Spanking May Lead to Sexual Problems

Four studies by the Family Research Laboratory at the University of New Hampshire-Durham, suggests that children whose parents spanked, slapped, hit or threw objects at them may have a greater chance of physically or verbally coercing a sexual partner, engaging in risky sexual behavior or engaging in masochistic sex, including sexual arousal by spanking. Elizabeth Gershoff, an assistant professor of social work at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, who reviewed 80 years of spanking research says that though many children have been spanked (85% in one 2007 survey), problems may depend on how they process the spanking. This information isn't without its retractors, however. Linking sexual problems with spanking is a "big leap," says human-sexuality researcher John DeLamater of the University of Wisconsin. Find more at USA Today.

Perhaps this is a subject for us to cover in our Sex channel. What do you think?

Cell Phones Stump Fertility?

Preliminary studies suggest that cell phone use by men could harm their fertility. The study was done on 361 men under 40 who were being evaluated for infertility at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation; men whose personal or family history might explain a low count or other sperm abnormalities were excluded. Long story short, those who talked more than four hours a day had lower counts and more poor "swimmers" and abnormally formed sperm. Before you hang up your cell phone fellas, the authors of the study did concede that their could be hundreds of other variables that could have contributed to their findings. Click here to read the full article.

Mending Your Marriage After an Affair

The best way to mend the wounds of an affair according to experts is for the cheater to be open and candid about the affair and accept responsibility. Author John Gray, who examines relationship problems in his latest book, "Why Mars and Venus Collide" says the cheater must admit betrayal and state their desire to be faithful. In this article from Florida Today, wife Angela Gilbert requires her cheating husband to take a lie detector test every year. She says, "I don't trust him the way I did before. I feel safe because of the measures we put in place."

Another expert, Rick Reynolds says it takes about 18 months for the hurt spouse to work through all the emotions that come with an affair. He also says it's important to establish ground rules like Gilbert and know when to let the affair go. There's more tips in the article, which concludes by saying the best defense to an affair is to talk openly with your spouse about any temptation. Psychologist Barry McCarthy says, "Lies thrive in secrecy."

How Much Sex Does Your Church Require?

Head pastor Paul Wirth of the Relevant Church has issued a challenge to married couples to have sex every day for a month. He's proposed this 30-day challenge as an effort to combat high divorce rates. He wants couples to force themselves to connect even though they're tired from their jobs and let life get in the way. Is your church as awesome at this one? You can find more at 30DaySexChallenge.com. (When we posted this blog, the site had already exceeded its bandwidth!)

Thanks to reader Elizabeth for sending in this great news item. If this won't get her husband to attend church, nothing will.

Don't Neglect Marriage After Baby Arrives

An article from AZCentral.com tells the story of new parents and how the child has changed their marriage. At the end of the article, there are many tips for new parents to think about. The tips are broken down into frequency: daily, weekly, monthly and annually. Some of their tips include: make time to talk, go out on a date at least once a week, get away for one night every month, and plan at least one getaway vacation once a year. A point they make at the end of the article is that eventually the children will grow up and leave. If you've nurtured your relationship throughout parenthood, you'll have fun for many years to come. Click here to read the full article.

Do Families Eat Together?

A study from Harris Interactive for SuperTarget says 47% of families eat together 5 to 6 times a week. Another 28% say they eat together 7 or more times per week. Only 3% percent say they never eat together and only 8% say they eat together once or twice per week. Do you find this surprising? How many times per week do you and your family eat together? Go ahead and talk about it on our message board. Click here to see the full chart.

Chocolate Price Fixing?

Did you feel ripped off yesterday when you slapped down your hard-earned cash for that heart-shaped box of chocolates? It seems others feel you're getting ripped off too. The German Federal Cartel Office have raided the offices of seven of leading chocolate companies including Mars, Kraft Foods and Nestle. Canada's Competition Bureau searched the offices of several companies, many of the same ones as in Germany. There has also been American lawsuits accusing chocolate companies of violating antitrust laws. The German Cartel Office says if they find evidence of collaboration, the companies face possible fines of up to 10% of their annual income. To read the entire article from USA Today, click here.

Valentine's Day Recipes

Looking to make a special meal for your sweetheart? The good people at FoodTV has an entire section of their website dedicated to Valentine's recipes for two. They've got it broken down into several sections, including Recipes for Romance, Kids Corner, Five Valentine's Cookies from One Simple Dough, Our Romantic Valentine's Dinner for Two, and more. There's also videos you can watch, including The Freaky Deaky Love Potion.

Are you making your spouse a special dinner for Valentine's Day? Click here to go to the FoodTV page.

Special Podcast for Valentine's Day

If you're not a regular listener to our podcast, now's the time to start. For the first time, we have a special podcast in the middle of the week. Dr. Trina Read, our Sexpert, was kind enough to give us a few minutes of her time to explain how couples can use Valentine's Day to initiate fun and play into your sex life. The entire podcast is less than 10 minutes and well worth it. Who knows, you might even become a regular listener. Here's looking forward to a Happy Valentine's Day. Click here to go to and listen to the podcast.

Buying the Best Chocolate for Your Valentine

Yahoo! Personals has an article about how to buy the best chocolate. The author defines five characteristics to keep an eye on. The first and noted most important is the freshness of the chocolate. To avoid months old chocolate, the author recommends avoiding supermarkets and instead patronizing specialty chocolate shops. Another item of note is to not worry about any diet! Well, unless your spouse is a diabetic, in which case he says there are few low-glycemic index chocolates. Finally, another item to look out for is flavor. Make sure you get a flavor that your spouse likes.

What's wrong with pure dark chocolate? Hitched says not a thing.

Nitpicking in Marriage is Normal

A new study published in LiveScience and authored by Kira Birditt, a research fellow at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research says that nitpicking or frequent demands that once triggered just a mild chafe develops into a major pain. They also say that within marriage, it's normal. However, couples with kids don't experience the effects as much and different age groups deal with the nitpicking differently. The study was conducted by questioning 800 couples and highlights the point that when couples have problems with their spouse, the problems don't go away.

This is why we're here. To help you recognize and deal with issues. To read the full article, click here.

Get Stuck With Needles, Get Pregnant

The University of Maryland School of Medicine published a study in the British medical journal, BMJ which says acupuncture may help women get pregnant. To be most effective, they say acupuncture should be done right before or after embryos are placed in the womb. The study was based on 1,366 women in the U.S., Germany, Australia and Denmark who are having in vitro fertilization. The article from USA Today says this:

Individually, only three of the studies found acupuncture beneficial, three found a trend toward benefit and one found no benefit. When results of these smaller studies were pooled, researchers found that the odds of conceiving went up about 65% for women given acupuncture.

Experts say that there is still a lot of research that needs to be done, but also say that while the benefit of acupuncture still needs more studying, there's never been anything to show that it's harmful--so why not give it a try? Have any of you ever done acupuncture in hopes of getting pregnant? Did it work?

Best Cities for Couples

Forbes.com has released their Best Cities for Couples, which is based on marriage and divorce rates for the 20- to 34-year-olds, the affordability of a starter home there, the area's income disparity and the availability of family counseling. The list is limited to the largest 40 metropolitan areas. No. 1 on their list is Dallas. For long-term couples, however, Salt Lake City, UT was tops with 885 married couples per 1,000 households, while Buffalo, NY was at the bottom with 573 married couples per 1,000 households. Indianapolis, IN had the highest rate of divorce, with 143 divorces per 1,000 households, New York City had the fewest divorces with 43.

Makeup for Men

Click on over to the Nordstrom website and you'll see that Clinique is now selling makeup for men. Nope, we're not making this up. They are marketing it to cover up dark circles under the eyes and to hide shaving nicks. They also say that it's water and sweat resistant. I guess New England Patriot fans won't have to worry about their makeup running. Anywho, this is probably going a little too metro, what do you think? Would you be concerned if your husband told you he's decided to wear makeup? Speaking of metro. Have you read our article on wives wanting their husbands to be more metro. It's an oldie but goodie. Click here to read it. To view the makeup, click here.

Pack Cash if You Pack A Second Bag

The No. 2 airline in the U.S. has announced that fliers will have to pay to pack a second bag. Beginning May 5, passengers on United flights will have to pay $25 each way for a second bag and $100 if they want to check a third bag. A United spokesperson said a major reason for the new charge is due to the rise in gas prices. However, members of United's Mileage Plus frequent-flier program and those who book non-refundable economy-class tickets for trips within the US and between the US and Canada are exempt. To be a frequent flier, you need to fly at least 25,000 miles a year. Read the full article here.

Confessions Report

The 2008 Harlequin Romance Report has just been released and this year's focus is on confessions. For the survey, over 2,000 men and women confessed throughout the U.S. and Canada. This report does include some non-married related information, but it's still good information and offers something for the married folks. For example, 42 percent of men and 41 percent of women say their anniversary is the most important date of the year.

We thought that was surprising, more men saying the anniversary was more important than women. It must be the other 58 percent of men who forget the anniversary. Another survey result found that 61 percent of men and 50 percent of women agreed that it's okay to lie when your significant other asks, "Do I look fat in this?"

The survey also includes non-relationship information within the confession theme. As an example, 16 percent of men and 28 percent of women say they would undergo cosmetic surgery if no one ever found out about it.

To read the complete report, click here.