Search Results for: blog creating a safe environment for conflict

Tips to Help Your Child re-Handle a Violent Conflict

Nonviolent Conflict Solving is necessary if we choose to instill peaceful values into our children. Given the degree of anger and violence in society, children may need to know, as early as possible, how to handle disagreements with each other without letting their anger get out of control, and without using violence. As they develop physically and cognitively, children can be helped to use the conflict-solving methods that worked for them in their early childhood days to problem solve around the more complicated problems that appear in adolescence. We’re not violent so why should we teach this to our children? … Continue reading →

Creating A Safe Environment for Conflict

This may sound a little odd, but your marriage should be a place where you can create a safe environment for conflict. Arguments in marriage are not necessarily a bad thing. When a married couple argues, they are demonstrating their passion, their need for change and their ability to communicate. Conflict and arguments in a marriage can be very healthy for the couple. When you and your spouse participate in healthy conflict, you can actually build a respectful and loving partnership that is based on communication and passion. How Do We Do That? This is a question we have to … Continue reading →

The Elderly Teach “The Baby Borrowers” Lessons in Love

I may not have children, but last night’s episode of “The Baby Borrowers” was one I could definitely relate to: The teens had to care for the elderly. Since I’m fresh off my duty of caregiving for my mom, the episode struck particularly close to home. Even more so because one of the ladies was on oxygen and two others had suffered strokes. (Except only one, Hedy, was actually being cared for by a teen. The other, Reggie, was the wife of one of the men, George, who had volunteered to stay with a teen couple.) The only thing missing … Continue reading →

“Right Fighters”

I don’t get the chance to watch Dr. Phil very often, but a while back I happened to catch part of one of his shows. As he does so often, he was trying to help a couple understand why they fight so much. In this case it was because one of the spouses (I forget if it was the husband or wife) was what he calls a “right fighter.” What a Right Fighter Is Right fighters only care about being right. Whatever the argument is, as long as they’re right (or think they’re right), they’ll keep the argument going until … Continue reading →

The Passive Aggressive Spouse

Is your spouse passive aggressive? The words passive and aggressive seem in direct opposition to each other – but the truth is when your spouse is passive aggressive you may feel like you are sleeping with a porcupine in sheep’s clothing. What Does It Mean For a Spouse to Be Passive Aggressive? A passive aggressive spouse may never seem angry, but you discover that your shorts have been shrunk in the wash or the errand you assumed they were doing is completely skipped. I know one woman who’s always been passive aggressive in her relationships and no matter how furious … Continue reading →

What Have You Done for Me Lately?

I hate that question. Hate may sound like a strong word, but honestly – I do hate it. I hate that word and I hate what it intimates in a relationship and I hate that there are definitely times when I find myself thinking it as well. What have you done for me lately? is a judgmental question designed to weigh the activities of your spouse and anyone else you are thinking of and assigning a value system to it. If your spouse took out the trash, for example, that might be worth two points, but if they went out … Continue reading →

The Marriage Week in Review October 21-27

This was a great week here in the Marriage blog and as always; it’s a pleasure to share the challenge of bringing you marriage news and information with Sherry. Our guest blogger this week was Catherine Ipizcade and I suggest you check out her blogs on celebrating her marriage as well as bridal shower tips. For Sherry and I, the biggest challenge came at the end of the week as the New Jersey Supreme Court handed down their decision on Same-Sex unions. While Sherry and I often come down on opposite sides of this issue, we believe in healthy and … Continue reading →