Dear Shaunti, I’ve been dating a wonderful man for two years and he wants to get married, but I’ve been a single mom for almost eight years – and I just can’t get past the fact that 60 percent (or more) of second marriages don’t make it. Should I even get married again, and if I do, how can I protect myself and my kids and yet give this new marriage the best chance? – Seriously Nervous Nellie Dear Seriously... Read more
Dear Shaunti: My wife and I have been married for five years, and I’ve had back surgery more pleasant than my marriage is right now. We know most marriages aren’t great, but thought we would be the exception to the rule. But since we’re not, I think it would be best to cut our losses before we have kids, part ways and go on with our lives. I should have listened to my brother and gotten a dog and a... Read more
Dear Shaunti: I’ve been married for 15 years, and my wife is a great mom, a great wife, and my best friend. I feel like things are going great. My wife, on the other hand, has started telling me that we’ve “settled” for a mediocre marriage. I tell her I love her every day, but sometimes she will still say things like, “Do you really love me?” I finally asked her why she would even wonder that, and she said... Read more
Dear Shaunti, I really struggle with the whole ‘respect your husband’ thing you talk about in your book For Women Only. How do I do that? My husband has a huge amount of pride and is unable to accept any criticism or failure on his part; he always throws mistakes back on me. I can’t help but see him as irresponsible and prideful at times. I know that I have delivered some harsh criticism to him over the 14 years... Read more
Dear Shaunti: I used to really look forward to our Friday night date nights, but they’ve become a source of tension. For meetings at work, my wife is spot on time. But for our dates, she takes SO LONG getting ready you’d think she’s about to compete on “Dancing with the Stars.” I’m a pretty patient guy, but I’m tired of missing our dinner reservations – or rushing, and stressing, and making them by mere seconds. Last night, I tried... Read more
Dear Shaunti, I love my teenage daughter but how do I get her to stop being such a drama queen? Everything is a big tear-fest. She begged to play volleyball – but now when she doesn’t want to go to practices, she cries about the fact that none of the girls like her. And yesterday, she came home from a sleepover so upset because they played Manhunt and her friends forgot she was still outside hiding and went in to... Read more
Dear Shaunti: I read your book, For Women Only, and one thing you said scared me. You explained how men can’t not notice a woman with a good figure, but that many men try to look away so they don’t start lusting after every hot chick they see. Since I read that, whenever we’re walking around in public, I’ve been much more aware of what is “out there.” And now I realize there are provocative images everywhere. I can actually... Read more
Dear Shaunti, My husband seems to miss the point of giving me “down time.” When I get out of the house for a few hours, and he is with our five-year-old twins, I always come home to a mess! It is not like the house is trashed, but he and the kids are having such a great time together they completely ignore that I’M going to have to be the one to clean the dishes piled in the sink, and... Read more
Dear Shaunti, My husband and I have been married only three months – and I’ll be lucky to see four since apparently I hurt him really badly last weekend without meaning to. See, we were at a wedding and even though he’s not a dancer he knew I used to love to go dancing before I met him. So he gave it a shot and went out on the dance floor. It was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen and... Read more
Dear Shaunti, For years now, my wife has been talking about how great it would be to rent a condo and spend a full week in a cottage at the beach. So for her birthday I surprised her with reservations for fall break. She was so excited – until she learned that I agreed to take an extra shift at work this summer to pay for it. She keeps complaining that I will miss family time while the kids are out of school. I’m busting my tail for something she wants… and she’s complaining. I have to tell my boss next week what my schedule will be, and I don’t know what to do. Read more
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