Author Archives: Marcelina Hardy

About Marcelina Hardy

Wife, mom, relationship coach, and freelance writer! I have a MSEd in counseling and many years of experience as a counselor. Helping married people stay that way through the challenges with my blogging.

Mommy Puts Her Foot Down

I was walking the dogs tonight and all of a sudden I see four running feet coming towards me. Yes, my two children. I just knew they didn’t tell my husband they left the house to come meet me down the street. Since they are 6 and 3 this makes me very uncomfortable. They just think they can open the door and start running wild in the street. It’s unacceptable. I was willing to look the other way on it with a stern look and warning that they will never do that again. However, the next thing they do just … Continue reading →

Appreciating the Craziness of Children

Yesterday afternoon I picked up my daughter from school and informed her that her babysitter would be coming over in a couple of hours so we needed to do her homework right away. She was thrilled! She said, “She is the best girl in the whole world.” My son had been exclaiming how he couldn’t wait to show her his new toy all day long. My husband was thrilled because he was going to have his wife for a few hours all to himself. Me? I was exhausted from cleaning the house all day long in preparation for the big … Continue reading →

Balance Family Time Like a Pro

I’ve always felt that family was the most important thing to me. I couldn’t imagine not being together with family. It doesn’t seem normal to me. My kids have started feeling that way too. They want to be with my husband and I and we love being with them. There has to be a balance though. The kids need time to play together. The kids need time to play apart. My husband and I need time to play with the kids. We need time to play with each other and we need time to play apart. So how does that … Continue reading →

Patience Is a Virtue

I love my children. I must say this 100 times a day. No matter what day it is, there’s some sort of yelling between them, getting hurt, or just doing things that make my heart skip a beat. They are children, after all. That is what children do. However, it drives me nuts. Some days I have no idea how I will get through it without having a nervous breakdown. Often times, I lose my cool and yell, “Can you please just stop.” It doesn’t do much. They get stunned because I don’t normally yell but then they shrug their … Continue reading →

Wedding Rings after Infidelity

Many times, when someone commits adultery, they will remove their wedding ring. It just simply gets taken off their finger without a second thought to the meaning behind the ring. When a spouse finds out that infidelity has been committed and the ring they vowed on was just easily taken off to break the vow, the wedding ring may never mean the same again. What the wedding ring signified is no longer in effect. The wedding vow has been broken and so has the significance of the wedding ring, right? Not So Fast – What If It Means Something Else … Continue reading →

Morality and Faith – How to Decide Between Them in Infidelity

Many spouses who have been betrayed by infidelity will struggle between morality and faith when deciding whether or not they should stay to repair their marriage. Most of the time, morality and faith don’t align and that can make the situation extremely difficult. A Cause for Morality Everyone knows that infidelity is morally wrong. Society has taught us that if you cheat, you are bad. They also have taught us that when someone cheats on you, it means you have to leave him or her. Now, if we think about what we’ve learned our whole life, we find that society … Continue reading →

When Your Relationship Is Not Part of Your Marriage Anymore

Have you ever just stepped back and wondered what happened to the relationship with your spouse? You may be married but the relationship has ended. You go to work, come home, hardly speak and go to bed to do it all over again the next day. How much longer can you go on living without a relationship? Many married couples will say that their relationship has lost passion. That they just don’t feel the same they did when they were first dating their spouse. Of course they don’t, that initial phase of finding out all those exciting and crazy things … Continue reading →

Create a Stronger Marriage Despite Financial Stress

Did you know that one of the top reasons for divorce is because of financial stress? It’s crazy that money can drive marriage to disaster. Is It the Money or the Coping? What is it really that makes couples end their relationship though? Is it the money or is something else? I am going to put my money on something else. Couples who are in a financially strained situation are under an extraordinary amount of stress. Not only are they unable to pay bills, but they may have to work longer hours to make ends meet. What happens is that … Continue reading →

How Children Learn About Conflict Resolution

Like most couples, my husband and I argue. We don’t go behind closed doors though; we don’t believe that’s the best thing for our children, despite what other parents might think. When my husband and I argue, we have loud disagreements. We don’t spit out profanities but our voices naturally rise. Our children know we are fighting. The thing with our disagreements though is that we always talk through them and they don’t last very long. We come full circle. We start with something that upset us, we vent about it, and we calm down, talk about it and then … Continue reading →

How to Get Rid of Mommy Guilt

When I was a new mommy, I often felt really guilty for just about anything I did. I had this huge perception that I needed to be perfect. So that meant that anytime that I felt like I wasn’t doing something that I believed that I should be doing, I felt stricken with guilt. It’s been six years since I had my first child and now with a second at home and my first at school, I realize I am much different with the guilt. I have realized that guilt is not difficult to get rid of when you know … Continue reading →