Comments on: Happy families: what’s the secret? http://www.marilynstowe.co.uk/2008/04/01/happy-families-what%e2%80%99s-the-secret/ Where Family Law Meets Family Life Thu, 17 May 2012 17:28:23 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Grace http://www.marilynstowe.co.uk/2008/04/01/happy-families-what%e2%80%99s-the-secret/#comment-75 Grace Sun, 20 Dec 2009 21:59:58 +0000 http://www.marilynstowe.co.uk/2008/04/01/happy-families-what%e2%80%99s-the-secret/#comment-75 Marilyn, I think you have hit the nail on the head! If a couple nurture and care for each other as you describe; if they help each other to become all they can be, they can be fulfilled as well as happy. It is not just a question of staying together, having a "happy enough" life. It's about keeping the spark and the juice in the marriage. Everyday my husband and I take five minutes in the morning to do a Daily Temperature Reading during which we exchange appreciations, new information, puzzles, requests and wishes and hopes for the day. The results far outweigh the time it takes. I think couples often become disconnected, espescially after they become parents. It is important that they find ways such as the DTR to re-establish connection. Thanks again. It's a great blog:) Marilyn, I think you have hit the nail on the head!

If a couple nurture and care for each other as you describe; if they help each other to become all they can be, they can be fulfilled as well as happy. It is not just a question of staying together, having a “happy enough” life. It’s about keeping the spark and the juice in the marriage.

Everyday my husband and I take five minutes in the morning to do a Daily Temperature Reading during which we exchange appreciations, new information, puzzles, requests and wishes and hopes for the day. The results far outweigh the time it takes. I think couples often become disconnected, espescially after they become parents. It is important that they find ways such as the DTR to re-establish connection.

Thanks again. It’s a great blog:)

]]> By: Accepting and celebrating your life choices http://www.marilynstowe.co.uk/2008/04/01/happy-families-what%e2%80%99s-the-secret/#comment-74 Accepting and celebrating your life choices Mon, 20 Apr 2009 14:09:08 +0000 http://www.marilynstowe.co.uk/2008/04/01/happy-families-what%e2%80%99s-the-secret/#comment-74 [...] many people I’ve taken advantage of the Easter break to take a much-needed holiday. Unlike previous years, my time in Eilat - a stunning Israeli resort town on the banks of the Red Sea - was spent relaxing [...] [...] many people I’ve taken advantage of the Easter break to take a much-needed holiday. Unlike previous years, my time in Eilat – a stunning Israeli resort town on the banks of the Red Sea – was spent relaxing [...]

]]> By: 22,000 ‘thank-yous’! http://www.marilynstowe.co.uk/2008/04/01/happy-families-what%e2%80%99s-the-secret/#comment-73 22,000 ‘thank-yous’! Mon, 29 Dec 2008 11:55:19 +0000 http://www.marilynstowe.co.uk/2008/04/01/happy-families-what%e2%80%99s-the-secret/#comment-73 [...] a different note, the blog has also given me the opportunity to write a little bit about my life which I hope helps to humanise both the blog and [...] [...] a different note, the blog has also given me the opportunity to write a little bit about my life which I hope helps to humanise both the blog and [...]

]]> By: Miss Love http://www.marilynstowe.co.uk/2008/04/01/happy-families-what%e2%80%99s-the-secret/#comment-72 Miss Love Fri, 04 Apr 2008 21:41:41 +0000 http://www.marilynstowe.co.uk/2008/04/01/happy-families-what%e2%80%99s-the-secret/#comment-72 There are a million different reasons why relationsips don't work out, but a long time ago, I asked a similar question to the husband of couple that I respected very much and who had been married for almost 40 years. I asked him why he thought his marraige had been so happy and successful when so many others had failed. He thought about it for a while, laughed and said, "Well, I've worked away a lot over the years, and so I hardly ever saw my wife." At the time, I thought it was very cruel, and it didn't tie in with the fact that he was obviously devoted to his wife. But as time passed and as I found myself leading a very isolated life with my own husband, it began to make sense to me: This couple respected each other, lead relatively independant lives and valued the time that they spent together. I think it's too easy to take each other for granted, and that can lead to relationships going down the pan. http://www.missadventuresinlove.co.uk/?p=157 There are a million different reasons why relationsips don’t work out, but a long time ago, I asked a similar question to the husband of couple that I respected very much and who had been married for almost 40 years. I asked him why he thought his marraige had been so happy and successful when so many others had failed. He thought about it for a while, laughed and said, “Well, I’ve worked away a lot over the years, and so I hardly ever saw my wife.”

At the time, I thought it was very cruel, and it didn’t tie in with the fact that he was obviously devoted to his wife. But as time passed and as I found myself leading a very isolated life with my own husband, it began to make sense to me: This couple respected each other, lead relatively independant lives and valued the time that they spent together.

I think it’s too easy to take each other for granted, and that can lead to relationships going down the pan.

http://www.missadventuresinlove.co.uk/?p=157

]]> By: Judith Middleton http://www.marilynstowe.co.uk/2008/04/01/happy-families-what%e2%80%99s-the-secret/#comment-71 Judith Middleton Thu, 03 Apr 2008 21:07:41 +0000 http://www.marilynstowe.co.uk/2008/04/01/happy-families-what%e2%80%99s-the-secret/#comment-71 You have written a really beautiful piece here Marilyn, making marriage sound so noble and altruistic. Sadly I guess Outdoor Man and I are the exception that prove the rule. Two selfish individuals who have got along just fine for over twenty years and I can only put that down to the ideals that we share for which see my entry called Like Minds at http://judithsdivorceblog.blogspot.com/2008/03/like-minds.html You have written a really beautiful piece here Marilyn, making marriage sound so noble and altruistic. Sadly I guess Outdoor Man and I are the exception that prove the rule. Two selfish individuals who have got along just fine for over twenty years and I can only put that down to the ideals that we share for which see my entry called Like Minds at http://judithsdivorceblog.blogspot.com/2008/03/like-minds.html

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