Modern day television sitcoms often portray women as emotionally needy, manipulative, and overly controlling. You can hardly flip through the channels anymore without finding a show that breaks down the quality of marriage in the eyes of its viewers. You see men sitting around, trying to enjoy some guy time, complaining about their nagging women and how they demand all of their time – how their women are never satisfied. On the same show, you are likely to see women sitting around talking about how dumb their men are, in not so many words and usually ending in canned laughter. Hollywood has … [Read more...]
Pre-Engaged Defined (Is Pre-Engagement Counseling for Me?)
Some of you might be wondering, "What exactly does it mean to be pre-engaged?" We consider pre-engagement to be the period of time when a couple has become seriously interested in pursuing marriage, but they have not yet reached the point of engagement. Relationships often go through these stages, in order: meeting; forming interest; dating; courting, ending with a period of deciding if marriage should be pursued; engagement; and then culminating in marriage. Pre-engagement is the period of decision; it is the fork in the road between, "Do we go our separate ways?" or "Should we move forward … [Read more...]
In Front of Others
How does your boyfriend/girlfriend treat you in front of other people? Do you feel built up when you are in public together? Does he highlight your good points to his friends? Does he brag on you? Does she mention the positive things about you when you are out with other couples? Do her girlfriends hope for a man as wonderful as you after they spend time with you and your girlfriend? It is exceedingly important that a man and woman in a relationship heading toward marriage speak to each other with respect in private; however, this is just as essential in public as well. Many people choose … [Read more...]
The Fantasy of Marriage
For years, I wanted a Golden Retriever puppy. At work, I would sit and daydream about how wonderful it would be to have that sweet bundle of puppy fur. We would get up, eat, cuddle, sleep some more, cuddle some more, and then go for a walk. Day after day, month after month, I dreamed of this puppy. When we finally called our breeder for an initial interview, I became teary-eyed. My dream was finally coming true! As I type this, my precious dream is whining her head off! She's beautiful, but so much work. Some nights as she's whining, I lie in bed and ask myself, "What was I thinking?" … [Read more...]
Our Furry, Four-Legged Friends (Talking about Pets)
Pets can be a wonderful asset to your life and... can also be an aggravation to your life if you are not in a position to take care of them. This issue can be a point of contention. Some people grow up with pets and cannot imagine a home without them. Others are not raised with pets and can't imagine a home with them. It could be that you never had a dog and you always wanted one, while your spouse-to-be had dogs growing up and hated the shedding and constant work. Either way, having pets is an issue which needs to be completely be agreed upon in order to avoid blame, anger, and/or resentment … [Read more...]