Rule 008 | Nothing Really Rhymes With Husband
The Peppers finally get a chance to take this show on the road! Episode 8 was recorded live in front of a studio audience, so thanks for hanging in there on some less-than-stellar audio quality. Listen in as we feature our best method to get your spouse to do what you want without nagging (no joke), and hear us ask some dear married friends what it looks like to explore the world while surviving the stresses of summer travel.
QUICK BITES:
A week in Kansas City, MO with friends brought us back to where our marriage began. Hear the full story in Episode 1.
Special friends join the show! Mimi & Tim Keel. Tricia & Jeremy Collins. Alan & Shanna Keller. How did we get so lucky?!
We’d love to have you check out the work of the brilliant minds above, and are sending special thanks to everyone who came to our very first LIVE recording!
Let’s face it: Nagging is hardly ever cute. We’ve come up with a framework to navigate the balance between effectiveness and gentleness when (repeatedly) requesting a favor from your spouse.
Jessie spent the last several years trying to avoid the “nagging-wife” stereotype, and it unfortunately turned her into a Passive Aggressor. (This is real life, and NOT a reference to one of the scary specimens on Jurassic World.)
Packing is overwhelming! Sharing the load of an endless to-do list makes it easier.
Asking for you what you actually need is far more effective than a temper-tantrum. (Imagine that! Mom was right.) You may remember when Jessie put this concept to work in Episode 7... Tears and bikini-talk ensued.
Gerard bottles up his feelings and nearly makes Jessie barf by barreling around the bends of a wind-y road.
Tim Keel - "There is a difference between a vacation and a trip. A vacation is when I let myself relax and do nothing, and it's replenishing. I feel more like myself when it's over. A trip is when we go DO something, and it might be fun, but I don't always feel refreshed. I often feel like it costs something."
Jeremy Collins - "The farther you get away from home, the more you open up. When you know it's an 8 minute trip, you talk about 8 minute stuff. When it's an 8 hour drive, you talk about 8 hour stuff. And 8 hour stuff is 8 year stuff, because the farther we get into the trip the more the conversation is real and true, and instead of 'What do you want to do for dinner?' it's 'What do you want to do with your life?'... The farther away you get from your reality and your life - that's when the conversation gets really interesting and memorable."
Happy wife, happy life... It was bound to come up sooner or later.
Jessie loves personality tests. Next up on her to-do list? Discover appropriate Enneagram number and call Shanna immediately with results.
Shanna Keller - "I spend a lot of my emotional bandwidth (whether I'm asked to or not) thinking about how to take care of us as a joint unit. When he asks me to all of a sudden change our plan, I think 'I don't know how to take care of us inside that new idea,' but when he can tell me, 'Actually, I've already thought of some of those things, so you can reserve some of emotional bandwidth for saying yes,' then that's when I've found that I can say yes more easily."
The Marriage is Funny Getaway 2016 is born. ;)
TRIGGER QUESTIONS:
When you find yourself feeling overwhelmed, do you typically prefer emotional support or tangible action?
Describe your ULTIMATE ideal trip together! Are you more of a laid-back vacationer or a adventure-seeking explorer?
Is it ok to spend time apart when you travel as a duo? What seems like a good balance between branching out on your own, and being attached at the hip?