How to Ask for What You Want
Posted by Laurie
This is a topic I’ve written about for years. A chapter in my first book Instant Persuasion is called “Ask and You’ll Receive.” In it, I share stories of disappointed expectations, such as:
“I wanted a special Valentine’s gift and I assumed he knew that. But he only got me a store-bought card and I was hurt.” Um, honey, if you didn’t tell him that you wanted a wrapped gift, he wasn’t going to read your mind. You set yourself up to be disappointed.
Communication Blunder: It’s a blunder to expect someone to offer you something that you want.
With all my insights and tips for others, I try to apply them to myself too. Turns out I have a big mouth in the public world, but when it comes to home life, sometimes I have to push myself to speak up. Anyone else like that? (more…)

When I started a
We moved to a new house a few weeks ago and the other day a good friend asked me how I like it here. “I don’t know. The house makes me nauseous,” I answered.
I’m not talking about basic separation like leaving your child in the living room while you go to the bathroom (which is not always easy!). I mean school or camp separation when you drop off your 2 or 3 year old and pick him up hours later.
It’s taken me two years to figure out what leads my husband and I to bicker about little things like how much our son ate for breakfast and whether he’s trending upward or downward in hour of sleep. This hot button that that creates our fights is… math.
