For better or for worse, through bickering and agreement, your mother-in-law is part of your family. Relationships with mothers-in-law are the butt of many jokes, but stress between you and your wife’s mom is no laughing matter. In fact, serious strife with your mother-in-law can put a strain on your marriage. When a positive relationship is fostered, your mother-in-law can become an ally for you and your wife together, an important part of your support network, and a valued member of your extended family.
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From the first minute you held your child in your arms, your life changed. No matter what your other roles in life have been, the role of parent is both all-encompassing and life-changing. Even the most enthusiastic of parents needs a break now and then and it’s likely you’ve wished for a little peace and quiet on more than one occasion during your child’s growing-up years.

When your child packs up his or her belongings and heads off to college, you might find yourself trying to fill a little more peace and quiet than you care to handle. The feelings of loss, loneliness and emptiness you experience are known as Empty Nest Syndrome. Parents whose main focus in life has been raising their child feel the pain of the mass exodus that occurs when college-bound children leave home every year around the month of August. Empty Nest Syndrome affects each parent differently and you may feel depressed, be at a loss to know how to fill your time and life, and deeply miss your child.
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Throughout the journey of adoption, where my wife and I find ourselves searching for a son or daughter to share our home and our hearts with, I come across people who tell us how caring and how big our hearts must be.  In my mind I wrestle with this because deep in my heart I don’t feel that way. I feel selfish.

I want to be a dad, just like other men. I want to coach baseball, soccer and other sports. I want to be a mentor to a young mind who doesn’t know how much life has to offer them.

Will they enjoy the hobbies I loved as a kid, the music I play or the lifestyle I live to today?  I want to explore the world and watch their eyes light up when they discover their one true calling, whatever that may.
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Whether at work or at home or in some other setting, you know what it’s like when someone gets mad, gets their feelings hurt, and accuses you of something you didn’t do. Instead of coming to find out what really happened or to talk it out calmly, they start right in with the accusations.

First reaction is what? “If they’ve got the nerve to come in here blaming me for things they don’t even know about, they’d better have the guts to hear what I think of it . . . and of them.”
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