Search Results for: blog emotional landmines and the holidays

Save Gift Receipts for and from In-Laws

This is a two way street. It happens often, because people really just haven’t had (or taken) the time to get to know each other well. You buy a gift that you think is perfect for one of your in-laws, but the look on his or her face doesn’t exactly show delight when the gift is opened. On the other hand, your in-laws may purchase something for you that they believe you will like only to find that they could not have been more wrong. Most of us try to smile and play it off, but it’s pretty obvious when … Continue reading →

The Marriage Blog Week in Review November 18-24

Welcome to the weekend and the end of the Thanksgiving week and the start of the holiday madness. Yesterday got us all of to a rousing start. For those of you who dived into the Black Friday shopping craziness, I feel your pain – I was out there too. In the meanwhile, this was a busy week in the Marriage blog with guest blogger Valorie Delp paying us a visit as well, if you didn’t get a chance to check out her blogs, I encourage you to do so, she’s a great writer and brings her own unique perspective into … Continue reading →

Emotional Landmines and the Holidays

Welcome to holiday season when families travel sometimes miles and sometimes only minutes to spend hours together, eating, drinking and celebrating Thanksgiving and family together. The problem, as most married couples can attest to, is that holidays are a great time for families to come together and for old tensions to be refueled. Family Ties & Tensions You can’t have family ties without there being tensions as well. Whether it’s disagreements over traditions, personality upheavals or just simply revisiting old family grudges, it’s important to be aware of the emotional landmines before you or your spouse accidentally detonates one. For … Continue reading →

What Do You Call Your Mother-In-Law?

This may sound like an odd question, but what do you call your in-laws? I know some couples who call them the formal Mrs. Last Name, I know others that call them by the more familiar first name, still others who just drop the formality and call them Mom or Momma First Name. The reason I ask about what you call your in-laws, particularly your mother-in-law can seem to have a real effect on your parents and their reaction to your in-laws. For Me Personally I’ve known my husband’s mother for more than a decade and we’re very close. I’ve … Continue reading →

Do Your Parents Resent Your In-Laws?

Here’s an odd conundrum or maybe it’s not so odd, but I’ve had more than one note from a couple encountering this particular issue and whether it’s the bride’s parents or the groom’s – how do you cope with it when your parents don’t like your in-laws? For Christa in North Carolina, she describes it as walking a tightrope while juggling especially around the holidays. She and her husband have three children and instead of having one large holiday with the whole family together they spend one part of the holidays with one set of grandparents and the other part … Continue reading →