Summer days and nights bring out the outdoorsman in almost all of us, and a few brave souls actually answer the call by packing up their tents, sleeping bags, and marshmallows and heading for the nearest (or furthest) campground. What can we learn about marriage from these hardy souls? For 7 ways camping in the great outdoors is similar to the great adventure we call marriage, see my post here at Wedded Bliss.
photo credit: wildxplorer
I’m about to do something I loathe: I’m going to offer you a little unsolicited advice. I loathe this mostly because I loathe receiving it. If I want your opinion, I’ll ask. Otherwise, I find it rather insulting to be offered advice nilly willy, as if I haven’t the brains to think something through for myself.
For this topic, however, experience counts. No matter how smart you are, how savvy, how very much in love with your husband-to-be, you can’t hold a candle to experience. So here it is, the one thing I think every newly married couple absolutely ought to do:
Nope, it’s not here.
It’s over here, in my post at Wedded Bliss.
No, no, not me! That’s not my sentiment. (Hello, Mother-in-Law, Faithful Reader that you are.) But it’s a sentiment that’s echoed in women’s circles day in and day out. When it comes to the women who raised our husbands, there’s rarely middle ground. As newlyweds, we try to embrace one another’s families. We put on our manners, our best game face, and avoid discussing “hot button” topics. We try, as new wives, we really do. But in time, we discover that people are people. There are bound to be disagreements.
Love ‘em or loathe ‘em, they’re here to stay. And we should be glad for that—because if all goes well, one day we’ll be the mother-in-law. M-I-L’s to-be, that’s us. Needless to say, it’s to our benefit to figure out how to live with them. Not literally, of course (!), but to survive, and even thrive, as part of the same family.
Today, over at Blissfully Wed, I offer a few suggestions for navigating these waters. Hope you’ll pop by and read ’em.
photo credit: blhphotography