HABITS FROM COUPLES WHO ARE SOLID _ From author Larry Wilson.
• They never both lose it at the same time. When one spins out, the other automatically anchors, and they trade the job without a word. They refuse to let the ship have two storms and no captain on the same night.
• They speak fluent “we” to the world. “We decided to switch schools.” “We’re not doing Christmas travel this year.”
• They spend quantity time, not just quality time. Errands together that one could have done alone. Riding along to the hardware store for no reason. Closeness doesn’t schedule itself into two premium hours a month — it leaks in through hundreds of unremarkable ones.
• They fight in drafts. Couples don’t argue from their first raw burst of anger. Instead, they say something like, “I’m upset and I don’t yet know why — give me some time,” and only come back to the issue after they’ve sorted out what they really feel and need. By giving anger a “revision” process before speaking, many potential fights disappear, and the remaining ones are clearer and calmer instead of explosive. Most couples, by contrast, blurt out their first draft and then spend days trying to repair the damage.
• No insults. Ever. No name-calling. Not even something like “idiot” or “moron”. The moment you insult your partner in frustration, you’ve diminished them. Do not diminish your partner.
YOU’RE EATING JUST UNDER A TON OF FOOD A YEAR _ Economists at the U.S. Department of Ag say the typical American eats just under 2,000 pounds of food a year. The figure includes the weight of all food consumed by the average American, including dairy, meat, grains, fruits, vegetables, and junk food. While the amount of fruit we eat is about 273 pounds per person, most of it is water weight, and few Americans eat the recommended five fruits a day. Americans consume about 630 pounds of milk, yogurt, cheese, and ice cream per year, and about 31 pounds of cheese alone. Meat and poultry clock in at 185 pounds, and grains at a total of 197 pounds. Much of the rest is junk food, soft drinks and juices.
THREE THINGS WORTH SPOILING YOUR KIDS ON _ Ryan Holiday, author and podcaster, was recently thinking through a simple question: what’s actually worth spoiling your children about? He landed on three things — and none of them are toys.
1. Books. Any time your kid wants a book, buy it. No hesitation, no “maybe for your birthday.” A love of reading is one of the few indulgences that pays you back.
2. Food. When a child gets curious about a new cuisine — “what’s Indian food?” — go find out together, right then. Curiosity about the world often starts at the dinner table.
3. Travel. If your kid sees a place in a video or learns about it in school, treat it like a plan, not a someday. Holiday even lets his son watch travel vloggers instead of typical screen time — not video games, but content that plants the seed for wanting to see the world firsthand.
Books, food, and travel: three small yeses that build a much bigger curiosity.
