As we head into Father’s Day weekend, I’d like to challenge you as a dad with something my wife and I were discussing last night. How is your emotional relationship with each of your children? Huh?! I had to give […]
You Hurt My Feelings
Those four words — “You hurt my feelings” — are my least favorite words to hear from my wife. I’d rather hear, “I love you?” What’s most difficult about those four words is that you can’t deny them. Feelings are […]
A Dirty Little Parenting Secret
Let’s call it “dramatic license,” as I totally adore my family and wouldn’t trade them or my life with anyone else, but at this moment, time, and place, I don’t like them very much. Just as movies often put up […]
My Wife Talks Back
No, I’m not writing about my wife talking back to me, but rather giving her a chance to speak her mind after all these columns in which I’ve spoken for her. To be fair (to me), I always run any column about her, by her, […]
Why Second Marriages Are So Much Harder
One might think that second marriages would be easier and succeed more often than first marriages. At least that might be a first instinctual reaction. But, on reflection and upon learning the statistics, it becomes clear why second (and third, […]
Couples Need Couples
While on a recent vacation, my wife and I had a stimulating discussion with friends about friends. We were enjoying a meal with two other couples and one of the men asked the question, “Have you found many couples that […]
She Makes More Money!
A recent Pew Research Center study called “Women, Men and the New Economics of Marriage (Jan. 19, 2010 by Richard Fry and D’Vera Cohn) revealed that women are making much more money, over the recent past, than at any other […]
A Reminder from My Wife
How’s your summer going? My wife and I were laying in bed last night and she reminded me only a few more weeks are left until the kids start school back up. That got me thinking… Now would be a […]
[A DAD’S POINT-OF-VIEW] What Do We Have In Common?
While on a recent skiing trip, I had a casual dinner with casual friends, including a couple that had been married, divorced, and were now dating again. As is so often the case, on the surface, they looked great together, […]
Have you recession-proofed your marriage?
There’s a lot of attention on the economy right now and the difficult times we’re in – and many people are worrying and preoccupied with their finances and economic struggles. This type of stress can take its toll on you […]
Are You Ready for Some… Valentines?
Well, the big Sunday is coming! NO, not Super Bowl Sunday… the one after that. 🙂 Valentines DAY! Got plans for the big day of romance with your special woman? I personally don’t like the idea of focusing just one […]
[A DAD’S POINT-OF-VIEW] Marriage — It’s Complicated
My wife took me to see Nancy Meyers’ new movie, It’s Complicated, which stars Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, and Steve Martin. She had seen it a day or two before and wanted to see it with me saying, “It would […]
[A DAD’S POINT-OF-VIEW] Stuck Between My Wife and the Kids
In every marriage, spouses face an inevitable choice between their children and their spouse. It is a classic dilemma that confronts every couple and one that is inescapable and difficult. It is especially true in second marriages, like mine. I […]
[A DAD’S POINT-OF-VIEW] What I Learned This Past Holiday Season
Every holiday season brings both wonderful times and challenging family situations for most of us, my family included. This past season included the first visit to our home of my in-laws, the first time my sons and I would be […]
[HUSBAND@HOME] Exorcisms Performed Nightly
Our daughters sleep in the same room, in two adorable little wooden toddler beds. I would like to tell you that they sleep like little cherubs with visions of sugarplums, but it would not be accurate. Although they do resemble little angels when they sleep, it is only after their exorcisms.