When you are in a relationship, you would usually expect to be the top priority in your man’s life. Even if he has previous children, or is close to his family, you should at the very least be in the top three most important people in his world. Unfortunately, there are some men who seek the approval and attention of everyone around them. If you have been in a relationship with a man like this, you will know just how it feels to always be the last person consulted when he makes a decision. Here are three signs you are involved with an attention seeker.
He tells his Facebook friends what he’s doing before he tells you
My boyfriend infuriates me by doing this. Whatever the event, big or small, he will always post on Facebook so his friends can tell him how cool he is. What he forgets is, if he is going to take long trip abroad, it is something I need to know about. I don’t want to hear about it on a social networking site! Doing this allows all the people he knows – plus the random strangers he added after meeting them once somewhere a few years ago – to give their opinions, before taking mine into account. It is a huge frustration, and the only way to stop it is to firmly tell him how you feel.
He acts differently when his friends are around
When you and your man are alone together, things are absolute bliss. When you go somewhere with his friends, you suddenly become part of the furniture. Sound familiar? If so, your man is a severe attention seeker. When I was younger, my friend dated a guy who was a perfect gentleman when they went out on their own. However, when his buddies went out with them, she might as well have been at home for all the attention paid her. He became louder, more obnoxious, and barely uttered a word to his girl all night.
He isn’t happy to just tell you the important events
There is nothing wrong with a man wanting to celebrate his achievements, but when he needs to tell every person he has ever had contact with about an accomplishment, it quickly gets old. The only praise he needs should come from the people closest to him, not those who are way outside his normal circle of friends. Spending hours calling everyone in his phone book to announce his good news is a little narcissistic, and super annoying.
Being with an attention seeker is hard work, and not something any woman with low self-esteem should do. If you have a man who prefers sharing his news with everyone but you, and acts differently when he has an audience, you could be dealing with an attention seeker. The bad news is, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to fully break him of the habit, so your choices are limited. Get used to it, or get out of the relationship.
