The Couple and the In-Laws: How to Build a Healthy, Balanced Relationship - Gary Chapman

Publisher Overview

My sister-in-law drives me crazy. She tells me how to raise my children, but she is single! My brothers-in-law exclude me from their activities. My mother-in-law is trying to control my husband.

Maintaining good relationships with your in-laws when possible is fulfilling and beneficial for the couple and the family. However, in this area, misunderstandings can be numerous and sources of conflict. How to develop, improve or restore relationships with son-in-law, daughter-in-law or parents-in-law? This is what Gary Chapman explains in this book, giving us some tips to communicate well with our in-laws: listen, respect, negotiate... With one goal: to love better.

Written resolutely for couples, the Little Chapman Guides are full of practical advice to grow your relationship.

Author Biography

Gary Chapman is a marriage counselor. Gifted and highly appreciated, he leads many seminars all over the world. The series of his books on love languages (intended for couples and parents of children and adolescents) has met with wide success with the French-speaking public. To continue your discovery of this atypical author, visit the website dedicated to him: www.garychapman.fr

Excerpt from the introduction

For thirty years, men and women have come to me to discuss their difficulties with their in-laws. Here are the kinds of cases they presented to me:

• "My sister-in-law drives me crazy. She tells me how to raise my children, even though she is single! What does she know about the education of children?"
• "My mother-in-law and sisters-in-law exclude me from their activities. Every Saturday, they have lunch together, but they never invite me to join them. They know that my mother and sisters live hundreds of miles away. They are between girls, and I feel completely left out."
• "When my father-in-law comes to eat at home, he only talks about sports, his job, or what he read in the newspaper. He never asks questions about the details of our lives. It seems completely disconnected from our existence, emotionally."
• "My brother-in-law is trying to control my husband. He's five years older, and he's probably been doing this all his life. But I don't like it."
• "In fact, our son-in-law kidnapped our daughter. Since their marriage, he has refused to let her attend family celebrations."
• "When my in-laws invite us to their home, they also invite all their children and families. Just once, I'd like them to invite us both, as a couple."
• "My wife's parents give her money to buy the things we can't afford. I blame them. If only they could just let us manage our lives in our own way..."