Dr. Josh, you were amazing! Thanks so much for everything!
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I’ll be speaking at the Council on Contemporary Families spring conference at Augustana College on Friday and Saturday April 16th, 2010 on the topic : Stay or Go For the Sake of the Kids
Once upon a time we assumed that the weight gain that fathers sometimes added when their wives were pregnant was sympathy weight: mom was eating for 2, why shouldn’t Dad join in on the extra calories? Other theories saw Dad’s changes as somehow neurotic-that Dad envied his wife’s pregnancy and wanted to be a little pregnant too! Read More
To be in a healthy relationship you have to be able to complain and to be able to hear your partner’s complaints. Knowing how to raise a complaint and work it through is a key survival skill. This will be the first in a 2-part series on conflict resolution. Today’s section is on setting the stage for a productive interaction.
1
Decide What You Want Before You Talk to Your Partner
Your ability to get what you want from your partner will be directly related to how much clarity you have about what you want him or her to change. Watch out for guilt here because guilt may prevent you from getting clear about what you want.
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Having children opens a whole new area of your relationship. Make sure to work as a team to raise the child and doing house work. If one partner is bearing most of the responisbilites, it can make for a very stressful atmosphere which can be negative for the baby as well as the couple’s relationship.
According to a recent survey by the Associated Press and MTV, what makes young people the most happy is spending time with family. The open-ended questionnaire on the nature of happiness drew that response from one in five respondents of 1,280 people, ages 13 through 24. Spending time with friends scored next on the happiness meter, followed by time with a significant other. Read More
All of this passion around football season makes me question my membership in the club of Male Identity. I assume it’s a bad sign that I find more stimulation going with my wife to the Nordstrom’s Petite section than I do crouched forward with my drunken friends, watching Jerry Rice snatch yet another touchdown in some green, god-forsaken end zone. At least in the women’s dressing room, watching my wife try on a new floral disaster, I can scream “NO! NO! NO!” and sound like my buddies watching the other team score with only ten seconds left on the clock. Read More
Holiday gatherings are supposed to be a time to eat heartily and bask in the presence of our loved ones. So why do many of us leave the table feeling empty? Read More
Marriage requires you to be 100% selfish and 100% selfless. You have to make sure all of your own needs are attended to, but you also have to ensure that all of your partner’s needs are met as well.
Make sure you talk with your spouse about core values that you would like to bestow to your child. Talk through disagreements and find solutions to any oppositions who may have in regards to the issue.
NPR Talk of the Nation: How women’s increased economic and educational power are changing marriage.
NPR: Tom Ashbrook interviews Dr Coleman and Kathleen Gerson on “Women Bringing Home the Bacon”
PBS Life Part 2: Boomer Grandparenting
NY Times: Working Women Say Their Marriage Is Richer For It
NPR On Point with Tom Ashbrook
Dr. Joshua Coleman is an internationally known expert in parenting, families, and relationships. He is Co-Chair of the Council on Contemporary Families and is a psychologist with a private practice in the San Francisco Bay Area.
What are some tips for new step-families?
Coming into a step family or blended family can be a challenge for every member of the new family. The main thing to remember is that you are not there to replace the old family and its members. You are simply coming together to form a new family that may have separate values or traditions than the previous families.