Just Ask Joyce: “How can I get my wife to respect me?”

Q: “My wife is like a clanging gong. I find myself staying at work longer, playing golf more frequently, and tuning her out. To say it is causing stress is an understatement. I love her, but I feel badgered. Nothing is ever enough. I can’t do anything as well as her dad. Now the kids have started complaining about things I do as well. How can I put a lid on this and gain the respect I desperately need?”

Just Ask Joyce: “I’m tired of trying to get my husband’s attention!”

Q: “I am exhausted with trying to get my husband’s affection. He seems disinterested in me and more interested in golf, hunting, fishing — anything but me. We have two young children, and I desperately need his help, but every weekend he is doing whatever he wants to do, never thinking about his family. He’s not into anyone else; he’s just not into us. How can I make him understand I’m done with this?”

Just Ask Joyce: “My marriage is in shambles.”

Q: “My marriage is in shambles. We have three children. Our youngest daughter is headed to college and loneliness will soon set in. My husband and I have slept in separate bedrooms for the last 13 years. We rarely speak to one another. He continues to provide for all the household needs. I have never suspected another woman in the mix, but I don’t know what tomorrow might bring. Any advice would be appreciated.”

Just Ask Joyce: “My husband is an alcoholic.”

Q: “My husband is an alcoholic. I’ve lived with this for more than 12 years now. He started off as a casual drinker but gradually escalated into something uncontrollable. He works, but his performance has begun to suffer greatly. I’m afraid he’s going to lose his job. Nowadays we argue more than we do anything else. Sometimes he’s angry and frightening, other times he’s docile. It has gotten to the point where it is emotionally affecting our children. They’re embarrassed to bring friends over because they never know how he’s going to react. I’ve tried to encourage him to get help, but he refuses to admit he has a problem. I don’t want to lose everything we have built together, but if I leave, I cut it in half. There doesn’t seem to be a happy ending. What would you do if you were in my shoes?”

Just Ask Joyce: “I resent my wayward daughter.”

Q: “Help! I think I hate my 20-year-old daughter. She has been the biggest disappointment in my life. I wasn’t the perfect mom, but I have done a much better job than other moms I know. After divorcing her dad, I remarried four years later, introducing other children into the household. I then had a serious illness for a couple of years. In the meantime, my daughter went wild. She became a drug addict, got pregnant, and I am now rearing her baby. My marriage is suffering, my health is failing, and I continue to have to rear a grandchild. My daughter is unmanageable and disorderly, and I have spent too many dollars on bailing her out of jail. I resent her, am angry at her, and really feel guilty for everything. Can you help me find a reason not to hate her?”

Family Love at Its Finest!

See all of the entries for our Show the Love contest in our Family category!

We have another winner!

Congratulations to Breck Thomas-Ross and her adorable daughter, Elyse, our winner for the Show the Love family photo contest!

Enter to win a ventless, smokeless, indoor fireplace from Art & Fire Paris!

Be sure to enter our Show the Love photo contest and you can earn your chance to win a ventless, smokeless indoor fireplace from Art & Fire Paris!

Show Some Love!

We want to see a photo of you and the one you love the most!

Just Ask Joyce

Q: My husband and I have been married for 13 years, and the dynamics in the family are great until my sister-in-law comes to town. She lives 150 miles away and has two kids; we have three children and live about five miles from my in-laws. As much as I love being around my mother-in-law, I find it difficult to be in the home when her daughter comes to visit.

She is, obviously, jealous of not only my relationship with her mom but also very jealous of any attention my children get from her mom. Her demeanor is borderline hateful. My husband makes excuses for her and has refused to intervene and talk to his sister or his mom.
 
We have monthly family gatherings, and it gets increasingly insufferable. How can I get my husband to understand I need his help in reining in his sister’s attitude? It puts his mother in a difficult position, as well, and I don’t want to begin resenting her or my husband. Can you give any advice on how to stop this behavior?