Dear Miriam, 
TV or no TV? How we spend our time together became the focus of mine and my husband’s constant disagreement. Even coming home after work is becoming a disappointment.
Julia K.

Dear Julia,

You’ll probably be surprised to know that countless couples passionately debate this TV issue: He watches and likes TV, it is his relaxation time. She doesn’t watch and criticizes it as a waste of time, time that could be spent together. Conflicts about leisure time may give us a wide open and new view of the vast differences between sexes. Men and women. Different. Intimate strangers. Why? Some popular theories come from the assumption that because a woman is the primary caregiver in infancy, boys and girls will be forever different. Men will develop an opposition to a mother, while women identify with mothers. This is a primary reason why men and women perceive the world differently and react accordingly.

Dr. John Gray (New York Times best-selling author of Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus and several other books on “the art of loving an alien being”) says that the key to maintaining a successful relationship lies in understanding and accepting our differences. We need to be aware of the fact that men and women have different emotional needs, they communicate differently, cope with stress differently… maybe, instead of fighting it, we could try to appreciate our differences. This will open the opportunity of respectful(!) negotiations. We will be able to choose not to follow the road leading from intimate strangers to intimate enemies in our relationships. Often, the road less travelled is the one that leads you to an intimate friendship!

Love,
Miriam