Posts Tagged "family"

Graduation day! As most of you know my younger son graduated from law school this past Saturday.  Besides the customary platitudes, thank you’s to parents and faculty it was an exciting day  (never mind that the valedictorian in her speech, attributed a passage in the Bible, “to whom much is given, much is required”,  to, get this JFK!  Dumb Dumb. Liberals will stop at no expense to worship fellow dems even if it means stealing from the Holy Bible. It was Clint’s day and I was the typical proud father of his accomplishments.  Opportunity lies ahead.  What he will do with his degree is now up to him. It’s cost me an arm and a leg, but so be it. Aside from the typical sentimental breakdown that I usually display at these...

When my two boys left home for college the first time ( about 8 yrs ago) I was 48 yrs old. My life was moving too rapidly for me.  Where had time gone?  What had I accomplished?  Would I live another 30 yrs?  Where would I go from here?  It included all of those life and death weighty questions that more and more men are becoming aware of and are now just beginning to articulate with a little more clarity (in their own heads if not out loud).  In the past, it wasn’t really acceptable (read masculine) for men to admit their fear of mortality or their dread of aging and the bodily function failures that so often occur.  Hey I admit it, I’m scared.  So instead of admitting and discussing these apprehensive notions, we just put on gold chains,...

Couples must intentionally seek to set aside specific times for sharing, conversing, pleasure, and intimacy.  Practically, this may mean becoming reacquainted with our spouse.  It may mean securing a baby sitter and begin dating again.  By dating I don’t mean going to a restaurant and arguing about unresolved issues or hurts over your cold french fries. It’s not sitting in a dark theatre together watching an “R” rated movie. It’s also not engaging in fault finding in the car on the way there and back home again. “Date nights” are not the appropriate time or place to resolve conflict.  It’s not very romantic.  It may however mean long walks or drives together, sending flowers, cards, or providing special favors...

Making Good Decisions-Good decision making means first evaluating, exploring and then selecting the best options. Many couples I see for counseling experience problems related to poor financial decisions and unwise time management. There are a limited number of hours in the day.  I believe it is extremely difficult and risky to spend 12 hours of the day working on the job and still expect to be fully engaged with the family.  That leaves 12 hours, within which time, our bodies and minds need rest and sleep.  So, say you sleep 6 hours, you work 12 hours, which leaves 6 hours for managing the home, raising the kids, and cultivating your marriage relationship. I’m sure it can be done, but at what toll?  At whose expense?  Do the ends justify the...

Just went though a course on Crucial Conversations by Patterson, and Grenny, I highly recommend.  Should be required reading for all married couples. Anytime you find yourself stuck, there are crucial conversations keeping you there.  We must identify the crucial conversations we are not holding or not holding well, figure out where we are going wrong and fix it.  When we fail at having effective, open conversations it can effect our personal life, our career, our relationships, and our health. We have three options:  Avoid having them, face them and handle them poorly, or face them and handle them well. Avoiding the conversation will not bring the results we want to have.  It only postpones greater anxiety and conflict. For additional help contact me at...