Relationship Blog

Age Advantage In Dating

2012-05-27T15:56:00.000+01:00

The age advantage in dating may come as a surprise to younger people reading this. This is especially useful because Internet dating is becoming more and more popular - even with people in their 60s. You may think that online dating is something only suited for people in their 20s and early 30s, and as you scan through the pages of people on such sites, you may have a point. However, there’s no reason why the more mature single person in their 40s and beyond can’t enjoy the thrills that come with meeting new people over the internet. After all, the fact that mature dating exists proves that there’s no age limit on love.

Age advantage in dating

How To Stay Safe

2012-05-21T12:10:00.000+01:00

Many women these days work late and/or live on their own. It's important to pay attention to key points on how to stay safe in and out of the home. Once something is done, there's no undoing, so time spent preventing something nasty happening to you is time well spent. This is why I've put together the safety tips below. Please send them to someone you think could benefit from them.

Of course, an attitude of constant fear is counter productive, so a wise balance of awareness and trust has to be kept at all times. Below are some of the ways you can ensure your own safety and be aware of the dangers around you.

Vital tips to help you stay safe

Stay safe in the car

At night, keep your car keys in your hands to prevent hanging around to search for them in the bottom of your bag or pockets.
Fight back and run away if someone tries to attack you. Many abductors won't bother running after you. Your likelihood of escape is quite high in random attacks.
Park in well-lit areas. If you arrive in daylight and know that you're going to leave when it's dark, park next to an office block with lights and a guard, or under a lamppost when possible. Don't be afraid to ask someone you trust to accompany you to your car if necessary.
Keep an eye out for cars parked next to yours before you open your door. If there are people inside the car next to yours, treat this as suspicious.
Reverse in your parking space if you know you'll leave when it's dark.
Needless to say, don't pick up strangers in the street at night.

My Book Is Out!

2012-05-18T11:45:00.000+01:00

Thanks to all the wonderful people who've supported me in this venture. My memoir, Sunday's Child is out on May 22nd. I'm inviting you to the online book launch event. No, you don't have to be there in person. Just turn up on Facebook any time during the day, even just for a few minutes, and join the event. You can ask me anything about the writing or publishing process, or about the book itself. Here's the link to follow. Details about how to buy the book are also there. And thanks for your continued support in advance.

You can even read a portion of Sunday's Child for free.
You can buy it from the publishers and get a discount here.
Or buy Sunday's Child from Amazon.com and Amazon UK

Thank you to all these great people have helped me share my news around the Internet:

Dennis at Self Exceed
Judy: The Road to Here

EA Gibbs at Pinterest

Hard Workin Judy

Pat Bertram

http://caribbeanliterarysalon.ning.com/
Keats, The Sunshine Girl
Geoffrey Philip - Author
Glynis Smy - Author
Writers in the sky
Blog Talk Radio with Lady Jay
Author Spotlight: Paulette Harper-Johnson

Relationship Forum: Dumping Someone Hurts

2012-05-14T10:21:00.001+01:00

The Relationship Blog is associated with relationship help forum elsewhere. We take a real relationship problem experienced by a real woman. We change all identifiable details and publish both the problem and the possible solution here. Why do we do this? Real problems like the ones we come across affect women like us all over the world. There's no need to make up a relationship scenario, when there are so many genuine ones we could learn from. All our previously published real stories and real solutions can be found here: Relationship Help Forum.

Esther's (not her real name) story is different. Of all our women featured, *Esther has already worked out what she needs to do to fix her relationship issues. In a twist of the normal features we deal with, *Esther dumped her boyfriend instead of the other way around.

Relationship help forum; dumping someone hurts

Had a great relationship

Dear Anne, I’m doing all the things about ‘How To Get Over A Break UP’ you suggested and I can feel their effect on me day after day. Here’s my story. I broke up with my boyfriend of 3 years a few weeks ago. We truly loved each other, and he treated me like a queen all thorough the relationship. We rarely had any trouble. He’s such a great person and never did anything to hurt me. But I think we exhausted the relationship too quickly. We became too much like an old married couple even though we’re still 20.

7 Stay Together Tips

2012-05-06T18:09:00.000+01:00

Stay together tips is about giving you that extra umph it takes to get your relationship in order. Having kids can bring joy to a marriage, but they also take a lot of time and effort away from the relationship. Add two careers, money trouble, time for friends and ailing parents, and the stress can soon bog down your marriage. Couples need to be dedicated to staying together, and the relationship blog is here to help.

Stay together tips

nurture your relationship

Go on a scary date together

Research has shown that people who have scary experiences together tend to form a quick bond with each other. So to ignite some excitement and boost physical attraction, go on a scary theme park date. Watch scary movies together, go abseiling, or go on a murder mystery week-end away. Even the strongest chain links need regular oiling and general upkeep.

Relationship Help Forum: From Different Cultures

2012-04-26T11:38:00.001+01:00

The Relationship Blog runs a relationship help forum. From time to time we publish real stories of women and the genuine problems they face in their relationships. All identifiable details have obviously been changed. These real stories - and the relationship help are published here so that other women who're going through the same situations in their relationships can be offered encouragement and help to move on with their own lives.

The relationship issue below deals with problems that arise from relationships in which the couples are from different backgrounds or culture. This needn't be a problem unless the people involved make it one (as we'll see from *Mariam's story below).
You can access our other real relationship stories at this page: Relationship help forum.

Relationship help forum: from different cultures

is your true love from another place far away from yours?

Mariam's (not her real name) story

Your Better Half

2012-04-21T20:59:00.001+01:00

No one can be your better half. You are your own better half. What are you going to do about it? When you find love keep this in mind and never forget it. You bring your best to the relationship, not the worse side of you.

Go on and make the switch today. See our love relationship articles' page.

Why Women Cheat

2012-04-20T11:16:00.000+01:00

Why women cheat is a question that isn't asked as often as the opposite one of why men cheat. The Internet is always drowning in news about the infidelity of football players, golf stars and Hollywood actors. Almost everyone you talk to has got an opinion of why some men put their happy families in jeopardy and go out carelessly looking for quick flings.

Of course, what these men do is painful and disrespectful to everyone involved, but they couldn't have done it without more than a little help from the fairer sex. These women they've been with must have partners too, partners they're also cheating on. It's time for the Relationship Blog to take some of the focus off unfaithful men and look at a few reasons (in no particular order) why women cheat. Note: The Relationship Blog does not condone cheating in any form. This is a factual and informative article based on research.

Recommended reading: relationship help page

Why women cheat

Emotions That Heal And Emotions That Don’t

2012-04-13T10:44:00.000+01:00

Having a healthy relationship with your inner-self is based largely on the ‘feelings’ you allow yourself to dwell on. Sure, as humans we invariably experience several different kinds of emotions every day. The important question is, which ones do you place most emphasis on and how do they impact on your well-being.

Below are some emotions that help heal and motivate, and some that chip away at your mental and physical well-being. Which ones have you chosen to dwell on today?

Emotions that heal and emotions that don't

The emotion of anger

You wouldn’t be human if you didn’t get angry. However, anger is one of the most destructive emotions there is. It interferes with the way you function, thus the way other people relate to you. Prolonged anger is definitely a sign that something turbulent has been going on inside. It interferes with the way you view life because you’re seeing everything through lenses constricted by this forceful, negative emotion. An angry person sees the fault of the cash register at the check-out as a direct threat designed to ruin their day. They laboriously drag around the anger of having had to wait five extra minutes to pay for their shopping, and allow this tiny bump to ruin their entire day.

This to us is a senseless thing to do, but this is the quality of anger. It destroys the inner person and changes them into someone unrecognisable.

Have you become this person?
Is it possible to have the type of anger that leads to healthy arguments in your relationship?

Happy Easter!

2012-04-08T21:22:00.002+01:00

The Relationship Blog would like to wish all readers, subscribers, friends and supporters a very happy Easter holidays. I'm taking this time off to spend some time with my family, as I know you are too. So have a very relaxing holiday and see you again very soon.

Happy Easter!

Big Women Make Great Partners

2012-03-30T13:30:00.003+01:00

I've been doing some research recently about big women and the reason behind which some men prefer them to their smaller counterparts. I came across several intriguing reasons, but the two that stand out for me were: some men think big women make great partners because they won't cheat on them (based on insecurities), and some men thing big women make great partners because their cultures predict that larger women are more attractive than thinner ones.

Whatever the reason, this seems to be a fascination even in the minds of the bigger women themselves. Personally, I still can't understand why some big women have so much confidence in themselves, (which they rightfully should) and others think of themselves as less than woman. Surely, our size should not define who we are!

Big women make great partners

Relationship Help Forum: Stop-Start Relationship

2012-03-24T18:05:00.001Z

This Relationship blog runs a regular relationship help forum. The story below is a true one (with all identifiable details edited) taken from the forum run elsewhere. In today's story *Martha (not her real name) is experiencing an extreme case of a stop-start relationship. I know we've all been there. Here's Martha's battle, and the advice I gave her. You can see the other relationship forum stories here.

Relationship help forum: stop-start relationship

Dear Anne, My break up is a bit complicated. I ran away from home when I was a teenager to be with my ex. Things didn’t go very well because we were young and I felt guilty about running away. We were always fighting (I have a very bad temper – more so because I was racked with guilt). I went back home a year later because he broke up with me.

Then a month later, he decided he wanted me back. I took him back despite my parents saying I shouldn’t. Things got very difficult for me at home so I decided to move out and move back in with him again. My parents don’t talk to me anymore. After that it just went downhill from there. Mind you, we had a lot of very good memories, but when we fought it was bad. On our second breakup, I decided to relocate because he was moving out and leaving me with a large apartment I couldn’t afford.

Gap Coupons For Your Kids

2012-03-22T14:04:00.000Z

The Relationship Blog is seriously hooked on better family life. Here's something which can definitely help you with yours.
With the hard-hitting UK budget finally out, families across the country are looking for ways to save money on every day costs. We have to tighten their belts even further where basic necessities are concerned. Luxuries like eating out, holidays and toys (for most average families) will all have to take a back seat from now on.

We have to be quite industrious to balance need and want in our families. The thing is, kids expect more expensive toys and clothes than they did years ago. My son was stuck on his tune about getting an x-box just because his best friend has one. I think he now understands (I've told him so many times) that we all have our own lives to live. His friend's parents are free to decide how they run their home and what they buy for their kids and so are we. This translates into, 'No x-box until you can buy it yourself' :-)

Continue reading

My New Blog Roll Page

2012-03-22T14:03:00.003Z

I've got so many blogs on my blogroll now I've decided to pass the love on and share them on a special page so that I could section them into groups for you to enjoy. This is an ongoing process which I'll revisit when I have a few moments to spare, so bear with me. I'm getting to yours.

If you run a blog in the following niches: FAMILY - relationships, dating, parenting, love, marriage, and would like to be added here, please let me know. Keep in mind I may ask you to return the favour to me too :-). Okay, let's get on with this blog roll.

Online Dating: Best Practices

2012-03-19T14:01:00.001Z

Recently I've been meeting more and more couples who've found true love on online dating websites. Years ago, even the thought of online dating conjured up doubt and wariness. Don't get me wrong, people still have to be very careful about the individuals they meet online, weather they're potential spouses or just friends. My point is that the taboo that once accompanied online dating has now been lost. It's been replaced with acceptance and a measure of curiosity. More people are now inclined to date in this way, but nervousness has taken over because they haven't got the first idea of how to show themselves in the best light. Here are some pointers to help!

So, have you tried online dating? Are you inclined to? What are some of the ways you've used to show yourself in the best possible light on Internet dating websites? How do you play it safe to make sure you get what you're looking for?

Mother's Day UK

2012-03-11T18:02:00.000Z

I have to clarify the heading on this post by saying that Mother's day in the UK falls on Sunday 18th of March this year (that's next Sunday). I know that Mother's day in the USA and in India (where most of my readers and subscribers come from) is not until May. It took me a long time to get used to the idea when I first moved to Europe from South America. I got caught out the first year because all the mother's day cards and giftswere on sale in March. By the time May came around (when my mother celebrated mother's day) there was not a card or present in sight!

My own mother was taken from us suddenly, and in tragic circumstances. However, since I'm now a mother myself, mother's day still has some special meaning for me. The Relationship blog has always paid keen attention not only to romantic relationships, but to relationships with family as well. This is why, this year I've pulled out some important and very varied material from this blog's archives which pertain to women and mothers in particular.
Continue reading

How To Mercy Kill Your Date

2012-03-03T17:49:00.002Z

This is a guest post by Erin Whitehead.

Norman Bates caught a lot of heat for what seemed like a pretty harmless hobby: Stuffing and preserving the dead, including his mother. Okay yes, there were also the murders in the shower but that tiny detail aside, the need to resurrect something once throbbing with the life force that created you is fairly understandable. It's kind of like those relationships that have long since died and should have been buried but because you just can't let go of this thing you once loved, you both dress it up, take it out, and parade it around like it's still alive and functioning. It's a lot of work - but then taxidermy and dating have always been tough jobs.

How to mercy kill your date

Relationship Forum: Young Love?

2012-02-27T10:54:00.000Z

The Relationship Forum is a regular element for us on this site. I take a real relationship situation from a column I have elsewhere. I edit the details so individuals and places are unidentifiable, and I recap them here with the answers I gave. I know that highlighting these real situations faced by women around the world helps others with similar relationship problems they're experiencing in their own lives. So many women have allowed their relationships to shape who they are instead of the other way around. This is especially true for younger girls like *Monica (not real name) below.

This month our focus is slightly different, because we tackle a relationship of a younger girl instead of a woman. *Monica's relationship will remind us all how important it is for girls to feel loved and needed at home, because some boys find it difficult to work out the complex workings in the mind of a girl - especially one who wants a secure and committed relationship from him. You can access last month's relationship forum article here.

And the earlier ones here.

Relationship forum: young love?

is it young love, or companionship?

10 Signs They Would Say Anything For A Date

2012-02-18T14:29:00.000Z

Are you one of those people who would say anything for a date? We've all had our share of liars when it comes to dating. There are some people who really don't know who they are because they're so accustomed to converting to any personality in order to be 'suitable' for a potential date, they've lost themselves. How many times have you heard or said, “All of the good ones are taken.” The single dating scene is harder than ever these days. How do you know who’s really great and who’s just making stuff up to sound great? Many more people are meeting online in chat rooms, or through dating sites than ever before. While this seems like a good thing, how do you know who to trust? Even when you meet them for coffee in a public place to check them out you may still not know if they are worth dating.

This post has just been published on Top Dating Sites. You can read more if it here: 10 Signs Someone Would Say Anything To Date You.

Some posts you may be interested in:
7 Signs your guy is a cheat
Why women cheat
3 bad things that make good relationships

Why Your Relationship Is Like A Plant

2012-02-13T22:27:00.003Z

You would never think that your relationship is like a plant. However, one look at your relationship at this (and any other) time of year and you'll see there are so many similarities; you'll kick yourself for never having noticed it before. And this doesn't concern just your relationship. It covers every relationship you've ever had plus all the ones your friends have discussed with you in the past. Most relationships are like plants, and once you've read this you'll find yourself comparing yours with the plants you've tried to nurture in your lifetime. The only trouble is, how to find a sturdy, perennial that will last a lifetime.

Continue reading

Find me love

2012-02-04T09:01:00.003Z

Find me love is a phrase the Relationship Supermarket has addressed several times in its lifetime. Now that Valentine's day is coming we'd like to make it easy for you to find all the posts that relate to that topic. Of course, we have a love relationships page and a singles' help page. But there are ups and downs in love, so these articles don't all talk about the love that's going right. In fact, some of them some of them address cheating, like, Why Women Cheat. This is not the time of year to be talking about that though, so let's look at some articles more in keeping with Valentine's Day and the topic, Find me love.

Find me love

Continue reading

I Got My Girlfriend Back - With Silk Flowers

2012-02-04T08:39:00.002Z

A guest post by Rob Lobitz

My girlfriend and I have been together for nearly two years and as with any relationship, we’ve had our ups and downs. Thankfully, we're still together. However just a couple of months ago our relationship was in serious danger. Well, 'serious danger' is an understatement - she basically dumped me. I didn’t realize it, but I had begun to neglect my girlfriend. She would complain that I wasn’t making an effort to spend quality time with her any more, that I was taking her for granted and all the things that women expect us to do for them. I'd tell her that I was really busy at work etc. However, looking back I realize that I was in the wrong.

Why my girlfriend dumped me

I remember vividly the day when she broke up with me. We had planned to go out for dinner, but I had volunteered myself for overtime work. And I forgot to call her and let her know. By the time I got home and realized we were supposed to go out, the damage had already been done. When I visited her apartment that night she made it clear that she never wanted to speak to me ever again. I was distraught, I felt lost and hopeless. I tried everything that I could to win her back but nothing seemed to work. I called, I texted, tweeted and even wrote notes. Still nothing worked.

Continue reading

Travel Checklist For Your Family's Holiday

2012-02-03T21:00:00.001Z

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of My Travel Checklist for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
I know it's still winter, but it's time once again to start planning your family's holiday if you haven't done so already. This time of year seems to come around too quickly. However, if you didn't plan it now, you'd end up spending over the top for your summer vacation. We've already planned ours, and I'm proud to say that it's the best deal we've had so far where our family holiday is concerned.

The packing is another story, though. No matter how right the price for flights and accommodation is, we still have to do all the dreaded packing ourselves. If you've got kids this makes it even more difficult. Thankfully, there's now help to get your packing and travel arrangements done in record time. Have you heard of My Travel Checklist? It's a free widget designed by Mondial assistance to help you plan your holiday.

Valentine's Day Gifts

2012-01-29T15:11:00.003Z

It would be amiss of us here at the Relationship Blog if we didn't tell you about the upcoming Barnes and Noble's fantastic Valentine's Day gifts. After all, this is a relationship blog and like it or not, Valentine's Day plays a large part of relationships - even friendship ones.

Have you ever given a Valentine's day present to a friend who's had a bit of a rough time in relationships? I know, I have. I've also sent my sister cards and chocolates on Valentine's day. I know this 'holiday' was promoted by card companies to milk more money out of us, but the romantic side of me still kind of thinks it's a beautiful and innocent way to celebrate love. I remember this time of year in high school being a very exciting period for my girlfriends. I didn't have a boyfriend, so it didn't affect me much, but my friends were always nervous about whether the object of their affections were going to give them Valentine's Day cards and presents or not.

In her first year of Primary school, my 5 year old daughter was given a bag of chocolates and a teddy bear as a Valentine's day gift. There was also a card inside the bag, and the little boy (who sent it) had written lots of little kisses under his name. My daughter was totally embarrassed, but she ate the chocolates anyway (she was only 5). This same daughter also received 2 marriage proposals that year from two different little boys in her class. Yes, Valentine's day is usually a day of going out for dinners, fancy cards and romantic presents - even if you're 5 years old!

To facilitate this present giving, Barnes and Noble are pulling out all the stops and are giving you, the shopper 50% off all gifts bought during this time. If you're a bit strapped for cash and have been waiting for ages to buy something you've always wanted for yourself or a loved one, you should grab this Valentine's day sale now because this may be the cheapest you'll get it this year.

The sale includes some amazing products: The nook, which is a cheaper alternative to the kindle, books, electronics and much more for your loved ones. Valentine's day gifts should last a bit longer than chocolates if you can afford it. :-)

Electronics valentine's day gifts

And their best-selling product.. the nook - kindle's rival

books are always welcome for valentine's day presents

Relationship Forum: Get Over A Boy Friend

2012-01-25T12:44:00.000Z

The Relationship Forum is a special feature run by this blog to highlight some very real relationship problems being faced by women. These are taken from a forum I run elsewhere, but all identifiable details have been changed and the letters edited to fit this blog. I give you the problem and then the solution I offered. You can see other relationship problems tackled in here. Please do feel free to leave your thoughts on the matter.

get over a boyfriend: the road to recovery

Here's *Jennifer's story: (not real name)

Relationship forum: get over a boyfriend

Dear Anne, I’ve recently broken up with my boyfriend of three and a half years. I’m doing everything I can do to cope with losing him: Going out with friends, spending time with my family, staying busy etc. But for some reason I can’t move on.

I don’t know how to be on my own anymore and that scares me. I know it’s over with him and I am ready to move on but how do I do that when every part of me is still in love with him? I don’t feel like ME anymore ( I know it sounds pathetic but its true).

I feel as though I need to talk to him as we broke up through text message and I haven’t spoken since, but I am worried any contact will only make me miss him more.

I hate that this has affected me so much. I thought I was stronger than this. That I could deal with a little heart break. It turns out I was wrong.

Anne, please help me to get over him, I am tired of feeling this way.

Answer: get over a boyfriend
Dear *Jennifer.

It’s natural to feel the way you do. You don’t feel like ‘you’ at this point in time because your relationship with your boyfriend had become such an intricate part of your life, it was part of who you were. Now he’s not there your thoughts and feelings are all in a ‘different place,’ a place which doesn’t feel like ‘home.’ Essentially, a part of you has been ripped away.

You'd be less than human if you didn’t still love this man. You loved him for 3 and a half years. Emotions don’t suddenly turn off because of a break-up.

A large part of the reason you feel so unsettled and unable to draw a line and move on is because of the way in which you broke up. This is certainly not the way to conduct such a traumatic event. It leaves everyone with unanswered questions.

My advice: You need to see each other face to face to say your goodbyes. You are strong, but no one is strong enough to absorb closure from a text message!

I suggest you do it properly. This is the only way you could start to draw from the strength I know is inside you, get over your boyfriend, find closure and move on with the the rest of your life.

Time will indeed heal. Think on this, look forward to it happening, and you’ll start to see a difference.

What's the best way to get over a boyfriend?
In conclusion: what is the best way you've tried in order to get over a boyfriend? Do you believe in the quick-rip plaster method, or the slow, painful recovery? What advice did you receive and which ones helped the most? What do you wish you knew back then to help yourself heal faster? Getting over a boyfriend can be a difficult thing for many women. The more we share with each other, the better we get at finding ammunition to help us cope. Please share this article with someone going through a rough patch at the moment. You may also like to read the book below, written by Pauline Anderson, on how to get over an ex.

Here are some more love help articles and others designed for single people.