What Your Husband Can Teach Your Daughter

There is so much research out there about the importance of a father and the special impact he has on his daughter. Girls who have strong, supportive and affection father figures are most likely to avoid having sex in the teenage years, for example. There is that old saying that a woman marries someone who reminds her of her father. In many cases this is obviously true, but in other cases, the similarity between a father and a husband may be subtle. There are many different ways of parenting today. Most modern fathers are very involved in their children’s lives, … Continue reading

Marriage and Household Roles

Having “assigned roles” in the household can make for fewer arguments in a marriage. Knowing exactly who is responsible for what can help the tasks get done and cut down on arguments. Here is how. Assigning roles In my marriage, we seem to have naturally fallen into responsibilities, although some things are done as a team, and other things seem to be done by whomever gets inspired (or tired) when a task is left undone. Most of the time, we fall into the typical gender roles that you might have expected from the 1950s. Part of the reason for this … Continue reading

A Special Gift of Love

Sometimes the most special gifts of love can be time given over to do something for your spouse. This is what Mick has been up to lately. In our house we have a collection of 78s (For those younger one among you – these are the highly breakable records that came out many, many years ago) I’ve had this collection of 78s handed down from my mother. They’ve been packed and carefully moved from house to house each time we moved, and then carefully stored again, because I couldn’t bear to part with them. But the problem was they never … Continue reading

What I Learned From My Husband

Are you a person who has difficulty saying ‘no’ when asked to do something or go somewhere you don’t want to go? Do you end making all sorts of excuses about why you can’t do whatever it is you are being asked to do? Then this is the blog for you. I used to be like that. I used to let other’s expectations get in the way and at times tie me up in knots. And then I watched my husband handle a similar situation and realized he never had the problems I did. If asked to do something he … Continue reading

Who Needs to Change?

Sometimes I’ve heard young women talking about the guy they’re going to marry and they will make the comment. ‘I’ll soon change him once we’re married.’ Can I suggest such a relationship is heading from trouble from the outset? For ages after we were first married, I tried to convince Mick it was better to get up and let me make him breakfast before he went off to work. But to him another half hour in bed was more valuable than eating breakfast. I had to accept I wasn’t going to change him, even if I did think it was … Continue reading

The Eight Biggest Laundry Mistakes 2

Yesterday, after I posted the first part of this subject, we got a lot of interesting comments! Go check out the post if you haven’t seen it: The Eight Biggest Laundry Mistakes. Now, let us continue. The red sock mistake. How many of use have accidentally let a red sock or other item in with the lights or whites, which means again that you’ll have that pink underwear. Not checking for stains before washing. My husband frequently comes home with pen marks on his shirts. With a little careful pretreatment, I can usually get them out, but not if they … Continue reading

Why My Husband Didn’t Force Me to Go to the ER

Yesterday I shared why Wayne almost forced me to go to the hospital on Saturday morning. Later in the weekend, he told me what a conundrum he’d been in. As he held me while I bawled because I was alternating between coughing so hard and gasping for breath that I almost passed out, he debated whether he should just sling me over his shoulder, haul me downstairs, toss me in his truck and drive me to the ER. Instead he opted for the bargaining approach. (He feared I’d jump out of the car and get myself killed in traffic if … Continue reading

Obnoxious Husbands

Are any of your girlfriends married to obnoxious husbands? Or do you ever run across couples while you’re out and about and witness an exchange between them that makes you think, “Wow. That guy’s really obnoxious. How does she put up with him?” I have a couple of friends who are married to husbands who would be too much for me. They’re nice enough guys, and they love their wives to pieces (which is how I’ve determined my friends put up with them), but I couldn’t do it. My personality would clash with theirs. Because of my experiences with my … Continue reading

Men: The Weaker Sex?

Before I begin, I just want to say that, even though the title might suggest otherwise, this article isn’t intended to be a slam against men. Rather, it’s just some reflections on things I’ve seen regarding boyfiends and husbands over the past 10 years during my stint as a stay-at-home wife. Not that I’ve had all sorts of relationships with other men. But I’ve had lots and lots of talks with my women friends. It was when I was living in Jacksonville that I noticed a pattern forming where our husbands were concerned. And ever since I noticed it, I … 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