Deliberately do something to make a guy jealous? Who does that? Not a grown-up woman, that's for sure! Deny it all you want, but just about every woman has done something silly at some point in her life to make a man jelly. And it often works … except when it backfires.
We asked moms to tell us about the craziest things they've ever done to try to make a man jealous. Some were young and foolish, others needed to give their relationship the right nudge. Can you blame a woman if it works?
Image via Milles Studio/shutterstock
Hook Up With Someone Else
There's always this straightforward approach: "I had sex with someone else and told him about it," a mom confesses. "It was a revenge thing. Made him jealous and made me feel better. Twisted, possibly, but I don't care."
More from The Stir: 12 Women Share What Made Them Jealous in Their Relationships
Date His Twin
One woman dated her boyfriend's twin brother to spite him. "I forget what my ex at the time did, but he humiliated me about something. His brother happened to be around and was a source of comfort."
They started hanging out and they found they actually had a lot in common. "Before you know it, we made a three-year relationship out of it." She likes to say she got the "good" twin instead of the evil one.
Raving About Your Personal Trainer
"I go on about how awesome my personal trainer is," a fitness-minded mom says. "It's my attempt to get [my husband] to come work out, but it's not working. He doesn't care."
Make His Favorite Dish Without Him
"When I'm mad at him and he's out of town I make his favorite dinner and brag about it and I don't save him any," one mom confesses.
More from The Stir: How Jealous Are You?
Hint That You're Dating Other Guys
When a guy whom a woman asked out canceled on her at the last minute, she kept her cool. "The next day at work, he apologized and I said, 'That's okay. My friend TJ took me out.' Then I walked away." It worked. "He asked me out the next day and we've been together for 13 years."
Sending Yourself Flowers
Does the old "pretending someone sent you flowers" trick work? It did for one woman, who sent herself flowers (fake-signed from some other guy) when she was expecting her boyfriend to come over. "He saw, and a week later he proposed. TA DA!"
Get a Life
A single mom in a long-distance relationship was tired of waiting around for a man who wouldn't commit. "I didn't see the point of being in a relationship where we only saw each other every few weeks if it was 'just for kicks,'" she says. "Finally I had enough. I decided to 'play cool' as well." She stopped waiting around at home for his calls and went out with friends. She ignored his calls. She texted him at 3:00 A.M. to say, "Out with friends. Talk to you later this weekend."
It worked. "The next morning I opened an email that was full of 'I'm sorry,' and details about how he realized what we had. He said he was suddenly insecure about losing me, and wanted a commitment. That was 10 years ago. We are happily married now."
Playing the Field
Trying to make him jealous doesn't always work. One woman was living two hours away from a college boyfriend who didn't seem to miss her all that much. "So anytime someone else asked me out, I'd tell him. He didn't care, so then I'd go on the dates with these new guys and then tell him about that."
The boyfriend started visiting more often after that, kind of. "But ultimately, he was like, 'I didn't care because I didn't really think that you'd end up liking any of them more than you liked me.' It was true, but looking back I think, what a cocky motherf***er, right?"
Be Flirty
A woman was getting tired of being strung along by a coworker she was dating. "Up until that point I had pretty much ignored this other coworker who liked me." But she started flirting openly with this second man.
It worked. Suddenly, the first guy "wanted to become an exclusive couple pretty much immediately after that. I feel like I was simply showing him that I wasn't going to wait around forever and that I am desirable to others." They're now married.
Lie About Having Fun Without Him
"When I was dating my [now] husband we lived a long distance [from each other] for a bit and I would say I was going out when in reality I was at home watching TV," a mom says. "He would get all jealous," she laughs.
More from The Stir: 12 Men Confess Surprising Ways Their Partners Make Them Jealous
