Mother-in-law and Men

Most men mind mother-in-laws. The thought of gracious visit from her creates panic in them. Business travel, late work hour and boys night outs are frequent during her stay. Fitness and especially exercising in gym becomes important. History channels and annoying soaps appear better options. Though reasons are unknown to me, this seems to be a universal phenomenon cutting across race, culture, political and geographical boundaries.

However, most men don’t realize the distinct advantages of her stay. Let us see if you (men or women) agree with me with these benefits.

1. Wife is at the best behavior: With her mom in the house, the wife has to be nice and sweet with everyone (including me) and not just with her mom.
2. Freedom: With wife and her mom busy catching up with the family politics and gossip, a man has all the freedom to pursue his interests. Wife does not need his time.
3. No shopping: Wife wants company for shopping. Well who can better help than her mom? The man can continue to watch his favorite channels.
4. Wife takes care of you: If a man manages to make her mother-in-law happy, she helps to ensure her daughter takes good care of him. Pleasing my mother-in-law is easy. Some CDs of religious music and good photographs of her and she showers the blessings. See her pictures are on my Facebook Page.

Dear readers (men and women): Tell us what works for you?

Secret to a Happy Marriage

Love,compatibility, understanding, mutual respect, common interests, acceptance, maturity, equality, division of labor and friendship are some commonly quoted ingredients of life’s spiciest yet tastiest dish called ‘happy marriage.’ Our ancestors probably would say a husband making good money and the wife taking care of home is the recipe.

Guess another factor in the equation of spouses. Delusion! Yes, a new research conducted on 222 couples and published in The Boston Globe says

‘People who were, well, a bit delusional about their partners when they got married were more   satisfied with their marriage three years later than those see-it-like-it-is realists.’

 It further adds

‘Those who inflated their partner’s assets also reported being more happily married’

While an Engineer in my mind views the world in black and white and seeks a mathematical proof, a part of my brain agrees with this result.

Happiness is a state of mind. It cannot be measured, weighed or calculated. Happiness is non-scientific and in turn ‘happy marriage’ is an abstract phenomenon. Some people are happy without any reason and some need fulfillment of endless goals to feel a little less sad. People who are usually in high spirits (and may be a little delusional) view their partner with a positive attitude and are likely to overlook negative traits.

May be married couples need to become ‘delusional’ and start appreciating and overstating positive attributes of their spouses and unmarried individuals shall consider  cheerfulness as the most important factor instead of wealth or looks in potential partners.

What do you think?