On The Realities of 24/7

[ObjectivistActivist]

My pet and I are living this life right now, so little testimonial on a functioning 24/7 D/s relationship.

Money:
For the moment, I work and she doesn't purely for legal reasons. We haven't finished her immigration process yet, but once we do I expect her to be productive on her own (read: get a job). Her money will stay hers, though it will be spent only with approval (and only after necessities are taken care of).

Transportation:

My pet uses my vehicle when I'm not working (assuming I don't drive her where she needs to go myself), with permission, and when I am working I leave emergency cab fare though she's not to go far from the house when I'm not there (excepting emergencies, of course).

Health:

At the moment, my pet's health care expenses are out of pocket for me, and I don't mind that. I can skip a new video game or an extra steak or three in the month to pay to have a healthy pet. That's certainly a value exchange I'm willing to make. Once her immigration process is completed, though, she'll have access to socalized medicine (which is out of pocket for me, only in a different respect ). The ideal, of course, would be that my work benefits and her work benefits ultimately cover any medical expenses, but that could be a way off yet. Still, even if it was to remain out of pocket for the rest of our lives, I don't think I'd mind overmuch. The most valuable things often have high price tags, and I just consider it one of the payments I make for having a good pet.
That being said, I also expect a healthy lifestyle so as to keep the cost of healthcare down. But that's just sensical.

Social Life:

My pet and I share most of our social circle, and it's largely based online. She's allowed to speak to whomever she wants, though I dictate what she is and is not allowed to talk about in some situations and with some people. I have my pet collared all the time (I make some allowances when at home occasionally, but outside of the house she is expected to display her ownership with pride). What our vanilla friends or family think of it is really of no concern to me. Their issues are their own, and if they can't get over the realities of our relationship they're free to cease to be our friends, or in the case of family cease to speak to us. I won't lose any sleep over trying to appease others, that's for sure. Depending on the situation, I'll present her as my wife, or pet. Both are true and equally valid, so it really just depends on whether I'm likely to be forced to waste my time defending something I should have no reason to defend.

When and if belle makes friends of her own in this area, or decides to spend time with my friends' spouses or other halves, that will be acceptable within reason. I'd let her go out to a show with her friends so long as it didn't interfere with her duties or my plans, etc. Again, there are conditions, such as she must wear my collar at all times, certain types of outtings aren't acceptable, and she must wear the attire I select for her, and so on.

Domestic Life:

As I stated before, my pet is always collared, so when people come over she will have it on. As I also stated before, if they don't like it there's a short pier I can direct them to upon which they can take a long walk. We don't have a dungeon yet, but hopefully some day in the not too distant future that will be a reality. At which point, people would be free to ask what's behind "that door" if they want. The only questioning I object to is accusatory questioning I should not have to deal with, so I don't particularly feel any concern about things being left out where others might see it.

My pet does the majority of the cooking and, fortunately for me, is very good at and enjoys it. Occasionally I will cook, or take her out to dinner (the latter being preferable as I'm not a great cook myself). We both enjoy this arrangement, as it gives her an opportunity to do something she can take a great deal of pride in, and it gives me an opportunity to appreciate the skill and abilities being laid at my feet.

We did meet online, and spending time online is relatively important to my pet. I don't see anything particularly objectionable to allowing her that in her free time. She's a pretty responsible person about not allowing her hobby time to interfere with her work (domestic or otherwise), so I haven't had to set out any sort of hard schedule unless I feel like doing so.

Drinking isn't much of an issue at my house. When I do it, it's in moderation, and my pet doesn't drink much. I've never been an "angry drunk" though, so even if I have one too many, it's usually just a case of me ruining my night by making myself sick, as opposed to a loss of self-control and a risk of injuring her.

Children:

I have a five year old daughter from a previous relationship who lives with me but for every other weekend. Obviously she has to be taken into consideration in our daily lives, and how much of our D/s relationship is superficially evident. She's one of the reasons my pet calls me Sir instead of Master. We have to keep the tone of it all fairly low most of the time when she's awake and not at school, but it's not impossible to find a balance. Ultimately, there will no doubt be questions, but I think if you plan on addressing them honestly and (in so far as your child's rational faculty is developed) openly, it will be a potentially challenging but not destructive conversation.

On weekends when my daughter is at her mother's house, we tend to ramp up our play a little more. On the one hand, it's hard sometimes not to be able to do all you want to when the urge strikes you, but on the other hand it's good to have a time to look forward to regularly when you know that all the stops can come out.

All in all I think we succeed fairly well at our 24/7, and like any relationship it requires an investment of time and effort. In the case of a 24/7 D/s relationship, it potentially requires a lot more effort than a vanilla relationship, especially with the addition of complications such as children and/or vanilla friendships (for those who place a lot of value in such).