It's no secrets that every relationship is different - people have their own preferences and their own dislikes.
What works for one couple, might not work for another.
One husband has recently shared how he and his wife have had an open relationship for the last 10 years and it's been great for them, with both seeing other people.
However, the couple's three children are said to know nothing about the situation.
So when their eldest daughter spotted her dad in an "intimate embrace" with his lover, it's fair to say she was incredibly upset.
She immediately went to her mother and confided in her that her dad was having an affair. The mum was too embarrassed to admit the truth about their open marriage, so decided to go along with the cheating idea.
Understandably, the husband is very upset about the whole thing and wants to tell his family the truth about his relationship.
His wife claims she'd rather call off their open marriage than confess their secret.
Unsure what to do next, the man turned to an advice column, asking Slate.com's Care and Feeding for help with his situation.
He wrote: "My wife and I have been married for 22 years, and have had an open marriage for the past 10 years. Recently, our 19-year-old daughter was somewhere I wasn’t expecting her (in a different city where we live) and saw me with the woman I have been sleeping with for the past 18 months.
"We were in an intimate embrace, and she correctly inferred our relationship, but did not make her presence known to me. However, she confided in her mother. My wife told me our daughter saw us and now thinks I am having an affair.
"I asked my wife if she set the record straight about our open relationship, and the fact that she was actually with her lover at the same time I was with mine. She said that she doesn’t feel comfortable with our children knowing we have an open marriage."
The man went on to say that he feels "frustrated and angry and betrayed".
He added: "The open marriage was something my wife and I agreed on together. I get feeling a little uncomfortable about admitting something so intimate to our children, but I think that the alternative—them thinking that I am a cheater who is cheating on their mother—is much worse.
"My wife says I should have been more careful, and that it will blow over. I disagree and want to tell all three of our children immediately.
"She has told me she’d rather put an end to the arrangement than tell them. I told her we could do both."
He adds that he's considering talking to his children anyway, against his wife's wishes as he'd rather they see him as a "sexual being" than a "cheater".
The agony aunt's response is fair and they stress the importance of the parents doing what is best for the well-being of their children.
As such they think honesty is the only option.
"Your daughter needs to know enough to understand what she saw," the writer proclaims.
They add that it's not the husband's place to share intimate details of his wife's relationships with other people if she does not wish to have the children know about that, but he should discuss the open marriage and his own love life if he wishes.
What do you think the dad should do? Let us know in the comments below.
