Tag Archives: playing games

Are You Among the Average?

According to statistical data compiled by John S Croucher, professor of statistics Macquarie University, the amount of time the average person in USA spends watching TV is 35 hours a week. Add to those another 2 hours watching taped TV Shows , 22 minutes for online videos and 4 minutes of mobile videos and that adds up to quite a whack out of the week. So Mick and I decided to conduct our own little experiment and add up our TV watching. It doesn’t even come close to that. And a lot depends on the time of year. In footy … Continue reading →

Refresh Your Marriage

The other day as we were waiting for another married couple to arrive for a picnic, Mick and I were reminiscing about Christmases past. This led back to childhood and childhood friends and games. It seems reminiscing was the spark for a new book which arrived on my desk this week for review. Called Parlour Games for Modern Families, the inspiration behind the book was as the authors Myfanawy Jones and Spiri Tsintziras book talked about games from when they were younger. They realized even talking about the games made them feel good. Then why they didn’t play more games, … Continue reading →

Being Financially Strapped Can Be Good for a Marriage

Tough economic times don’t have to be bad for your marriage. It can actually be a positive experience. Not being flush with money we often ended up doing a lot of things we wouldn’t have thought of and things we wouldn’t have known we could do unless we tried. By the time we bought our first little house and even by the time we bought our second house after we outgrew the first, we didn’t have anything much left over for furniture and decorating, so it was a case of make do and do what we could. We scoured auctions … Continue reading →

The Value of Playing Games

Have architects and house designers had a negative impact on family life? Yesterday Mick and I went out for the day to look at some exhibition homes in a display village. Not that we have any plans to up and move from where we are, but often it is away to pick up decorating ideas and we did come home with one or two. However the thing that struck me most and saddened me was the idea of parent’s bedrooms often with large parents retreats where they can sit and relax are well away from children’s bedrooms, being at opposite … Continue reading →

Turn Off to Turn On

Today as we were coming home from the markets I asked Mick if he had any ideas he thought would be good for this blog. ‘Turn off the TV,’ he said. Now don’t misunderstand, neither of us is against TV. We have our favorite shows. At the moment, when it’s non rating period in Australia, we’re watching Eli Stone which is not compelling but quirky enough to be interesting. Plus we both like lawyer shows. But most nights our TV is off and we spend time together, talking, playing games and listening to music. Settlers of Catan is our favorite … Continue reading →

Dating Advice? Let’s Get Real

I wanted to write more about dating, so I decided to do a little research into what is currently passing as dating advice. While there is some good stuff available, not much has changed in some areas since I was single. Much of the dating advice being offered now is all too similar to what it was back in the day and that whole “snag a guy” or “win a girl” thing, frankly turns my stomach. Women aren’t looking to “snag” or trick or trap men and men shouldn’t be looking to “win” a girl as if she is some … Continue reading →

“If You Really Loved Me…” and Other Manipulations

That’s right, playing the old, “if you really loved me…” card is manipulation. So are many other games that people play. While this and other tactics may actually cause our spouses to give in to us at times, manipulation is not good for our relationships. We’ve all done this or some variation but we need to move past such things and develop a deeper and more honest level of communication. Voicing a need or a request should be enough in a close relationship. If your mate does not respond in a way that you believe is appropriate, discuss the situation … Continue reading →