I’m in a happily mixed marriage. My IT professional & gamer husband loves and uses Android. He’s constantly tweaking his phone and playing around with his Surface tablet to get the best setup for his needs. It’s fun for him.

+1 for the Dune reference. On point!

The Lifehacker Top 5 of standing desk mats is a little outdated. I was wondering if anyone has experience with the newer non-flat mats that are out. Supposedly they are more dynamic and prevent fatigue by promoting motion in your feet and legs as you fidget with the three dimensional elements. (I’m specifically…

The Lifehacker Top 5 of standing desk mats is a little outdated. I was wondering if anyone has experience with the…

I think they started for me around late middle school, when my homework and extracurricular load sometimes buried me in stress. Usually, a day to regroup and relax does wonders! It’s been the same for my kids.

I am in complete agreement that no one should be forced to do something that violates their conscience in order to keep their job. Of course, when I say no one, I actually mean no one.

We call them Mental Health Days. My mom introduced them back when I was in school. As long as we didn’t abuse it, she would allow us to take a day off when we were feeling overwhelmed or extra stressed. She always seemed to know when it was coming. We probably averaged two or three of them per school year.

My family is all over the political map in their opinions, and we’ve had some rip-roarers over the years (including one memorable time a glass of iced tea was flung into someone’s lap in a fit of pique!) But we’re fortunate in that there is a deep love underscoring our differences, and we’ve never left the table still…

Please, I beg of you... never say “foot meat” again.

I understand, I believe. I think where we differ is just in our semantic approach to the word forgiveness. I don’t equate forgiveness with excusing or justifying the action, just releasing my feelings of anger and giving up the desire for retribution. It sounds like you’re emotionally healthy to me, and moving on with…

You monsters.

“I’m not angry about them and this is not the same as holding a grudge.”

So the timing addressed here is primarily the timing of expressing our forgiveness to the other person rather than the actual act of forgiving, yes? Of course, with relatively “small” matters, the kind of offenses we commit against each other on the daily that need to be addressed for the health of the relationship,…

I struggle with this in my private life, as well. The moods of my friends and family are extremely contagious to me; I have a lot of trouble not being pulled down by their worry or fear or stress. It’s not all bad. I mean, empathy is considered a positive trait. But I think it’s important to be able to hold onto your…

This was useful. We ate fondue a lot at home when I was growing up but it was a very informal affair. We’d spread a tablecloth on the living room floor and all five of us would gather around and eat and fight each other with fondue forks for the last piece of French bread. My mom would always lose her bread in the pot…

Congratulations on breaking your losing streak and having the self-awareness to change what you were looking for! It’s amazing how blindly we humans can be about ourselves, even when it’s obvious to everyone else what we’re doing wrong. May you have twenty more years of bliss, and twenty more after that!

That’s a good idea for dealing with your different communication styles. I’m a big fan of writing things down, because it forces you to stop and think about your wording and what exactly you’re trying to express. In our early years, when conflicts got overwhelmed by emotion and I knew that bringing up hot topics would…

Absolutely! That book is like a key that unlocks next level relationships. And it’s so helpful not just in marriage but in all our interactions to recognize that we might speak different languages. Perception is reality when it comes to relationships!

The tip about active or reflective listening is one of the most powerful tools I know for couples whose arguments constantly devolve into shouting or angry silence. Learning to “fight fair” is a huge stumbling block for a lot of marriages.

I really like the EasyLunchboxes divided lunch containers. I got two sets of four for my family of four (as well as the zippered lunchboxes that go with them), and they work wonderfully well. One tray is usually plenty for each of the kids, and if my husband wants more food, two trays will stack neatly in the zippered…

The concept of love languages hits on an important facet of communication between people, which is the mysterious transformation that sometimes happens to our messages in the space between one person expressing something and the other person perceiving it. There are worlds in that space. The book explains how…