June brings lots of anniversaries. If you’re wondering how to let your husband or wife feel your love, I want to help. Q. If I take my wife away for a just-us weekend, do I also need an anniversary gift? A. Etiquette does not apply to a marriage. Neither does the opinion of any other woman you know or even a survey of 3,057 women you did not marry. All that matters is this: does your wife...
I spent over an hour reading comments this weekend on Facebook, about a letter to Miss Manners in the Washington Post. Never saw her column, and none of the commenters even touched on etiquette. They opined on what everyone involved should do. I got sucked into this should show. I couldn’t stop reading. I just kept hoping for someone to stop looking in all the wrong places for what to do...
The Five Love Languages illuminate so much of the craziness in marriage. This month, millions will try to buy gifts for their life partners. Some will give up before they start, utterly baffled by those of us who see love in a beautifully wrapped package of something just for us. Find them standing under the mistletoe, looking forward to the kisses, hugs, back rubs, and sex that say love to them...
While you wait for the help with housework or errands you expected, listen for the caring words you expected, wait for company for something you expected to do together, mourn the expected gifts you never get, or wait for an expected hug or caress of the hand, you miss out on everything else your husband or wife wants to offer you as soon as you prepare your heart to receive it without a...
Everyone says men are so hard to choose gifts for, so I thought I would offer some assistance. These three gifts will suit him perfectly. One that helps him do more of what he does best, whether it’s paint, make music, lead a team, learn something new, or be kind to animals. One that speaks his love language, whether it’s tickets for the two of you to an activity he loves, an act of...
I am a widow who got it right the second time. I have been sharing here since February 14, 2006 what I learned from that experience and from positive psychology, marriage research, and my training as a marriage educator.
