Tammie's Take~

Signs that it’s Time to Seek Marriage Counselling

Reviews · May 30, 2017

In the modern world, divorce can be an unfortunate fact of life. You are so busy juggling work, raising the kids, and dealing with the 24/7 nature of modern life, that you forget that marriages take work and effort too. Like many others, if you notice any of these signs in your relationship, you may benefit from the professional advice of a marriage counselor, who can help you to recognize and repair issues in your relationship, before it reaches breaking point.

Thinking Negative Thoughts about Your Spouse

Everyone has moments of annoyance or anger at a loved one, but when your thoughts about your partner are often, or even mostly, negative you may have a problem. Internal feelings of passive aggression that may not even be acted upon or voiced, can still lead to a build up of aggravation, and result in you viewing your spouse more as a hindrance than a partner. You may feel like you wish your spouse would change either themselves or their actions. Even if your feelings are for a valid reason, they are not conducive to a good relationship, and could be a sign that you are not communicating properly with your loved one.

Lack of Communication

Perhaps you feel like your significant other does not understand your point of view, or always takes things you say the wrong way. Some couples may even find they end up avoiding conversation in an effort to prevent arguments, especially in front of the kids. Feeling unable to bring things up is a sure sign that your communication is suffering, and this can be a serious problem in relationships. Minor issues can be blown out of proportion by assumptions of ill-intent on both sides, and if you often find yourselves not talking, or giving each other the silent treatment, then the communication skills often taught in counseling could help.

Your Lifestyles No Longer Seem Compatible

People change and grow as they get older, and hopefully their loved ones go through these same changes with them. Problems can arise when couples mature at different rates, or find themselves with differing priorities at certain stages of life. Your partner may be focused on working in a corporate environment, and building their career, while you are looking to expand your family or concentrate on matters within the home. These opposing aims can create conflict and tension within your marriage.

A common lifestyle issue with couples is financial responsibility, particularly when one partner is the breadwinner, and ideas on finances are different. Parenting also raises significant challenges and can lead to a non-unified feeling between spouses. With lifestyle issues, making sure appointments fit into your schedules is vital. Some counselors even provide marriage counseling online, which can be extremely useful.

Conclusion

Counselors are professionals, who can help to guide couples through their problems, and teach them the communication and coping techniques to mend frayed relationships before they snap. It is not a quick fix, and in some cases counseling may not be a fix at all, but if you notice any of these issues in your marriage, it is definitely something you can look into to help give your relationship a fighting chance.

Make Sure You’re Ready For The Puppy Madness

Reviews · May 28, 2017

There are few things more adorable and affectionate than a happy puppy. But it’s not all smiles and rainbows. Besides the responsibilities that most people expect, like getting them potty trained and making sure they’re safe from just about everything with trips to the vet, there’s one side of that new furry friend that many owners don’t take into account until they see it first-hand. It’s puppy madness! Until they’re about two years old, most dogs are extremely energetic, so much so that they can get unruly. But there are a few ways you can make sure you’re equipped to handle them.

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Make sure you take them on plenty of walks

Puppies and ‘teen’ dogs have a lot more energy than their adult counterparts. If that energy isn’t spent constructively, it turns aggressive. Walking your dog is obviously crucial, but it’s even more important as a way to release that when they’re young pups. Just make sure you’re not walking them too much if they’re young in an attempt to calm them down in the evenings. Pups tend to have a tendency to play rough with their leads, too, which is where a chew proof lead could prove helpful.

Keep them off the furniture

It’s in those evenings that the puppy madness descends. For a lot of dogs, this means running circles around the home and garden and jumping up and over everything they can find. However, it might also mean they’re a little too eager to use those teeth on just about any piece of furniture and even wallpaper they can find. For dogs with stronger jaws, most toys don’t stand a chance so it’s worth considering near indestructible dog toys from TufToys. Dogs need toys and making sure that they’re getting those that can take the brunt of the damage will take their attention away from the stuff in the home you don’t want them chewing. Of course, that doesn’t mean you can take your attention off them.

Prepare for shedding

For a breed that casts, hair clean-up will likely always be a part of your life. However, when they’re in puppy madness mode, it gets worse than ever since they will get that hair just about everywhere they can. A good dog grooming brush from places like the Pet Store needs to be part of your daily arsenal, helping to get rid of most of the loose hair before they have a chance to spread it around the whole home.

Getting them trained

How do you combat puppy madness? Besides waiting it out as they mature, if you can train your dog to follow commands sooner, you’ll have better luck with them. Training is about a lot more than the potty though that’s as far as many owners go. Help from things like Rocco Puppy Training Treats can make all the difference. Low-calorie count treats allow you to reward the dog without worrying about feeding them too much, meaning they’ll learn to heel, to stay, and to drop it a lot quicker.

Puppy madness can be tiring for the owner, but there’s no denying it can be hugely endearing as well. Just hang on in there and they’ll calm down eventually.