Drink up, couples of the world — it may save your relationship.  People are constantly trying to find new methods and hidden secrets behind the success of a relationship. Is it understanding? Courtesy? Patience? Turns out it’s alcohol. According to a study published in The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Series, couples who drink alcohol together reported a less negative relationship quality over time, and the results were “significantly greater among wives.” The study found that couples over the age 50 had better marriages if both partners drank or if both partners abstained from drinking. However, if one person in the relationship remained sober while the other drank, couples…

Rita Templeton originally posted this on Scary Mommy. I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t indifference. He held our baby, of course. Posed for pictures, face-to-face with our squishy newborn, smiling. Changed an obligatory diaper here and there, and napped with the baby on his chest, as most dads do. But I couldn’t shake the gnawing feeling that my husband wasn’t as in love with our child as I was, and it planted a seed of fear that he wouldn’t be the kind of dad I’d hoped he’d be. Maybe I was paranoid, having grown up largely without a father myself. For my children, I wanted a hands-on…

My son just turned 10, which means he’s just a few years away from being a teenager. If that isn’t enough to make me just a little bit queasy, I just realized the other day that he is only four years away from being the age my husband and I were when we met. Yep, we were 14 years old when we met and had our first date. We broke up a few months later, but got back together a year later, when we were 15, and have been together ever since. When I think of my son meeting his actual freaking wife in a just a few short years,…

When you have a child or two, expenses can really rev up. Diapers, rice cereal, pureed kale, child care, pre-school, Mandarin lessons, ski instruction, Disney World, psychotherapy, Kanyeconcerts (tour canceled, phew) and the list goes on. Along with more joy in your life comes its partner—more debt. Deciding to reduce your debt is often smart — and for some people it’s essential. Here’s how: Step 1 Make a list—spreadsheets accepted—of all your debts, ranked from highest interest rate to lowest. Most people don’t know how much they owe. Now you will. (The average household has $17,000 in credit card debt alone.) Step 2 Make a reasonable, achievable goal. How much…

Marriage can be fragile at times, especially at the beginning stages of your new life together. Learning to navigate through the rough patches can seem like a never-ending maze with too many dead ends. Life can also seem like this when you’ve been married for a long time – even if it’s only been a few years. You start to question whether you married the right person or if your marriage is worth all the hardship. You start to believe the lies that society tells about marriage and pretty soon you’re ready to sign the divorce papers. Before you get to this point, it’s important to know what these lies…

They might be 30, or 75. They come in all colors, shapes, sizes and income brackets. It doesn’t matter how long they’ve been together. Whatever the demographics, when you see a happy couple, you just know it! How do these couples stay in love, in good times and in bad? Fortunately, the answer isn’t through luck or chance. As a result of hard work and commitment, they figure out the importance of the following relationship “musts.” Because few couples know about all of the musts, I think of them as the relationship “secrets.” Happy Couples and Their Secrets 1. Develop a realistic view of committed relationships. Recognize that the crazy…