Depression makes me want to stay in bed and cry—but being a wife and mother helps me to get up.
Whether or not researchers have Blue Monday (this year, today, January 13) pinned accurately as the most depressing day of the year, the winter months can be a particularly challenging time for those who struggle with depression. The cold weather, holidays and reduced daylight hours are enough to make anyone feel a little bit sad. But depression is so much more than just feeling sad. Depression is sadness and it’s hopelessness, fear, a paralyzing sense that this is how you’re going to feel forever, that this misery is never going to go away, things won’t get better. Then there’s the guilt: the guilt that comes from feeling like you’re failing everyone around you. Like you should be able to snap out of this and come back to life. Feeling like you’re letting everybody down.
He talks about her often. In fact, we have a lot in common.
I was talking to a relationship counselor about some of the guys I've dated, and she was particularly interested in the one who seemed, on paper, the most different from me.
"I was very comfortable with him. I could be myself around him. The day-to-day things were easy. We liked the same music. We drank the same beer. Our interests and lifestyles were very similar. We both volunteered. We were both close with our families. I got along with his brother." None of this seemed alarming or interesting to the counselor.
Some relationship details will only worry your mother.
You and your mom may be besties, but some relationship details you should keep to yourself.
If you have a close, communicative, tell-each-other-everything relationship with your mom, that's great (and rare). But, like it or not, your mom does come from a different generation.
Relationship experts offer their go-to hot spots for single moms looking for love.
Now that I'm divorced and a single mother, I don't have much of a social life. Finding quality, eligible men feels more like a pipe dream. Meanwhile, my expectations and standards for a potential boyfriend are much higher now that I have children. And at my age I have a low tolerance for losers.
Believe it or not, making time for yourself makes you a better wife and mom.
Time is the most valuable commodity and we all get the same 24 hours in a day. It's amazing how differently we all prioritize those precious hours, though. Being the giving, nurturing creatures that we are, its easy to forget about ourselves.
How to stay romantically connected with your husband, and be a good example for your children.
When two people love each other, nothing is better than raising a family together. That said, parents often put their parenting and career responsibilities at the top of their priority list, and allow their marriage to fall to the bottom. Most parents are on an endless treadmill of chores, meals and responsibilities, and forget to invest in nurturing each other.
Anne Hathaway, Eva Longoria, Kim Kardashian and little sis Khloe K are all longing to be moms.
I think it's hard to admit that you want kids. After all, we're told that this is the quickest thing that makes guys run the other way. But if you want something, you have to say it out loud—right? So I applaud these celebrity women who, since the start of 2011, have been totally upfront about wanting to have kids sometime in the very near future. Maybe it's going around?
No matter how hectic your life is, you should be your top priority.
Today's modern woman has taken on a lot more responsibility than ever before and is now learning to balance a career, motherhood, household upkeep and a loving relationship. How is it possible to evenly give attention to each one of these daily occurrences?
Does the plot of 'I Don't Know How She Does It?' sound familiar? Here's how to beat the stress.
How does the stress of being a busy mom affect us? We overeat, do not exercise, and of course our sex life goes kaput, as does our intimacy with our partner, our confidence and our self-esteem. More and more, we see mothers suffering from the deadly disease of perfectionism. You assume that to "do it right," you must execute all tasks flawlessly and ignore the need for self-care. In turn, we see higher rates of exhaustion-related illnesses, low self-esteem and partner-related issues, due to mother's burn out. It's time to drop the "supermom" ideal.
Having a healthy sex life can make your home—and your family—a happier place.
Welcome to our new YourTango Expert series on motherhood and love! Women are natural givers who do their best to make sure everyone else's needs (and wants) are met, often at the expense of their own. After all, there are only 24 hours in a day, right? Our first topic is sex, because countless studies and surveys show that moms are chronically overworked and undersexed. We recently asked our experts how can mothers shift their mental energy (their attitudes and approach to sex) and their physical energy (their schedules, their bedroom routines) to help make sex more of a priority.
YourTango Experts teach us how to nurture our children, our relationship and ourselves.
For most parents, children are a gift to our lives and motherhood is one of the highest callings we can have in life. But as any mom knows, it's also one of the most intense jobs in the universe. It's 24/7, non-stop and never ending.Moms the world over are in need of more than just one holiday to celebrate the intense commitment made to their children and in this week's new YourTango Experts spotlight "Motherhood & Love", our experts will share wisdom on how to juggle it all and stay not just sane, but happy!
