The reason most young married couples don't start fighting until they have been married a while is that, on the whole, they don't have their style perfected yet. It may start out as smiling snide comments back and forth, and take years to develop their own individual style.
The GROGco Married Couple Fighting Kit solves that problem by providing a cat and dog in a large enclosed sealed box. The box has two knockout holes (to insert young faces) and when the top of the box is removed, the partition separating the dog and cat is also removed. A complimentary note pad and pencil are provided for the young novices to take notes. In no time at all, the young married couple will know if they have the knack.-- Grogster, Oct 18 2010 The mad hat, that was it The_20Mad_20Hatvery cute [blissmiss, Oct 18 2010] Couldn't hurt...may I suggest tags on the animals? "Wife" on the cat, "Husband" on the dog, of course. This might seem unnecessary to some, but not to you, shirley. I shudder to think of the horrors that might ensue if the combatants confused their respective strategies.-- Boomershine, Oct 18 2010 They can root for the critter of their choice. The kit expires when (usually) the cat realizes the top is off...-- Grogster, Oct 18 2010 //They can root for the critter of their choice.//
I would be willing to bet that the wife would root for the cat, the husband the dog.-- Boomershine, Oct 18 2010 Well, this kit certainly made a mess of my Product Development Laboratory. I had just cleaned up from the "Airline Sanitizing Pants" with calcium chloride cuffs, then blew it up again with "Blacksmith Party Favors." The team was anxious to get the kit out of there, so we didn't label the face holes.
You're probably right, though.-- Grogster, Oct 18 2010 Afro once had an idea about hats for couples to wear when they fight. I'll go try and find it. It was cute.-- blissmiss, Oct 18 2010 Cute, indeed, [blissmiss]!
The idea presented here is for couples a little further along in their unexpressed animosity toward each other.
If they think they're just going to end up hanging it up anyway, they might use this example to figure out how to accelerate the process so they can get on with their lives and go find someone that they can play nice with.
Or, they may realize that neither one of them have the knack and they would prefer to put on their big kid underpants and iron out their differences.
This works even if both are dog people or cat people.
Win-Win for GROGco.-- Grogster, Oct 18 2010 + for [blissmiss]' link to [AfroA']s idea. I've been married for 30 years, but I really needed a laugh tonight, and this was it! :) :)-- csea, Oct 18 2010 [Grog] My comments about dogs and cats/husbands and wives, were based on a (perhaps bad) stereotype about how each fights and responds differently. If you just think couples need to learn how to fight, I suppose two dogs or two cats...or two anything, would do.
I would have preferred to have the couple watch something fight, quarrel--whatever--which would illustrate where they were getting it wrong, extract a lesson, and get on with things, either resolving their differences or dissolving their relationship.
For the record, I've been married for 29 years...but not to the same woman.
[bliss] Love that idea you linked. But, it's hard to imagine being willing to put on a silly hat if you are really mad. Might make you think, though.-- Boomershine, Oct 18 2010 I'm with you, [Boomer]... 25 yrs and 10 yrs. I'm a happy guy and won't be needing my kit. <GROG inserts stupid grin here...>-- Grogster, Oct 18 2010 Insert face into box containing panicked cat. No-thank-you.-- bluebeaversscrubbingourfloors, Oct 19 2010 I have three dogs, two cats and have been married 4 years. The cats are/were one male and one female and are both neutered, so my experience is limited, but cats are too lazy to fight more than a minute MAX. The dogs are different and will go for the kill and keep trying until they succeed or fail and then stop. My wife is COMPLETELY different, she is more like the ocean, sometimes raging but generally just relentless. I know this idea is a joke, but I just bring this up because I know the old saying "fighting like dogs and cats", but I've just never seen a relationship like that. I think couples learn to fight from the masters, their parents, who have honed their skills over decades to bring it to a fine art or just learn to live with the others eccentricities and appreciate their finer points.-- MisterQED, Oct 19 2010 In the short term, feelings drive actions, but in the long term, actions drive feelings. (There have been studies on this subject, to which I am too lazy to link). Therefore, this is a bad idea. [-]-- pertinax, Oct 19 2010 I'm too lazy to post this myself just now, but I'd much rather see something that might help young married couples get along. Afro's hat idea was great. But, taking off on this one, how about a box with holes cut on opposite sides. When the couple is at an impasse, they each put their faces in the holes. (Light provided from a hole at the top) and just look at each other in this ridiculous position....if they can, without laughing.
I'll have to work on a version of this...-- Boomershine, Oct 19 2010 [-] for perpetuating the stereotype.-- jamobaker, Oct 20 2010 random, halfbakery