Search Results for: blog 5 ways to reconnect in your marriage

This is the Rest of Your Life

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Have you grieved for your marriage? If not, you can’t heal. Although it’s not an actual death it is the death of your dream, that one that you’ve been carrying in your heart since you were a teenager. Mom and Dad who love each other raising a few perfect kids in a house with a white picket fence. It’s hard to let go and in order to let go you have to grieve what is lost. I’m not saying that you should wallow in that grief but just know that it is part of the process. Give yourself time to … Continue reading →

Add a Little Nature to Brighten Your Home and Your Mood

When your home is dark and gloomy then chances are that your mood is the same way. Our homes are reflections of ourselves, and then often can determine just how we feel. That is why it is so important to add things to our home that can brighten it up and add to a wonderful sense of comfort and joy. One of the things that can really brighten a home is a commitment to going back to nature. This can be done simply. Treat yourself to some beautiful brightly colored flowers. There has been some research showing that flowers can … Continue reading →

The Best Thing You Can Do For Your Marriage and Your Family

Someone recently asked in the forum about the responsibilities of fathers. I believe the best thing a man can do for his children is to love his wife and the best thing a woman can do is to love her husband. It is best for the children and also for each other that you show your spouse that you love them by your words and by your actions. Your spouse needs to know that they are the most important person in your life. Yes, the kids may be important and you want them to know how much you love them. … Continue reading →

Are You The Same As You Were Before Marriage?

I only caught Part 2 of the Oprah “Why Men Cheat” controversy, but it’s sparking yet another blog. But instead of discussing why men cheat or how to affair-proof marriage, this time I’m going to talk about something else that was brought up as part of all this: behaving differently once married versus how you behaved prior to marriage. Behaviors During the show, Oprah defended M. Gary Neuman’s assessment that it made sense the husbands strayed because they weren’t getting something from their wives. Not that she was wagging her finger and saying, “Shame on you, you neglectful wives.” Quite … Continue reading →

Raising Great Kids, and Having a Great Marriage

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If you are married and are a parent, you probably have heard the old saying, “In order to be a good father, you must be a good husband first.” I still believe that’s true after 20 years of marriage—if anything, even more so after this year. It’s been a tough year, trying to take care of a child with special needs, trying to raise 2 young girls, 2 teenagers, and having my wife work full-time while I stay home and try to keep the family together. Add on top of that, money problems, lack of child care, and a wife … Continue reading →

Take Care Of Yourself

As parents and especially mothers it seems like we are constantly giving. From the time that our first children are born out lives are devoted to caring for our children. But sometimes we need to take care of ourselves first. One of the ten things that you will find the parents doing in a happy family is making sure that they are taking care of themselves. I was talking to my sister who commented that her baby recently started waking up more frequently during the night. My sister of course was getting less sleep and as a result was much … Continue reading →

Marriage Advice: 5 Habits to Give Up

When it comes to making our marriages better and successful, we’re always looking for more information and methods that will allow us to improve our own relationships. For all the advice we may offer to others, we are the greatest audience for this information. I admit that I feel the same way, more often as not, when I write these blogs, I am looking at how the information could be applied to my own marriage. There is wisdom in the notion that we can always learn more about each other and that we can always learn better ways to communicate … Continue reading →

Marriage Exercises – Couple Toons

This is the second in a series on marriage exercises today. The first, Let’s Play a Game, introduced the idea of playing detective like Sherlock Holmes in order to effect greater understanding between you and your spouse. This exercise is called couple toons and it offers you and your partner some humorous ways to reconnect, even in the light of a harsh disagreement. How Does It Work? Imagine a recent argument you and your spouse have had. The argument may have been over money, over housework or even over who forgot to go the grocery store. As you think about … Continue reading →

The Week in Review – September 9 – 15

Welcome to Saturday the 16th and a new feature for the Marriage Blog where we take a moment to review the stories we shared with you this week. We’ll give you a quick rundown on the day by day of the news stories and more that Sherry and I shared with you. September 9 Sherry shared with a great idea for Wedding Favors: Sealed with a Kiss that you can make yourself and it doesn’t cost much to create something so pretty. We also talked about Marriage in the News: Arranged Marriage Fraud about the immigration marriage scheme that was … Continue reading →

Relationship Dynamics: Enhancing Your Listening Skills

Listening is one of the best skills a couple can develop together and individually in order to enhance their relationship. While communication is highlighted as one of the major areas where relationships breakdown, it’s not just about what you say, but what you hear and because listening is a skill that needs to be cultivated – a good listener can go a long way towards keeping the channels of communication open. It’s important to remember that listening skills have to be developed on an individual, person to person basis – you may not be able to improve your spouse’s listening … Continue reading →