Use a stick, not a carrot, to curb constant talking
Every single time she interrupts you, tell her, "You're interrupting me. Please, let me finish my thought." Make eye contact. Your wife's bad habit has been a lifetime in the making. Changing this habit will take time, effort and patience.
I highly recommend the book, "The Lost Art of Listening, Second Edition: How Learning to Listen Can Improve Relationships," by psychologist and professor Michael P. Nichols (2009, The Guilford Press).
Dear Amy: My husband and I have three children. In recent years, online wish lists have become a convenient way for our sons to share their interests in advance of birthdays or holidays with their grandparents, none of whom live close by.
In turn, the grandparents will simply order gift items, have them shipped directly to our house, then ask me to wrap and prepare the presents.
I am sincerely grateful that we have generous family members.
However, my husband and I both have full-time jobs and busy schedules, and preparing everyone else's gifts in addition to our own can become an onerous task.
Also, we have tried to teach our children that the care we take in choosing, wrapping, and decorating presents for our loved ones is part of the expression of love that is represented by gift-giving; we would never think of asking others to prepare our presents for us.
Is it unreasonable of me to wish that our parents would take the time to wrap presents themselves?
-- All Taped Out
Dear Taped Out: You can wish for anything you want. But wishing won't make it so.
...continued
