WifeSavers Podcast

Most of us are not married to a gym addict or a health fanatic. No, most of us are married to guys who feel poorly now and again and skip (or forgo) regular workouts.  In this episode of the WifeSavers Podcast, “Dealing With Your Husband’s Health or Medical Issues: Part 1” , multi-award-winning marriage author and educator Ramona Zabriskie, and her husband of 46 years, Dale, share their personal h...

We all battle anxiety, overwhelm, weariness, discouragement, and worry: a bundle of emotions that comes with being human, especially a female human.   In spite of our blessings and good fortune, it is our tendency as wives and mothers to wish for more, to strive for better, to push too hard, and to blame all the inner turmoil either on people and pressures outside of ourselves OR on our...

Summer is a season ripe with possibilities. Will your family’s summer be full of sunshine, swims, and strawberries? Or boredom, disarray, and family tension? As a wife and mother, you’d like to keep things productive and in control at home from day to day, but you also want the family to enjoy a bit more freedom individually while making happy summer memories together. How will you do that? Blue s...

Lucky little girls are daddy’s darling, but when the teen years hit, that special relationship can take a hit, sometimes throwing the whole family off balance. Not only does the resulting dynamic have a definitive impact on a young woman’s sense of esteem and behavior in the present, but a father can also leave an indelible imprint on his daughter’s future including her self-worth, career success,...

Are you one of those Hallmark movie junkies? I have friends who go whole-hog, plopping down on the couch, propping up their feet, showing off those fuzzy socks that say “Leave Me Alone, I’m watching Hallmark movies”! Catch that plural “Hallmark movie(s)”. You can never “eat” just one! Why are those darn things so addictive, and a little contagious even? You may have been wondering just that, even...

Do you feel UN (or under!) appreciated? Does your husband seem impassive, unaware, or inconsistent in his notice of all you are and all you do? Disappointment, disconnect, or disrespect is often the direct result of feeling taken for granted. In this episode, multi-award-winning author and global marriage educator, Ramona Zabriskie, and her husband of 40+ years, Dale, answer a wife who knows her r...

We talk a lot on the WifeSavers Podcast about the influential power a woman has in her marriage, which is true. However, it is also true what researchers have found about the man in a relationship: husbands have the power to make or break that union. In this 50th episode of the WifeSavers Podcast, How to Be a Better Husband: Four Secrets Your Husband Needs to Know to Make You Happy , multi-award-w...

We all talk on occasion about how unfair or unkind our spouse is to us, but how often do we consider our own slip-ups that way? It’s worth a few minutes of honest introspection (say the length of this podcast) because the reality is...IF your spouse not seeing things your way, or acquiescing to your point of view, or not changing their behavior out of love and concern for you and you’re getting em...

With a teen boy in the house, family life can feel like a roller coaster ride. Unaware of the real causes and optimal responses, it’s easy for mom and dad to lose their cool and their perspective. The husband-wife relationship can be negatively affected at that point, which won’t help anyone--especially your teen. In this episode, the second of two on the subject, multi-award-winning marriage auth...

Are you in the middle of a “boy crisis”? You are, actually, whether you know it or not. The “boy crisis” may be up-close and personal to the parent of a teen or young adult male, but the rest of us are being affected as well. We all have a vested interest in the challenges our boys are experiencing today, and in helping them launch confidently and responsibly into a complex world. In this episode,...

Working excessively for a brief or limited period of time may occasionally be necessary, but if it’s one spouse’s defacto year after year, divorce, infidelity, or a health crisis is practically inevitable. In this episode of the WifeSavers Podcast, What To Do When He Works Too Much, multi-award-winning marriage author and educator, Ramona Zabriskie, and her husband of 43+ years, Dale, discuss what...

It’s no secret that 2020 has changed almost everything, including the way we’re approaching the holidays. Wives and mothers are feeling apprehensive about what’s ahead this month. Is it even possible to follow through on your traditions and to orchestrate a season of memories for the family this year? On top of all that, what if your husband’s attitude is turning out to be more “Grinch” than “Sant...

Who hasn’t had a sleepless night or two lately? The world is getting more and more frantic, more and more frenetic, and yet and somehow, in the midst of so much we cannot control, wives and mothers are supposed to take care of business as usual. If you’re feeling rudderless or disconnected these days, hounded by a constant sense of anxiety and distress, you’re not alone. Women everywhere are deali...

Struggling to convince your loved one that your political perspective is the right one? Or is he expecting you to come around to his way of seeing things? Do your discussions turn into debates that leave you feeling frustrated, even alienated from one another? Maybe you’ve decided to stuff your opinion just to avoid the conflict. In a world where countries and communities are being torn apart by t...

Is your husband uninterested (or less interested than you are) in spiritual matters? Are you wishing he’d step up and lead your family in religious practice? Perhaps he’s even expressing (or exhibiting) antagonism toward God or religion in general. If you are a woman of faith, whatever your religion or personal practice, feeling disconnected from your husband on a spiritual plane is difficult. Wha...

Are too many conversations with your husband leaving both of you feeling frustrated? It may be that what you are saying is being heard very differently than you intend. Ramona and her husband, Dale, answer a wife who doesn’t mean to come across as negative and unloving but is afraid that’s exactly how she’s being received. Listen and learn how with a few tweaks in approach and wording a wife can c...

Is “there’s no place like home” getting tested in your home like never before? During current shelter-in orders—and with the days and weeks ahead still a big question mark—how will your family manage the strain on your relationships over the long haul? Bringing everything down to just four simple but powerful practices will make all the difference. In this episode of the WifeSavers Podcast, When T...

Couples everywhere are having to deal with financial strains, upended routines, extra parenting responsibilities, new expectations of one another, and worrisome health scares. Whether a husband is sheltering-in, or on the front lines, employed, or suddenly unemployed, there’s a good chance that his wife’s most tangible and immediate source of stress is her concern about how the global crisis is im...

Times of crisis are inevitable. Unexpected circumstances can feel like a sudden attack on your family’s status quo, interrupting plans and draining everyone’s energy. Whether your relationships with each other end up battered and crippled by the storm or deeper and stronger for the voyage  depends in large part on how you organize your response. In this episode of the WifeSavers Podcast, Don’...

When your partner is at their best, they are a positive energy source for you and the whole family: dreaming big, working hard, playing hard. But what happens if they lose that zest for life? What are you supposed to do with their ongoing detachment, despondency, anxiety, anger, or pessimism? Depression is an isolating illness that can negatively impact relationships and leave loved ones feeling h...

Feeling lonely or resentful or misunderstood when one or the other of you is reading messages into your physical relationship that are not intended? Have you tried to communicate with each other about sex, but your conversations turn out less than productive or helpful? Maybe you feel reticent to initiate or lead a discussion with your spouse because you don’t know how to begin or how to navigate...

Are there a rock bed principles that can make or break a marriage? There are. Internalizing a few key practices and attitudes can practically guarantee that you and your spouse will not just stay together, but stay in love. No matter your stage of life or state of marriage, you and your spouse can create a fully-vested romantic partnership by applying a seven-part formula to your relationship. In...

Do you ever struggle in your relationships with his family, or his with yours? Extended family dynamics can be tricky, especially during the intense togetherness and expectations that are often part of the holidays. In this episode, a multi-award-winning author and global marriage mentor and educator, Ramona Zabriskie and her husband, Dale, speak from their 40+ years of experience in answering a w...

What’s your excuse? Time? Money? Babysitters? Nothing interesting to do? There’s always a reason for married couples and parents to neglect or postpone the weekly concentrated couple time called “date night”. Even if it seems next to impossible to pull off, you’re probably still craving your spouse’s exclusive attention and would love a refreshing change of pace. In this episode of the WifeSavers...

Time is everything when it comes to relationships: shared experience, shared-story, shared presence. Are you and your husband struggling to fit so much into your schedules that there’s little time left over for just the two of you? What happens to a husband and wife who lose the opportunity to connect in a deep way on a regular—even frequent—basis? In this episode of the WifeSavers Podcast, “Not E...