Surviving Hard-Headed, Old-School Men: A Guide to Sanity

 

How to Cope with the Ignorant

A special kind of endurance is required when living with men who operate on ancient logic, refuse to admit defeat, and still believe they know more than Google. If you’ve ever watched in horror as an old-school hardhead confidently bypasses every instruction manual, only to almost burn the house down, this one’s for you.

The Art of Stubbornness

The hard-headed man lives by a few sacred rules:

1. If it worked 40 years ago, it still works now. (Even if it objectively does not.)
2. Admitting fault is worse than defeat in battle. Even when caught red-handed.
3. If you ignore a problem long enough, it ceases to exist. Example: “That leak? It’s fine. Water finds its way.”

I’ve watched these men argue against basic physics, refuse doctor’s advice, and question why things need to be different. And yet, somehow, in their maddening logic, they do make some sense.

The Unsolicited Parenting Advice

If you’re raising kids around hard-headed men, congratulations, you now have an unsolicited co-parent.

They believe:

• Kids need more discipline, and by that, they mean the kind they got as children (which would now get someone arrested).
• “Back in my day, we didn’t have anxiety.” (Sure, Grandpa, you just repressed it until it manifested as back pain at 40.)
• Technology is ruining everything. (Yet they’re using it for sites that are frowned upon.)
• Kids are too soft and need to learn “the hard way.”

And somehow, despite your best efforts, they still manage to overrule you. Whether it’s sneaking candy or soda to your toddler five minutes before bedtime, rewriting your rules mid-sentence, or just shaking their head like you have no idea what you’re doing.

How to Survive It

1. Pretend they didn’t say that. (Selective hearing is a lifesaver.)
2. Redirect with a compliment. (“Wow, your parenting is SO effective")
3. Let them feel like they won. (They need this. Their ego depends on it.)
4. Hold your ground. Because at the end of the day, your kids are your responsibility, not a nostalgic experiment in tough love.
   
   

The Unexpected Wisdom

For all their stubborn ways, these men have a knack for being right about things they should absolutely be wrong about. Like knowing exactly what’s wrong with the car based on a single sound. Or being able to grill the perfect steak using nothing but instinct and outdated knowledge.

More importantly, their refusal to change often stems from something deeper, experience, pride, and the fear of irrelevance. They’ve lived through eras of self-sufficiency, trial and error, and moments where knowing your stuff actually mattered.

How We Survive It

1. Selective hearing👂 (again). (Pretending not to hear their nonsense works wonders.)
2. Reverse psychology.🧠 (Convince them an idea was theirs, and they’ll champion it immediately.)
3. Let them win sometimes. 🏆(It costs you nothing to nod along when they insist “That’s not how you clean a stove,” even though it is.)
4. Find the humor. 😂At some point, you have to laugh. (Until it becomes too much)

Because in the end, these men, despite their maddening ways, are part of what keeps life interesting. Their old-school grit, their love buried beneath their resistance, and their ability to survive despite their own habits make them unforgettable.

What’s the funniest hard-headed moment you’ve ever witnessed?

Drop it below, I bet you’ve got some good ones.⬇️

Marriage: Choosing Love in the Chaos

Introduction:

Marriage isn’t candlelit dinners and walks on the beach—it’s whispering “I love you” over the sound of a toddler meltdown or high-fiving each other when you finally get the kids to bed. It’s messy, loud, sometimes chaotic, but somehow, it works. Between parenting, caregiving, and life’s daily curveballs, marriage becomes less about big, romantic gestures and more about showing up for each other—even when the house looks like a scene from a disaster movie.

Love in the Mess:

Some days, love feels like magic. Other days, it feels like digging deep to find the patience to not argue over how to stack the dishwasher. Marriage is the constant, quiet agreement that no matter what chaos life throws at you, you’re in it together—even if the toddler is decorating the walls with markers again.

For us, love is less about perfection and more about laughing at the imperfection, like when I forget, again, to switch the laundry, or when my husband’s fiery personality sets off an argument about whether 8:00 p.m. is technically “bedtime" or not. It’s these messy, unpolished moments that make our marriage feel real.

The Little Things That Keep Us Together:

✨The magic is in the small stuff✨

• Shared Coffee Mornings: Even if it’s reheated coffee and the conversation is mostly about toddler tantrums.
• Inside Jokes: Like poking fun at how he can’t ever find his shoes (even though they’re always in the same spot).
• Grace and Patience: For silly arguments, for bad days, and for the chaos that is parenting together.
• Remembering our happiest moments together: Like before we had kids 😂, or like our wedding day, or even just enjoying the northern lights in our yard together!

Before Kids

Our wedding day

Northern lights in our yard

Choosing Love Every Day:

Seems like marriage is the ultimate team sport. We find ourselves laughing even when we want to scream, forgiving even when it’s hard, and remembering why we fell in love in the first place. We know that despite the chaos, there’s no one else we'd rather face it with.

It’s about making the choice to keep choosing each other, whether it’s over cold pizza at midnight or dodging the LEGO minefield your kids left behind.🙄

Conclusion:

Our marriage isn’t perfect, but it’s ours. Built on faith, humor, heart, and the kind of love that grows stronger through every messy, chaotic day.

My Love, and Me 💕

Tell me—what makes your marriage work? 

How do you hold onto love through life’s chaos? 

Let’s celebrate the magic of imperfect partnerships together.

The Fiery Parenting Duo: Finding Strength in Our Differences

 

Parenting, at its core, is a dance....a sometimes-chaotic, often-improvised, always-learning dance. 

And my husband and I? Well, let’s just say we bring some serious passion to the floor.

Take the other day, for example. The kids were in full meltdown mode, arguing over the same toy they’d ignored all week, while the house seemed to vibrate with the sheer volume of their voices. My husband, true to his fiery nature, jumped in, ready to bring order to the chaos with his strong, no-nonsense approach. I wanted to step in, soften the tension, and smooth things over the way I usually do. For a moment, we were out of sync....both frustrated and handling things in our own way.

But then, something clicked. I took a step back and realized that his intensity came from a place of care, of wanting to teach our kids lessons about fairness and respect. It’s not always the way I’d approach things, but that’s okay. Because where I bring calm, he brings energy. Where I offer patience, he offers conviction. Together, we create balance...not by being the same, but by embracing our differences.

This moment reminded me that parenting doesn’t have to be perfect or harmonious all the time. It’s about showing up, being present, and having each other’s backs, even when the dance gets a little messy. And at the end of the day, we’re in it together—fiery moments and all.💞