Click for the text versions of the "How to Avoid Marrying a Jerk (Jerkette)" and the "Waiting to Marry" keynotes presented at Smart Marriages Conferences by John Van Epp, PhD.
Audio: CD or MP3/Ipod downloads $15.95 each.
Video DVDs are available of all Keynote sessions - $29.95
800-241-7785 or at www.iplaybacksmartmarriages.com
Session #754-P8 -"How to Avoid Marrying a Jerk"
Session #758-003 - "Waiting to Marry"
At the Smart Marriages San Francisco Conference, Dr Van Epp received the Smart Marriages Impact 2008 Award at his keynote "Waiting to Marry" and presented a 90-minute How to Avoid Marrying a Jerk seminar #758-804 available on CD or as a download. Order at 800-241-7785 or www.iplaybacksmartmarriages.com
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For a "why NOT to wait" class, show the Van Epp *Waiting to Marry* DVD, assign these articles, and then start the conversation - a lively discussion is guaranteed.
Optimal age to marry:
We are currently recommending marriage, for most people and other things being equal, in the mid-twenties. The research suggests that the drop in the high divorce risk of teen marriage levels off in the early twenties; that is, one does not decrease the risk any further by waiting until the late twenties or thirties. Other research suggests that later marriages (after the late twenties) aren't quite as happy. - Popenoe and Whitehead, National Marriage Project, 10/06
and
"The findings suggest that most persons have little or nothing to gain in the way of marital success by
postponing marriage beyond their mid-twenties with the finding of the greatest likelihood of being
in an intact marriage of the highest quality being among those who married at ages 22-25"
- Norval Glenn, U of Texas, in a paper Later First Marriage and Marital Success, which examines the
data on age at first marriage and marital success outcomes. Presented at Amer Sociological Assoc, SF, 9/09.
What is it with Men and Commitment? - Scott Stanley, Smart Marriages Conference keynote
"Sliding Vs Deciding": Understanding a Mystery - Scott Stanley, NCFR, Summer '09
Say Yes. What Are You Waiting For? - Mark Regnerus, Washington Post, April 09
For Better or Worse, Sooner Rather Than Later - Washington Post, April 09
Stigma Against Marrying Young - at 23, so we'll just live together....
My Clock was Already Ticking - NY Times, March 2009 - female ticking clock/decision-making
*Amanda's 39th Birthday* from Miriam Grossman's Unprotected - a must read & recipient
of the 2010 Smart Marriages Impact Award & keynote awards lunch at Orlando Smart Marriages Conference.
Order here:http://www.smartmarriages.com/app/Media.Booklist
Or WATCH here on Book TV.
And this one, Lori Gottlieb's Marry Him! from The Atlantic/2008:
http://lists101.his.com/pipermail/smartmarriages/2008-February/003647.html
Marry Him! is now a book, Feb 4, 2010
Your Old Man - NY Times, April 2009/http://tinyurl.com/d2wqcs
- research on the ticking biological clock for men
NPR: Morning Edition, June 2009 - Hooking Up: No Dating, No Realtionship
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Additional tools:
The PreMarital Conversation - discussion questions and exercises. Free pdf developed and
donated to Smart Marriages/CMFCE, LLC by Tamara Ranck.
Talk it Out - great list of questions/talking tips for you and your partner
Why Men Marry Some Women, Not Others
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"I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage and tangled Christmas tree lights.” - Maya Angelou