I was intrigued by a recent article in the OP/ED section of our newspaper, “Ten reasons to live without a smartphone.” As I read numerous studies regarding the ways in which smartphones impact relationships, this caught my attention. The author cites the high percentage of smartphone users in the 18 to 49 age bracket and…
DetailsI was recently reminded while reading an article from Parenting with Love and Logic of the crucial nature of empathy. It is the cornerstone upon which our entire relational house is built. And, while they are primarily focused on parent’s relationships with their children, the principle applies to all relationships – especially those with our…
DetailsWhen my boys were young we liked to do a lot of camping and fishing. We had one particularly favorite spot in central California that was called Dinkey Creek. Great memories were built there. While Jeremy, the oldest, would float in the water on an air mattress, Jason would sit on the bank and throw…
DetailsI recently read a story written by Dr. Bo Brock, a Texas veterinarian, about his grandparents. It seems that his grandmother would sprinkle his granddad’s work pants with starch and iron them every day. This struck Bo as odd, because, as a farmer, many days his Papaw would not see another person the entire day. …
DetailsKevin, a web developer, realized his level of addiction one evening. He found that he and his wife would come home from work each day, eat dinner half talking, half catching up on things on their cell phones, and then turn on the TV and each zone out in their separate phone worlds the rest…
DetailsWhile we have talked about “Love” in previous posts, it has been awhile and the discussion is always ongoing. I appreciate the words of one author, in her discussion of the powerful influence of media. She writes that it took her 30 years to discover important aspects of ethical relationships that she had never seen…
DetailsI remember as a kid that Christmases were my favorite time of the year. We almost always spent the holiday with my Aunt, Uncle and cousins, who were such great fun. They lived in another state and they either came to our house or we went to theirs. We looked forward to getting together and…
DetailsIf you are single and are dating, the answer to the above question is a resounding “Yes!” However, others may be inclined to say, “Nope. I quit dating 25 years ago when I got married.” While I understand the thinking, I would contend that rather than marriage be the end of dating it should instead…
DetailsYes! Co-parenting can be extremely challenging as parents frequently arrive at the table with two very different views of just what good parenting looks like. But as tough as that is, what happens if you add a divorce to the mix? If you are divorced, you are probably thinking, “Trying to co-parent is worse than…
DetailsWhen reading that question you may think, “I don’t have any unspoken rules,” and perhaps you don’t – now. But my suspicion is that you probably have a few, and when you were first married you had a ton of them. You see “unspoken rules” are those ways that we have of doing things that…
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