Attorney Kate McGuinness discusses the idea of moving toward limited-term marriage contracts versus traditional marriages. Humans are notoriously stubborn about giving up harmful habits. Smoking is one obvious example. Packing on the pounds is another. Marriage is a third. A recent article in the New York Times exploring the virtues of renewable limited-term marriage contracts […]
This originally appeared on From Two To One, as part of the Last Name Project. Republished here with permission. A few days before my wedding at age 32, my father learned that I was keeping my birth name. My mother recalls the conversation as this: Father: Hmm, what’s that all about? Mother: I don’t know, […]
A former exercise addict, Hugo Schwyzer shares how he gave up marathons for fatherhood. “It’s time to go shopping for new pants,” my wife told me gently a few weeks ago. She was feeding our infant son; I was in the bathroom, getting dressed for a meeting, pulling on a favorite pair of jeans. The […]
Getting married in midlife means facing loss sooner than most couples. It was a colleague, a 27-year-old whose sweet and hopeful wedding I’d attended just a few weeks earlier, who put it so directly. We were in the car, driving past the heart hospital, when I mentioned sitting in the courtyard while my husband had […]
Having kids changes everything, but in a loveless marriage, kids could signal the beginning of the end. The day my daughter was conceived, I knew the love in my relationship was gone. We weren’t trying to get pregnant on that day. It was one of those rare pre-cum moments. We never even completed the act. […]
For someone opposed to tradition for tradition’s sake, an engagement ring (and all its symbolic history) is on the bottom of Emily Heist Moss’ list of must-haves. My Facebook feed has been hijacked by engagement announcements. In a few years, I know the profile pictures of ring fingers will be replaced by ultrasounds followed by […]
Suzanne Turner offers her analysis of Hanna Rosin’s new controversial book, The End of Men (and the Rise of Women). Despite being a self-avowed feminist, I didn’t know my sons and I were living on the bleeding experimental edge of feminism until I read Hanna Rosin’s excellent new book The End of Men (and the Rise […]
If we continue searching for “the one,” when do we ever truly love the one we’re with? A few years ago a friend of mine found her soul mate, or at least she thought that she had. She was in her apartment, feeling a bit sad about being a single graduate student, when she heard […]
This originally appeared on The Good Men Project. Republished here with permission. The other night a friend of mine confessed he was thinking of getting a divorce. After hearing his reasons why and finding them plausible, I bluntly asked him what was holding him back. “Really?” he barked. “Because I don’t want to ruin my […]
As new parents, Laurie Cunningham and her husband are bickering more than before the baby. So is the key to a successful marriage staying childless? A week before my one-year wedding anniversary, I emailed a friend who had been married many more years than I had. “Is it true?” I asked. “Is it true that […]
Waking up to your long-term partner and asking yourself “How the hell did I end up with this asshole?” doesn’t necessarily mean you’re with the wrong person. It means you’re in a relationship, and relationships are hard. A few years back my husband and I went away for the weekend with another couple. We’ll call […]
Originally appeared on From Two To One. Republished here with permission. Though American I have been living in England the past year and am marrying a Scot. After having moved here from New York City where it is quite common for women to keep their last names, it has been overwhelming to experience the strong […]
