howtomakemywifehappy

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Japanese Men Want to Make Their Wives Happy

According to the Washington Post, the men in Japan are now looking for ways to make their wives happy. There is a club that men now frequent to learn how to say "I love you" and to learn other ways to make their wives happy.

According to the Post it is because there is a new law in Japan that allows women to take 50% of the husband's pension. So now men are looking at how to keep their pension. Hmmmm.....do you really think that is the only reason they want to make their wives happy?

Read the stories in the Washington Post and tell me what you think.

Faces To Make My Wife Happy

This is just a funny little video I found on YouTube tonight that an older man made and if you need a chuckle, you might chuckle at this. Or not.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq6M4NXT55Y

Let's see if you can get there from here.

Laurie

The Relationship Mentors At Home

When I read websites and articles on the Internet I always wonder about the people who are writing the articles. And sometimes they tell me and I am happy. And so, for all of you who are wondering about us, I thought I'd tell you a few facts that will help you picture us.

We are Canadians! (and Canada has just won 18 medals at the Beijing Summer Olympics! Yaay!)

We live in a beautiful little city on the tip of an island on the western side of the continent. We live in a pretty little house which is surrounded by Maple, Oak, Arbutus and Fir trees. Out our kitchen window is a waterfall! Not too far a walk from our front door is a path up a hill that affords a view of the city and the harbor. And yet we live in a suburb of the city with neighbours all around us too!

We live here with our dog, Jujube (see picture). Our children are grown up and have not lived at home for many years now. We do enjoy the grandchildren visits!

Although Helmuth has lived on three continents, I have only lived in one 500 mile area. Its exciting working on the 'net now and connecting with people from around the world.

We like to spend our time together and I (Laurie) will testify that my husband knows how to make me happy. I do my best to reciprocate.

We are both introverts (people who recharge their batteries by being on their own) but we do like to socialize and have a network of good friends for dinner parties, vacations, games nights and just generally hanging out.

We only met 14 years ago and have been happily married (second time for both of us) for 11 of those years. It took me a fair amount of talking to convince my man that marriage was a better option than just moving in together. And I did convince him. And if you ask him - he'll tell you he has no regrets!

I hope you enjoy this little snapshot of us.

Thai Food and Relationship Talk

We had supper at a great little Thai restaurant on Saturday night with a 30+ woman last night who is currently single. The food was really yummy – I had the Pineapple Fried Rice with Prawns, tomatoes and cashews. Mmmm.

But this blog isn’t about food – it is about relationships! So let me tell you what our friend told us about her latest relationship. Let’s call her Tanya (so she doesn’t phone me up and yell at me for telling all her secrets on the web!).

Tanya is a nurse and works in a busy downtown hospital on the surgery ward. Some days things get pretty intense on her watch. It had been one of those totally stressful days when “mister new man in her life” came along and took her out for coffee because she was having a bad day. He ordered the coffees, chatted a bit about his software business and when she was suitably settled and sipping on the latte he stop chatting and looked her directly in the eyes and said “OK, tell me about your day now.” And he just sat there, listening and nodding. Tanya said it was the greatest experience having her man just listen to her and not offer advice. She felt better about her day and was becoming definitely interested in this new man in her life.

Tanya went on to tell us that she has a male roommate – a cousin – who is in town for a 6 month contract and he has a different way of communicating. When she has a conversation with him, he is quick to interject “Did you try this” “You should do this” “It would be best if you approached it this way”. Tanya said “It is so frustrating to have a conversation with him because I feel like I’m constantly being judged and told what to do”.

Tip for men: Women need to feel their man is listening. Men can help by learning the "Mantra for Men" and practicing it often, saying to themselves, again and again... Just listen, don't give advice. Just listen, don't give advice. Just listen, don't give advice.

Is this advice helpful?

Here are two pictures from our dinner cruise. You can't see a picture of us necking....that wouldn't be polite. Ok, no one took that picture!

I am sitting here thinking about all the things I would like to say and because I am sharing this blog with my husband I'm wondering if he will think I'm being too wordy. He is "terse" - I am not. Whenever we are out, I am the chatty one and he adds one or two words to the conversation. We'll see if he gets chatty on the blog.

I read something last night that reminded me about Deborah Tannen's work on how men and women differ. Men don't ask for directions and women do. Well, guess what???? I have a great sense of direction and get myself anywhere I want to go. I can figure it out. My husband, on the other hand, asks for directions right out of the gate! We laugh that we are opposite on this point, and it just goes to show that no one is a stereotype - we are all unique. Guidelines, theories and helps are all just that - guidelines and a step up but should always be evaluated to your unique situation.