Posts Tagged ‘family’
The Names we use Matter
Our second granddaughter finally has a name. Born over a month ago, her parents took their sweet, merry time before committing it to official record. In the interim, this bonny lass (her father is of Irish-Scottish descent) ‘tried on’ a dozen names before the right fit was found. Her name, Theresa Mairead, links her to…
Read MoreSleep Deprivation
Sleeping our way to a successful marriage Our granddaughter is three months old. She is pure delight and we are loving being Nonnina and Nonno. Naturally her parents are experiencing the ‘joy’ of extended sleep-deprivation; she is indeed very cute, but not so much at three in the morning. It takes us back. With relief…
Read MoreLike Father, Like Mother
In our household, the traditional stereotypes of father as disciplinarian and mother as comforter don’t describe us very well and that’s probably a good thing. However, we do tend to parent quite differently. Byron is more likely to provide study or career planning advice, and to engage with the children around sport. He’s more likely…
Read MoreThe Hidden Cost of a Fear Driven Lifestyle
Have you heard of FOMO? It stands for ‘Fear Of Missing Out’ and it’s an epidemic in our culture. Many parents fall into the FOMO trap wanting their child to experience every possible opportunity that might give them a competitive advantage over their peers. Not only does it make childhood hectic and stressful, young people…
Read More24/7 Connected
Our young adult son is in a blue funk. He and his flatmates have been unable to get the internet connected to their new place for over 4 weeks. They’ve all maxed out their mobile phone plans and to hear them talk you would think it was a major offence against their human rights. We…
Read MoreA Marriage in Trouble
Stepping Out of the Blender: The Keys of Successful Blended Families Chuck and Melinda were both married and divorced before meeting each other. Married to each other for 5 years, they have two step-children between them. Chuck’s son from his previous marriage primarily lives with his mother, but comes to stay one night a week…
Read MoreAbstinence
It’s easy for parents to despair of teaching their kids abstinence. According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute (the research arm of Planned Parenthood), 70% of teens will have had vaginal intercourse by the time they are 19 and the average age of teens’ first sexual encounter is…
Read MoreBe Not Afraid: Advice for the New Husband
William called our radio program with a question. “I’m getting married next month. I love Bethany, my fiancée, so much, and I can’t believe how blessed I am that she said, ‘yes’ but as the wedding is getting closer, I’m having a hard time sleeping at night. It’s not like I’m getting cold feet. …
Read More8 Habits of Healthy Couples
Author Dr Gregory Popcak My newest book, When Divorce Is Not An Option: How to Heal Your Marriage and Nurture Lasting Love looks at the eight habits that healthy couples cultivate in their relationship and describes, step-by-step how couples who are struggling can develop those habits in their relationship. There’s a lot of confusion about…
Read MoreMy Many Marriages
We all understand that our marriages go through their ups and downs, but we often don’t appreciate that they also go through fundamental changes over the years. We have come to realise that we have actually had several marriages already in our 26 years together. For example, there was the ‘newlywed marriage’ where we were…
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