Could Your Marriage Survive Without A TV?

My wife and I occasionally enjoy watching the show 19 Kids and Counting which chronicles the lives of the Duggar family, a conservative Christian family that currently has nineteen children. It is extremely entertaining, is often a conversation starter, and in general is nice, wholesome, switch from the usual TV trash we as Americans are used to watching.

Last week they aired a question and answer episode where viewers got to submit questions to the family and the family got to respond. One of the questions was about whether or not the Duggars ever watched TV. Jim Bob (the dad) explained that when he and his wife first got married, a family friend challenged them to live their first year of marriage without a television. After the first year, they got a TV and were disappointed with how often they would waste their evenings away with watching countless hours of TV. Because of that, they decided to go back to the way things were and get rid of TV. (I'm not entirely sure, but I still think they have a TV to occasionally watch movies, but they definitely don't have cable.)

Whether you think that is insane or not, the idea is very intriguing to me. It got me thinking, How would my marriage change if we didn't have a TV? My wife and I would definitely talk more, and we'd probably play a lot more games with each other. In short, I think we'd be a lot more focused on each other than on the make believe world we get wrapped up in.

What do you think? Could you commit to no TV (or no video games or internet or whatever is your "entertainment time") for a certain amount of time for the sake of your marriage? What do you think about the advice not to have television during the first year of marriage?

Love it or hate it, the idea is very intriguing indeed.

Do You Brag About Your Wife?

One of my most favorite things to do when my wife and I are at an event and happen to be on opposites of the room is to brag about her to the people that I am around. Now it's no secret that men have a harder time expressing their feelings than their wives—and I'm no exception—but the years of practice have been worth it.

It's the simple things, really. A woman will notice my wife standing across the room and comment on how cute she looks and I'll say, "She is beautiful, isn't she?" If my wife isn't there with me that day, someone might say, "I really wish she could have come," and I'll point out the fact that I really do miss her. Sometimes when we happen to be around a big group of little girls, I'll resort to childhood games to get my point across. I'll whisper in a little girl's ear that I think I like "that girl over there" and ask if they can go see if she likes me too. Little kids love gossiping about relationships so they usually have a ball delivering messages back and forth between my wife and me.

15 Minutes To A Peaceful Wife

It's so interesting to me how the mood in the home can change as the messes around the house grow. When our house starts getting cluttered (and when life is so busy we don't have real time to deal with it), my wife gets visibly distraught. She just feels overwhelmed and has a hard time feeling at peace in her own home. And not feeling "at home" when you're at home is never a great feeling.

There was one day not too long ago when our house was definitely on the cluttered side. We were very busy and didn't have time to devote to a real cleaning, and that familiar feeling of being overwhelmed was starting to show itself. It was then that I remembered an idea I had heard about quite a long time ago about a 15 minute cleaning spree. The idea is simple: everyone in the house stops what they're doing and cleans for fifteen minutes – no more, no less.  We divided up the most necessary tasks, set the timer, put on some music, and went to cleaning.

It really is amazing how much you can get done when you're focused. The big stuff got done in no time and I was even able to start on some of the little stuff (like de-cluttering the top of my desk). When the alarm when off at fifteen minutes, we stopped cleaning, and went back to work on what we were doing beforehand. Later that day my wife told me how much she appreciated the idea and how much better it made her feel having the house back in order. And if fifteen minutes was all it took to make my wife feel more at peace in her own home, it was time well spent.

iamhusband Gets A Facelift

I have always been a big fan of the simplicity of this site. iamhusband.com has never been too fancy to look at or too complicated to use, and I've liked that. However, seeing as how this site is weeks away from it's two-year birthday and it really hasn't seen any changes (besides the occasional background color change), its look has grown a little stale and I've long since wanted to make improvements. Thanks to Blogger's release of Template Designer two days ago, I've finally been able to give this site the facelift it's needed. Do let me know what you think.

I continue to be amazed at how well this site has done (in spite of its frequent neglect) over the last two years. Today we stand at 710 subscribers, the largest amount to date. I am humbled by its success and hope that it can continue to be a resource for husbands all over the world.

Definitelly keep checking back. New content is on its way!

Do You Remember The Day You Met?

I always love hearing stories about how couples met. It is so intriguing to me to hear about how two completely different people in the world happen to bump into each other at a seemingly random event, and through that meeting, history is made. It makes me think of that Brad Paisley song, All Because Two People Fell In Love. It simply is amazing.

My wife and I are days away from celebrating the anniversary of the day we met. It really isn't that I intended to remember the date way back when (and I most certainly had no idea what would become of us back then), but it just so happened to be at a special event we both attended which made the date easy to remember. We met and spent the remainder of the day talking and talking. We talked about everything and nothing and I quickly realized that I really liked this girl.

Do you remember the day you and your wife met? Do you celebrate that day in your relationship? If not, I encourage you to do so. More than anything it is fun to reminisce together about your crazy story. I like to hear my wife talk about what she was thinking and feeling at the time. Your wife will also appreciate that you're thinking about your relationship on a day other than your wedding anniversary.

Remember the unexpected gift at an unexpected time? Surprising your wife with a special date on the day you both met (or around the day you both met if its a little fuzzy to you*) will touch her heart and, in turn, touch your marriage.

Does anybody want to share about the moment you met your wife? Was it love at first sight or did it take a while for you two to grow on each other?

*If you don't remember the day you met, but you know that she does, make sure you get that information out of her during some casual event. If you get the date wrong, she'll most likely be distracted by that when you surprise her and it could ruin the effect you were going for.