A wife can build or destroy a man's self-respect more quickly than anyone else. Difference of opinion is stimulating in a good marriage, but a wise couple agrees to disagree in private, and a loyal couple does not allow criticism to go unanswered. If you answered "No" to these questions

, you rate well on loyalty.

ARE YOU A GOOD MOTHER?

1. Do you encourage the children to keep secrets from their father ? 2. Do you let them criticize him to you ?

3. Do you argue with him before them or take their side against him in their presence ?

4. Do you like to feel that you are the favourite parent?

It is important for children to feel that father and mother are together as a unit. This is where their feeling of security comes from. It is devastating to a child to be put in the position of disloyalty to either parent. This fills him with anxiety and doubt. It also builds great problems of discipline. A smart child may try to play one parent against the other. Saving up punishments until Father comes home is a great mistake for two reasons. It makes Father seem to be an ogre-and it also makes him dread coming home if he has to settle a conflict every evening. "No" to these questions is needed for a good record.

ARE YOU A GOOD MATE?

1. Are you able to discuss sex freely with your husband? 2. Is this relationship happy for you both?

3. Do you know that men and women often have different reactions to sex, and do you try to understand how he feels?

4. Are you as affectionate as before marriage?

5. Do you avoid giving other men the impression that you might be interested in a serious flirtation?

There is a great variation in sexual needs in both men and women. The important privilege of both is to be alert to the mate's needs and for each to try to understand and adapt to that of the other. The important duty of the wife is to let her husband know that his emotions as well as her own joyousness in this relationship are understood. A man needs to feel important as well as attractive to his wife. If she lets him doubt that, she causes one of the greatest losses of self-respect a man can know. Unless you answered "Yes" to these questions, perhaps you would do well to examine some other aspects of your marriage to see if you are doing your full part in the sharing of trust, affection, loyalty, and ambition that make a "joint adventure" successful.