These may not be unconnected. Except for the most disconnected individuals, sex is about intimacy. If you’ve got an established relationship, you can jump into sex directly and intimacy follows, but this isn’t typically how it works. Most of us need some level of emotional intimacy before things get physical. Even individuals who jump into […]
Responding first to readers have asked for help: “I am a 22 year old single mother and I have a two year old son. I was not ready for my son when I became pregnant. I love my son a lot, but lately I have not been able to deal with all the whining that […]
Before I get to the subject of this column, I want to respond to several emails from readers that who actually asked for advice: “They Won’t Let Me Drive” writes that he’s a 22 year old and his parents, with whom he still lives, insist he take “their test” before they allow him to get […]
Everyone’s got them–relatives who make you nuts and leave you wanting to shake some sense into them. S.D. writes “I have a mother who is VERY HARD to communicate with. My mother and older sister are so much alike. I’ve never had a close relationship with either of them. There are a lot of issues […]
You may not like to argue, but doing so is the only way to work through conflict in the relationship. Don’t think you can just ignore issues and they’ll go away. But arguing doesn’t have to mean yelling, screaming and hurling your cell phones at one another. There’s productive arguing and unproductive arguing. Whether you […]
One reader writes, “How do I know my mate is cheating? He tells me I’m imagining things. Maybe he’s right. Do I need to sneak around and read his texts to get proof that he’s seeing someone else?” The sad truth is that too many people are cheating. Some estimates suggest that 80% of individuals […]
Complacency is the enemy of committed relationships and it’s oh, so easy to fall into. Expecting life to go on as it has is understandable, but when you get too comfortable with your marriage, trouble is surely ahead. Daily life can be consuming and deadening. There are bills to pay, jobs that demand a lot […]
Jumping out of a marriage when the going gets rough isn’t always the best choice–let’s be honest, there are challenging moments in all relationships–but there are a lot a foolish reasons to stay if the marriage is consistently unhappy. Bad Reason For Staying #1: The reason most people give for not divorcing(when they want to […]
Get a Clear Picture of The Life You Want This is important. If you see yourself and a large family living in the mountains, you don’t need to get with a guy who doesn’t want kids or who can’t imagine living outside the city. If you dream of traveling to far off lands, don’t get […]
A frustrated husband and father writes “We have been married for about 18 months and had our first daughter six months back in June…. For the two years my wife and I dated as well as the first year of our marriage, the four of us(my parents and us) got along incredibly well…. When we […]