Mom's Needs, Dad's Needs: Keeping Romance Alive Even After the Kids Arrive [Paperback]

Willard F.Jr. Harley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2005

It isn't easy to keep a marriage passionate. Every parent knows how quiet dinners and romantic evenings seem to disappear in the wake of school projects, potty training, and middle-of-the-night feedings. In fact, with children underfoot, it can seem downright impossible. Mom's Needs, Dad's Needs guides both new and seasoned parents through specific, practical steps to help them sustain a great marriage while raising happy and successful children. Dr. Harley, best-selling author of His Needs, Her Needs, gives expert advice on everything from romance and values to emotional needs and time constraints. How should parents approach child-training methods? How can household tasks be divided fairly? How can you maintain a romantic marriage after kids? It's all here. Dr. Harley's insightful and practical advice shows parents what it takes to stay in love with each other and raise happy and successful children at the same time. Previously published as His Needs, Her Needs for Parents

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Passion after kids? It's not impossible! Finding time to laugh together, talk with each other, and enjoy each other's company came easily when it was just the two of you. But then you had children. Suddenly, quiet dinners and romantic evenings disappeared in the wake of school projects, potty training, and middle-of-the-night feedings. In Mom's Needs, Dad's Needs, Willard F. Harley Jr. will show you how to restore the passion in your marriage, keep your marriage healthy, and keep your children happy, by making your relationship with your spouse your top priority. With everything from dividing household tasks fairly to meeting intimate emotional needs, the advice in this book will help you do what it takes to build a love that lasts a lifetime. If marriage and parenting leave you feeling overwhelmed, know that you're not alone. The truth is, it isn't easy to keep a marriage passionate. And with children underfoot, it can seem downright impossible. But if you take Dr. Harley's advice, you can have it all-a terrific marriage and happy children.

About the Author

Willard F. Harley Jr. is a nationally acclaimed clinical psychologist, marriage counselor, and best-selling author. His popular web site, www.marriagebuilders.com, offers practical solutions to almost any marital problem. Dr. Harley leads Marriage Builders Weekends across the country and lives in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, with Joyce, his wife of forty years.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Revell (September 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0800731018
• ISBN-13: 978-0800731014
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #590,702 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A helpful and easy-to-follow guide, December 16, 2005

By 

FaithfulReader.com (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mom's Needs, Dad's Needs: Keeping Romance Alive Even After the Kids Arrive (Paperback)

Nationally known marriage expert Dr. Willard F. Harley, Jr. has written a follow-up to his bestseller HIS NEEDS, HER NEEDS. In MOM'S NEEDS, DAD'S NEEDS, he focuses on married life after the children are born. The subtitle, "Keeping Romance Alive Even After the Kids Arrive," sets the theme for this helpful, easy-to-follow guide. Dr. Harley's innovative counseling methods have helped countless couples rekindle the spark in their relationship, and this latest guide is sure to be welcomed by many more who reluctantly believe that romance is a thing of the past.

MOM'S NEEDS, DAD'S NEEDS not only offers very practical, "do-able" advice, but the book's format allows the reader to practice newly learned skills immediately instead of having to wait until the conclusion. With chapters like "And Then There Were Three," "Love Takes Time," "His Work, Her Work," and "Mixed Families, Blended Lives," Dr. Harley details the pitfalls that often sabotage the romantic side of a marriage. In each chapter he provides examples and suggestions that the reader can relate to.

For the many couples who mistakenly think that it's impossible to keep romantic love alive after marriage, and especially after children, this book shows how, with a few adjustments to daily routines, the romance can blossom and bloom for the remainder of their lives. Dr. Harley explains how meeting each other's basic emotional needs for intimate affection, sexual fulfillment, intimate conversation and recreational companionship plays a key role in rekindling the romance.

As in HIS NEEDS, HER NEEDS, understanding the difference in the emotional needs of males and females is key to making relationships work. Any couple who really wants to explore their marriage and learn some simple ways to rekindle the fire in it certainly will appreciate the help presented in MOM'S NEEDS, DAD'S NEEDS.

--- Reviewed by Maggie Harding, a substance abuse counselor in Phoenix, AZ who wanted to be Brenda Starr before life intervened. She reviews for www.bookreporter.com and www.womenonwriting.com. [...]

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Practical Insight Useful for Any Marriage, January 14, 2006

By 

James John Hollandsworth, M.D. "lightalongthe... - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Mom's Needs, Dad's Needs: Keeping Romance Alive Even After the Kids Arrive (Paperback)

This book contains a trove of practical insight on improving your marriage. It explains how we must focus on the emotional needs of our spouses that often aren't apparent to us. It reinforces how we must avoid "love busters" like selfish actions and independent thinking if we are to have a rich marriage. It forcefully warns us that without sustained daily effort that even the best or most committed marriage can fall to affair or divorce. However, there are cautions to those who base their marriages and their lives on Scripture. In the final analysis, all of the principles and tips still come down to "I'm doing this so I can get a good marriage" instead of "I'm doing this to love my spouse and glorify God". Everything revolves around the natural man---there's no mention of the dynamics of the new heart or the Holy Spirit here. And there's no mention of the roles of husband and wife as God has defined them. If you can understand these limitations, there's much meat here on how to love and minister to your spouse and help enrich a marriage that will glorify God.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Marker pen marks on cover, January 4, 2011

By 

Tay - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mom's Needs, Dad's Needs: Keeping Romance Alive Even After the Kids Arrive (Paperback)

even though the book was listed as new.there was a prominent blue marker ink from the front cover to the bottom of the book. which means, the blue ink slashed across the bottom of the pages to the back cover of the book.