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December 1, 2017 By John Adams 2 Comments

The secret to a happy marriage has nothing to do with socks

It was a slightly strange morning when I received the phone call. I was in a field taking a photograph of a stuffed toy at the time (I told you it was a strange morning). The call was from a journalist wanting to know if I thought the secret to a happy marriage was for the wife to pick up her husband’s socks from the floor.

happy marriage, socks, marriage, Piers Morgan, Barbara Taylor Bradford, dadbloguk, dadbloguk.com, dadbloguk

An unappealing pile of socks on the floor. Picking them up is, apparently, the key to a happy marriage.

I really didn’t know how to respond to that question. While laced with misogyny, it was such a ridiculous idea I couldn’t help laughing.

Having done a quick search online,  I discovered this was a passing comment made by the author Barbara Taylor Bradford. It would probably have gone completely under the radar but for the fact self-styled media bad boy Piers Morgan picked up on the remarks and rambled on about them on Good Morning Britain.

When off the phone, I gave this some thought. I couldn’t take this too seriously, but I thought I’d put a few tips together for anyone wanting a happy, long-lasting marriage.

Sex and the City isn’t that bad

Appreciate that Sex in the City isn’t that bad. No, I’m not talking about the films, they are atrocious, so atrocious they should be outlawed. The television series, that’s can be quite good entertainment. Moving swiftly on…..

‘Clean’ becomes a relative concept

If you have children, simply accept that your domestic standards are going to slip. Clean will take on a whole new meaning. It becomes a relative concept: “You’ve got to wear this jumper to school because it has less toothpaste down the front than that one.”

Do not ever say “yes dear”

If you’re male and marrying a woman (….this is the 21st century) you probably received so-called advice from older, male family members. The words may differ slightly but it will have gone along the lines of: “For a quiet life, do as you’re told and just say ‘yes dear.'”

This is possibly the worst marital advice given to anyone. Ever, in the history of marriage. If you’re being told what to do and not respectfully asked, something has gone wrong.

Gifts: Give them some thought

If it’s your other half’s birthday, do not pay their car tax as a birthday present. To be clear, this is not something I have done, but I do know someone who did. Figure out for yourself how well received it was.

When I said give some thought to gifts, I really meant it

If it’s your other half’s birthday, say a significant one like, say, his/her fortieth, do not buy him/her a glider flight, especially if they have expressly said they don’t want one. I have done this. I don’t think you’ll be able to figure out quite how badly it was received.

And the ironic thing is. . . 

happy marriage, long marriage, toy, toy in tree, countryside, dadbloguk, dadbloguk.com, dad blog uk.

In case you were wondering, here is the photograph of the stuffed toy in the tree. If you’d like to know why I was taking this image, take a look at my Instagram feed (it has nothing to do with socks or marriage!).

Those a are a few ideas for you, although there’s a real irony here. Later on in the day I spent time tidying up the house. What did I end up doing? Yeah, that’s right, I ended up picking up my wife’s discarded socks and placing them in the washing basket!

I shall leave it there, but do leave a comment below if you’d like to share your own thoughts on how to have a long, happy marriage. I am sure you can probably come up with some better ideas than mine!

Interested in this blog post? Well have a read of these...

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  • School uniform: It should be about practicality, not gender neutralitySchool uniform: It should be about practicality, not gender neutrality
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Filed Under: Family Life & parenting Tagged With: Barbara Taylor Bradford, dad blog uk, dad blogger, Dadbloguk, Dadbloguk.com, daddy blogger, families, family, family life, happy marriage, husband, journalist, long marriage, marriage, partner, Piers Morgan, professional blogger, Professional blogger John Adams, relationships, school run dad, secret to a happy marriage, socks, stay at home dad, wife

Previous Post: « Christmas gifts and family memories
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Comments

  1. Lucy Clarke says

    December 15, 2017 at 3:48 pm

    I was smiling while reading this ’til the end! Great read! And this…”‘Clean’ becomes a relative concept. If you have children, simply accept that your domestic standards are going to slip. Clean will take on a whole new meaning. It becomes a relative concept: “You’ve got to wear this jumper to school because it has less toothpaste down the front than that one.” Couldn’t be more accurate! Haha!

    Reply
    • John Adams says

      December 19, 2017 at 12:01 pm

      Very glad you agree Lucy. I’m afraid it is true. Clean is relative….especially at this time of year when housework gets put on the backburner.

      Reply

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I’m John Adams and welcome to my award-winning blog. Since 2011 I’ve been the main carer for my two daughters and run the household while my wife has worked full-time. This blog tells our story. Follow this link to find out more about us.

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Instagram post 2194925799735718883_1418399145 Do you spend enough time in the great outdoors?

I’m very big on spending time outside. It’s health benefits are instantly apparent to me but over the past couple of months I’ve let myself down.

I’ve been active, using our gym equipment at home, but I’ve not been getting outside enough. Despite us having had several, glorious, sunny days, family life and work have conspired to keep me at home.

Not getting outside definitely impacts sleep quality and saps energy. I simply knew I wasn’t getting out enough.

Last week I rebelled. I took myself off on Friday to nearby woodland with my camera and did some photography. This is one of the pictures I took. It’s maybe not the best, but is was a lovely, crisp, winter’s day and I think you can see it in this landscape. 
I’ve written more about this aspect of self care on the blog (link in bio) so please have a read. Feel free to also add a comment below, with your own thoughts on spending time outside.
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Instagram post 2194240337224380194_1418399145 How amazing is this? A frozen spider’s when I spotted between a fence post and a tree. It just looks so haunting and I love the detail. It’s so amazingly intricate.

The spider was nowhere to be seen though. Hopefully it was keeping warm elsewhere!
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Don’t take my word for it though, take it from @tompalmerauthor He has, after all, just received the Ruth Rendell Award, a prestigious award given to people who have gone out of their way to promote literacy. 
Tom has written many books for children and often visits schools to talk to the students about his career as a writer. Some of his books are focused on sport, some are focused on history or have a war-theme like Armistice Runner, the book I’m pictured with here. He has also published a range of books for children who struggle with reading to give them confidence.

There’s a full interview with Tom over on Dadbloguk. Link is in the profile.

If you have struggled to get one of your kids to read, how did you deal with it? We’ve had a small issue recently persuading Izzy to read her school books but the solution has been very simple. I take her to the library where she’ll sit and read for ages. She simply doesn’t like being told she’s doing homework so when she has the choice to chose what she reads, she does it.
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Instagram post 2192787570987333777_1418399145 Does the hat suit me? 
After school yesterday, Helen, Izzy and I went to @hever_castle childhood home of Anne Boylen. There’s an ‘Alice in Christmas Wonderland’ walk and this is me, playing the Mad Hatter.

Expect a blog post in a few days time when I’ve edited the photographs. 
That’s the great thing about Hever Castle, even on a damp, dark December evening it is one of the most photogenic places on the planet!
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My latest post for the @microban Cleaner Home blog features three ideas: Mini empanadas, chicken satay skewers (this suggestion coming from #OIawards nominated @dadsdeliciousdinners) and chocolate-dipped strawberries. 
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Instagram post 2191778022407266451_1418399145 Bloggers, Instagrammers, vloggers & podcasters: Do you think us content creators need a trade association?

I have said many times in the past that we’d benefit from having one. Until now we’ve had no unified voice to speak to the media (and boy do we need that). We’ve had no representation at Government level and no institution to provide training, CIPD or govern standards. 
With all that in mind, it was a pleasure to yesterday attend my first meeting as a member of the Branded Content Marketing Association ‘Influencer Council’ to hear what the @thebcma has planned for 2020 and get an update on progress so far.

It was nicer still to have a few drinks afterwards at the BCMA Christmas party.

That’s me with the legend that is @adamcam10 having a couple of beers. Just don’t ask about the picture I accidentally bluetoothed to his girlfriend’s phone. It was frightfully embarrassing (...but could have been much worse). So whadda you say? Are you for or against a trade association and if in favour, what should it’s priorities be?
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