Task: Give her at least 15 minutes of your undivided attention where you JUST LISTEN.
Reasoning: OK, blunt truth time: Most guys suck at this. Most of us as men do not see the value in just sitting down and really listening to our wives talk about their day. They change from topic to topic too fast. They talk about relational things at work that have no bearing on what actually happened at their job that day.
Frequently, we look for problems to solve and so we listen just long enough to identify where our help is needed and then we offer unrequested solutions to problems our wives just wanted to share because IT HELPS THEM FEEL CONNECTED WITH US.
So for this task, just listen. Give minimal encouragers (headnods, “yeah”s and “umhmm”s) to indicate, “I’m with you, and I care about what you have to say.” No problem solving unless they specifically verbatim ask for your advice, and even then keep it to a minimum unless they ask for more. This time is about her. Let her talk.
That’s it. See you back here tomorrow for Day 6.
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