Tag Archives: talk it over

Making Assumptions

Making assumptions about what your spouse believes or thinks about things can spell trouble. I read a story recently sent us by a friend about a situation in Papua New Guinea. The men and women were split into two separate groups. Each group was asked what they considered to be the three most important issues to support children at school. Then each group was asked what they thought the other group would say. The men said ‘double classrooms, libraries and teacher houses.’ When asked what the women would say, they assumed the women would say exactly the same as what … Continue reading →

Choosing A Name for Baby

Choosing a name for your baby can be fun. Or it can end up as a nightmare. Firstly the couple needs to decide if they want to use the name of any family members either as first names or second names. One thing we were agreed on was that we didn’t like the idea of a child having the same name as a parent, even though I love the name Michael, which I think is a romantic sounding name. Mick doesn’t. like it. That was a compromise I had to make when we started going together. Each time Mick and … Continue reading →

The First Year of Marriage

As I listen to people talk I find a lot of couples seem to have unrealistic ideas about marriage. Of course, I suspect many of these are perpetuated by romance novels, songs, and movies. One couple I know found the first twelve months or so of marriage very difficult. Every little thing seemed to aggravate the other person. This was largely because they were living in a small flat and she was not used to not having a space that was not completely her own. Another woman found it strange sharing a bed with another person. Personally I like waking … Continue reading →

Changing Moods

Your face can give you away. Sometimes I watch people while Mick and I are shopping or driving and some people constantly wear a sour look – they go about glaring at the world. It doesn’t make them easy to relate to but tends to turn people away. I admit sometimes for no apparent reason I am not in a good mood. I just feel down. Things go wrong and suddenly that bad mood escalates. At that point I have a choice. I can continue in that mood. Or I can try and look at the positives in my life, … 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 →

A Wedding Ring for Your Man?

Trends come and go in marriage as they do in other aspects of life. In my parent’s generation, the men never wore wedding rings. If you look around at many elderly men you will see few wedding rings. By the time we Mick and I married there was so starting to change. Yet, even in my husband’s age group one time I looked around the guys we were with, some of whom were a few years younger than us, and Mick was he only man wearing a wedding ring. Mick is not one for wearing jewelry apart from his watch, … Continue reading →