Dispute

As our marriage has entered it’s fifth year, I feel like my wife has begun to let herself go. For one thing, she has put on a lot of weight. I still love my wife, but I would like her to take into consideration that this isn’t the person I married. I don’t want to hurt her feelings. What is a good way to go about this?

Thank you for raising this issue—I know there are probably a lot of guys out there who are thinking the same thing and applauding you for

As our marriage has entered it’s fifth year, I feel like my wife has begun to let herself go. For one thing, she has put on a lot of weight. I still love my wife, but I would like her to take into consideration that this isn’t the person I married. I don’t want to hurt her feelings. What is a good way to go about this?

Thank you for raising this issue—I know there are probably a lot of guys out there who are thinking the same thing and applauding you for

I know Valentine’s Day is coming up and I also know there’s going to be a fight at our house. I really don’t see the need to make a big deal over a date that Hallmark has decided to capitalize on when I show my spouse I love her in other ways. Can you please offer some guidance here?

I’m really glad you wrote in about this topic—it’s probably one that resonates for a lot of other people.

You are certainly right that February 14th, being a special day to commemorate love by creating Valentine’s Day is what many would

How are you planning to celebrate Valentine’s Day? If it’s up to your local retailers, you’ll be showered with flowers, eating chocolates, wearing red and looking longingly into your partner’s eyes for the evening before a passionate end to your night together. In reality, you may be lucky if you even get a card. While many couples happily celebrate their love on February 14, others find the holiday a source of contention—especially when it means more to one partner than another.

Mutually deciding not to celebrate doesn’t always work, either. According to a just-released survey by Bill Me Later and Ipsos Insight, while many couples will tell each other they don’t need to exchange gifts, 20 percent of men said that when they agreed not to exchange gifts

My husband is very insecure about an e-mail friendship I have with a man who once appeared to be romantically interested in me. It is an exclusive relationship, in that, my husband doesn't communicate with him. We have had many arguments and I have defended my right to be friends with his interference, especially because our relationship is nonsexual and I don't find my e-friend attractive. I had told [my husband] to deal with his insecurity himself. But I question my need to hang on to the friendship that does not mean that much. I know that part of the reason is I enjoy his attention and have considered it harmless fun for me. I feel my husband is acting like a dog in the manger because he's become comfortable with "owning " me.

My wife and I have been together for four years and she thinks it’s absurd that we get together every Sunday for dinner at my parents house. I'm tired of trying to get her to understand that this is something my parents enjoy doing for us and I don’t' need to hear her negativity. How do you suggest I handle this?

When people fall in love these days, most are savvy enough to know there will be differences between them. There’s an old saying that many young couples don’t consider as they make their commitment to one another: When you marry someone, you also marry the person’s family.

My mother in law happens to be the most arrogant woman on earth. She visits which is fine, but feels very comfortable constantly dropping comments about how things are done in our household—as if it were perfect where she lives, in fact, the place is a mess! She also has the nerve to make this comment: "The kids would be really special if they were well behaved." Look, I am all for my family spending as much time as possible with us and the kids, but please behave like you have some common decency in someone else’s house! Please help.

You fall in love with someone and make a commitment to that person; making it work is tough enough. But you may have also heard the expression that when you marry someone, you also marry that