Relationship
Simple gestures for saying ‘I Love You’ without uttering a word (final part)
If you are in a new relationship, excitedly planning on tying the knot, or have been married for over a decade or so, keeping the flame of love at its right place is very much important to keep the intimacy for a lifetime.
But as time passes by, either party surely feels like all their surprise gestures to say I love you, are no longer working or their minds tend to scream for some help from the love and relationship experts.
Here are some tips to resurrect a dying relationship.
6. Take her on an unexpected dinner date
Organise a surprise special date for your lovely partner. You can choose the most sentimental restaurant for both of you and rent the whole place to hype up the moment. Do it on a normal day and you will witness how priceless it is to see her most contagious smile. Remember that the quality of time you spend with her is much more important than the quantity.
7. Send your partner a hand-written love letter or a poem
Bringing back the traditional could be the most romantic thing you could do for love. And that includes writing a hand-written love letter or a poem for your awesome lady. Some partners can make simple writing into a whole book made with love. Having your partner’s love letters or notes with you could bring out the joy in their hearts.
8. Compliment your partner on random moments
You will not know the prize of complimenting your partner unless you do it on random moments. Therefore, cultivate the habit of telling how lovely he or she is even in between your deep conversation, in the middle of your dinner date or while walking down the streets together.
And once you consider doing this simple yet sweet gesture, expect to see the sweetest smiles on your partner’s face on those random moments!
9. Always remember the little details told you
Girls definitely talk a lot about everything under the sun, while boys get easily irritated with this behavior, men consider it as the most romantic storytelling event on their lives.
And if you are really head over heels to your lady, always listen to whatever she is saying no matter what.
Not just that, always keep in mind even the little details she keeps on talking about like her favorite nail polish color, what irritates her the most, her favourite month or season, her favorite haircut, and so on and so forth.
10. Send your partner gifts
Sending over some gifts is one of the gestures of love. Surprise your partner by sending over some token of gifts to him or her at work, class or even on a random day. In that way, you are also sending her a message about your endless love and unparalleled affection to her.
Source Marriage.com
Parenting teens can be challenging. But it can also be a joy. The key is to know how to care for yourself, first and foremost. Before you have children, you might think that parenting will come naturally. And, to some degree, it does. But there are days (and sometimes months and years) when all parents could use some extra support.
Last week we looked at some four simple yet powerful approaches for parenting teens that build strong relationships for the long-run. Here are the remaining two:
4: Keep communication going
Because we are often busy and distracted, we do not always take the time to really focus on our kids when they’re trying to tell us something. Take advantage of the time you have together. Having dinner together as a family, using car time to talk, or chatting before bed are good ways to stay in daily touch with your teen. Prioritise quality time as well as quantity: Consider having breakfast out on the weekend as a special catch-up time to chat about the week. Or schedule monthly “family meetings” to discuss how things have been going and any conflicts that have arisen.
5. Be an empathetic listener
Listening with empathy and caring is one of the most important tips on parenting a teenager. Researchers have shown that people’s brain patterns synchronise when they listen closely to one another and watch each other’s expressions. As a result, the connection between them becomes stronger. Not feeling truly heard can lead to isolation and lack of self-esteem which are the root causes of anxiety, depression, and substance abuse. Therefore, take listening seriously. It’s not just a way of coping with teenagers; it has an enormous impact on their well-being.
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SHE did not find out he was cheating. She found out he was drowning.
It was two weeks after their beautiful wedding. The jollof was still in the fridge. A loan officer called her number—not his—and politely asked, “Madam, please tell your husband to pay his overdue loan. We have been calling him.”
That was how she discovered her new husband had entered their marriage with a hidden debt of over GH¢40,000. No cheating. No other woman. Just a financial secret.
And that is how many Ghanaian marriages begin to die. Not with a shout, but with a secret alert on a phone.
In my therapy/counselling office in Accra, week after week, I sit with couples whose marriages are not broken by infidelity, but by invoices. If you ask me what is quietly killing Ghanaian marriages today, I will tell you without blinking: it is not that love has died; it is that money honesty never lived.
We prepare for the wedding. We do not prepare for the wallet.
What is money honesty?
Let me define it simply. Money honesty is not that you both earn the same. It is that you both know the same. It is the ability to sit down and say without fear:
“This is how much I earn.”
“This is how much I owe.”
“This is how I was raised to see money.”
“This is what scares me about money.”
Financial transparency is not about control. It is about clarity. You cannot build trust on top of secrets.
Many couples tell me, “Counselor, we love each other, love will handle money.” I always answer, “Love is the car, but money honesty is the fuel. Love without honesty cannot move.”
Why do Ghanaian partners hide money?
From my clinical observation, it is not always wickedness. It is often woundedness.
1. The fear of losing power: Especially for men, money is seen as power. “If she knows how much I have, she will control me or disrespect me.” So he hides.
2. Family entanglement: “If my wife knows I give my mother GH¢1,500 every month, there will be trouble.” So he creates a second MoMo account. Many Ghanaian marriages have three accounts—his, hers, and the secret family one.
3. Past trauma: A woman who grew up in a home where her mother begged for chop money will never be honest about her savings. She is not greedy. She is scared. She is saving for her survival.
4. Debt shame: In Ghana today, with easy access to Qwikloan, Fido, and bank salary loans, many young men and women enter marriage already drowning in debt. They hide it because they feel, “If I tell him/her, they won’t marry me.”
So the hiding begins. And that is where the insurance lapses.
The 3 Devastating Prices You Pay For Financial Secrecy
Research from Kansas State University found that arguments about money are the number one predictor of divorce, more than arguments about children, in-laws, or sex. Why? Because money arguments are never about money. They are about trust, respect, and security.
Price 1: It destroys trust faster than infidelity.
When you discover your spouse has a secret child, you are hurt. When you discover your spouse has a secret debt that loan officers are now chasing YOU for, you feel betrayed and foolish. Clients tell me, “Counselor, I can forgive cheating, but I cannot forgive that he made me look like a fool at the bank.”
Price 2: It creates chronic anxiety in your home.
A home where money is a mystery is a home where no one sleeps well. The wife is always checking his phone not for other women, but for loan alerts. The husband is always anxious when his wife says, “Can we talk?” You cannot have intimacy where there is financial anxiety.
Price 3: It teaches your children to lie.
Children are watching. When daddy says, “Tell anyone who calls that I am not around because of money,” you are teaching your son that lying about money is normal. We are raising a generation of financially dishonest partners.
