FF: Decoding Her Desire: Stop Shooting Blind

Have you ever tried the “ask for sex every night” approach, figuring the more often you ask, the more often she will say yes? Or, maybe you have no idea why she says yes or no, so you figure you should ask all the time so you don’t miss an occasion when she might say yes. Basically fire blindly and hoping you hit the target occasionally!

Mostly missing the target.

I’ve been there, I’ve done that, and I found it didn’t work so well. If you think about it, why would it? If your wife, or your child, or anyone else, did the same to you over something, don’t you think you would come to resent it? Might you feel so nagged you would start to say no just out of annoyance? What’s more, if they asked when you were clearly busy, or over worked, or just so tired you couldn’t stand it, how would you feel about them for being so inconsiderate?

Why would your daily requests for sex be received any differently?

Yes, I know you’re not getting enough, and asking less when you want more seems counter-productive. However, if you think about what I said above, you should see why better targeting your asking could result in more sex and less aggravation for both of you.

The key here is to figure out when/why she says no. It may seem completely random, but it is not. The problem is there are a number of factors involved, so it is a difficult formula to decipher.

  • Time of month is huge if she is not pregnant, past menopause, or on hormonal contraceptives. She should be most receptive (if not chasing you) around ovulation, which is 14 days before her next period. The week before that, she is likely to be more receptive than at other times. After she ovulates, she is less receptive. Just before and during menstruation varies from women to woman.
  • Tiredness, from lack of sleep, is probably the next biggest factor.
  • Stress from a long day, and ongoing stress, are also big factors.
  • How well she has connected with you the last 24 to 36 hours is important. Remember, her love language determines how she feels loved and connected.

There are plenty of other factors, well beyond what I can list here. Start thinking about it; make notes about the 24 hours before when she says yes, and likewise when she says no. Record as much as possible and you should start to find patterns. Does she always say no on laundry day, or after taking the kids to some specific event? Is she likely to say yes when she gets some quiet time in the evening, or the day after a date with you? Keep playing detective, and you should find the clues needed to learn when asking is a waste of time (and a good way to aggravate her) and when your odds are better. I realise not asking doesn’t help you directly, but if it makes her feel less exhausted about sex, that’s good for both of you.

[This post first appeared Nov 24, 2012.]

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FF: Strengthening Your Marriage: Year-End Review & Vision for 2025

Christmas has passed, so we will now be swamped with “Year in Review” stories.

A sunset and 2024 seen through the rearview mirror of a car.

Why don’t you do a year in review with your wife? Take some time to discuss both the good and the bad of 2024. Discuss how you can repeat the good, and avoid repeating the bad. If there is bad you can’t avoid, talk about the best ways to deal with it. In short, devise an informed plan to make 2025 better than 2024.

Then make this a monthly habit. Set a hard date on the calendar. If you can, do it at a local coffee shop. It need not be a long appointment.

[This post first appeared Dec 27, 2012.]

Year-end giving is lagging this year. As of yesterday we were at 46%. Can you help us?

 

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FF: 4 Words You Should Never Use With your Wife

First, a confession, I have no idea what four words you should never say to or in front of your wife. What’s more, the list is probably larger than four. However, I can help you narrow down the list by giving you four common problems areas.

Words many woman don't want to hear.

  1. Painful family words: Never use words her family used to shame, tease, or control her. This could be something like “stupid” or a nickname she hated. I don’t mean a loving name she was okay with; I’m talking about mean ones, or ones that felt mean to her. These words have deep, painful roots, and nothing good comes from you tugging at those.
  2. Painful childhood words: Much like the above, but from school and other places she interacted with other kids when she was growing up. Kids can be exceptionally cruel, and even friends can be hurtful by teasing past what is fun.
  3. Painful sex words: Some women don’t care what words you use for sex, while others are very sensitive to anything she wouldn’t hear in a doctor’s office. A great many women have a rather violent internal reaction to a certain word starting with “c”. And many are not a fan of the words “moist” and “panties”. Whatever her no go sex words, using them is making things worse for you, both in and out of bed.
  4. Sarcasm and insults: Unless she grew up the only girl with several bothers, odds are she doesn’t enjoy sarcasm and teasing insults the way your buddies do. Save it for the guys, and treat her differently.

All of these are personal and vary from woman to woman. A word that offends one woman is a loving nickname to another; a word that means “I like you” to one woman is a deep insult to another. If you’ve been paying attention, you should have some idea what words bother her. Of course, you could also just ask her. Give her the categories above as a guide, or ask her for a list of a few words she would like to never hear from your mouth.

[This post first appeared Oct , 2012.]

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Every Couple Has A Language Barrier

Words have power. Proverbs 18:21 tells us that, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.”

A dictionary open to the word definition

I see a lot of damage done in marriages by words. What I find especially sad is when confusion about the meaning of a word causes problems. I’ve seen couples fighting because they don’t define a word at all the same way, and usually they don’t even realise that’s the issue.

Just because you and your wife has a common vocabulary doesn’t mean you have a common language. Check your definitions often!

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Understand Your Wife by Paraphrasing Her Thoughts

Someone over on Quora shared something their first philosophy professor said:

If you can’t paraphrase somebody else’s position in a way that they would agree with, you don’t understand it, and if you don’t understand it, you can’t debate it.

What a brilliant statement!

Couple in each other's faces arguing

How often do you argue with your wife when you could not paraphrase what she thinks in a way she would agree with? And how often have you fought about something when neither of you really knew what the other thought?

I can recall a couple of times when Lori and I realised, after way too many angry words, that we were actually on the same page. And there were far more times when we weren’t nearly as far apart as we initially thought. We could have saved all that frustration and hurt if we had started by making sure we each understood what the other thought and wanted.

Next time a discussion with your wife is getting heated, say “Just to be clear, are you saying ____?

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Don’t Settle – Keep Improving Your Marriage Over Time

Last Thursday, I talked to you about how sex with your wife right after you got married probably wasn’t great, and you had to work at it to make it good. Today, let’s talk about the same thing with our marriages.

When you first got married, you had no idea how to do it. You had seen examples, some of which were bad examples. Maybe you read some books or got some advice from a good source. And if you were blessed, you got quality premarital counselling. But marriage was something new and unlike anything you’d ever done before. What’s more, it involved this other person who was not like you. She didn’t think like you, react like you, or want all the same things you wanted.

Man Carrying Woman Over Threshold Of Doorway In New Home

Most couples do okay at first due to the honeymoon phase. They overlook things, including some things they shouldn’t have overlooked. The let things go, setting up habits that will be a problem later. And there’s a great deal of trial and error.

Usually we muddle through and hash out something we can both live with. All too often what comes from that is far from what either spouse really needs. But once we have a more or less functional system, we may be afraid to mess with it.

Even if you somehow managed to get it all right by your first anniversary, that was then and this is now. Your needs have changed, as have hers. Things that were okay back then have become not okay. The same is true for your wife. And adding a child or three changed a lot of things.

It’s okay to say, “This isn’t working any more”. In fact, saying that is a good thing, if you do it kindly. Speaking up is better than continuing to put up with things you don’t like. You should be constantly tweaking your marriage relationship. Don’t wait for something to blow up; check in often and make changes as needed. Once this becomes habit, it’s far easier than the alternative, and it means a much smoother ride for both of you.

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Make Asking for Sex Less Painful

Yesterday I talked to the woman on The XY Code about asking for sex. If you’re the lower drive spouse in your marriage, I strongly suggest you go read and apply that post in your marriage. Otherwise, keep going here.

One thing that can make this easier for you is to stop asking. I don’t mean just wait for her, I mean propose sex without asking permission. Saying “I’d like to make love” or “Your sexy butt is making me horny” tells her what you want. Or say something like, “When can we have sex?”, which avoids the yes/no dichotomy. If you think doing those things will reduce the amount of sex you have, then you think coercion or guilt play a part in getting sex. If that’s the case, it’s a problem, and it’s hurting your marriage and degrading your sex life.

Husband thinking about sex with yes, no or maybe choices.

I’d also suggest trying to communicate what you want and how much you need it. Most women don’t want to hear “I need to come” but letting her know if you need the intimacy of full sex versus something simpler that results in climax is helpful. Likewise, there’s a difference between “It would be nice” and “I’m not going to sleep well if we don’t”, and it’s fair to tell her that. 

Some of this will be new to many wives, and they may not react to it well at first. But she should appreciate it with time, especially if you give different information on different occasions.

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Is Your Sex Life Due for an Upgrade This Year?

Are you and your wife having sex the same way you did a couple of years ago? A lot of couples find something that works and stick to it. If it still works, and you’re both happy with it, that’s okay. But as our lives change, our sexual desires and abilities change. What worked for you when you were newly-weds may not be great now that you have several preschool children. Having teens could also require a change. And as we age into retirement, changes in our bodies may necessitate doing things differently.

Even if what you’ve always done still works, it might not be the best sex you could be having.

I think we can get into sexual ruts because we figure, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. But perhaps we need a lower bar for what’s broke. Mediocre sex when you could have better should count as broken. Another part of this is that many couples don’t communicate about sex well. Or at all. There may also be the fear that suggesting changes will make your wife think you’re no longer into her.

Bored couple in bed

If any of this sounds like it might apply to your sex life, take advantage of the New Year to nudge the issue. If you’ve done it the same way for a long time, suggest some small changes might make it even better. Ask her if the time of day you’re having sex is ideal for her. Would she like more foreplay? Or perhaps less? Would she like different forms of foreplay? What about position, is what you usually do great, or just okay? Is there any part of your sex life she would be fine with removing? Is there something she would like to try?

Please make this discussion primarily about your wife’s comfort and pleasure. Show her you care about her, and want sex to be as good as it can be for her.

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