Honey and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary a few weeks after we watched our daughter start day one of her marriage. I got to thinking about my early-married days. As a newlywed I was green in the relationship department. I had little experience offering an encouraging word, voicing the good, fighting fair.
A few years into married life, I was sitting at the counter in my mom-in-law’s kitchen. It was just the two of us and I am sure we were sharing a snack of some sort. She always has some treat to offer. It was a casual conversation; I don’t really remember the details. Sometime during our chat she mentioned she never corrected Gary, my father-in-law, in front of other people. I didn’t think much of the comment at the time.
‘Don’t correct your husband in public.’ Though today I consider it the best marriage advice ever personally received, I am not sure when it actually dawned on me that she was trying to help me out. I’m still working on it. Honey might agree.
When given the opportunity to evaluate, critique or advise someone, how do you go about it? Do you look for the areas to praise? Do see only what you think they need to change? What are the first words that come out of your mouth? I hope I can use Corinne’s example and serve it with lots of sugar and spice.