Parenting disagreements can be some of the toughest. When your child makes a request and one of you wants to say yes, but the other thinks yes would be a bad idea, you really need a Third Alternative. You need one because you are in danger of planting your feet and holding your ground to protect your child at the possible expense of your marriage. Concern for a child motivates immediate action...
You know how you start thinking you’re doing the bulk of the chores? Or that you’re stuck with way too many on top of your exhausting paid job? You are not alone. Most wives feel this way. And so do most husbands. How can this be? Surely one of us is trying to put something over on the other. Surely one of us needs to pick up the pace a bit and relieve our mate, no? Not really. Even...
Here are five great ways to screw up a family holiday: Overschedule yourselves, leaving no time to savor together the family gathering you worked so hard to create Fail to notice your mate’s Love Language, whether it’s bringing something extra from the store as a gift, obsessing over the turkey as an act of service, or spending precious bonus time off from work trying to talk or do...
A number of marriage therapists suggest couples pay attention to their marriage like a bank account. Don’t make a withdrawal if you have not made enough deposits. The intention is good. The score-keeping seems all wrong. And so does the idea of withdrawals. Is watching football when your wife wants to go furniture shopping together a withdrawal? Or is it just a conflict of interest better...
Alcohol abuse and alcoholism harm a lot of marriages. When we take those wedding vows, pledging to stick together in sickness or in health, do we also accept the drunken rages, lost wages, and self-inflicted depression? If staying and leaving were our only options, I would say no, we do not vow to accept all this harm. Fortunately, staying and leaving are usually not our only two options. Al...
