don’t need to divulge every past detail with every ex boyfriend or girlfriend. This honesty might even be hurtful to the other person.
8. Detailed, daily spending habits. You don’t need to chronicle every last purchase and check in with the person – this may even create unwarranted conflict and anxious feelings. Being dishonest about money is another beast, though, so don’t do that!
9. If you don’t like a gift that they gave you, or they’re just generally not the greatest at giving gifts, try to remember that it’s the thought that counts. Be gracious and thank them regardless.
10. If you think your partner’s friends or family members are attractive. Being attracted to more than one person is totally fine, but acting on it isn’t. Same goes for explaining your wandering eye to a partner. It can make things awkward and make them feel as though they’re not enough.
