Dear Sistertech:
You probably don’t get a lot of letters like this from men. I hope you can help me.
Seven years ago I married the most wonderful woman. She’s kind, generous, sexy and smart. We have two fantastic kids (a boy aged 3 and a girl who just turned 6) and the typical assortment of pets. We both work outside the home. Our friends envy us because we’ve managed to balance the demands of career and family better than any of them. The problem is that we have a mixed marriage. Sure, I knew this was an issue, or could become an issue down the road. But when conflicts happened we always found a way to handle them. It’s just that now the arguments are a daily, constant thing. Weekends are nightmares. That’s when our different traditions clash.
She’s tired of my telling her how much better things would be if she joined my tradition. She cannot comprehend my devotion. A few times she screamed at me that I act as though I’m in a cult! Frankly, I have a hard time not looking down on her for her continued participation in something I often think is not only archaic, but just plain sinister. She says her tradition has changed and that it isn’t what it once was. We get into terrible yelling matches.
Now that the kids are getting a bit older the arguments have intensified. Which tradition should we introduce them to? Both? None? Only one? A week on and a week off? We’ve each spoken to people in our respective communities, but so far none of them has offered any helpful solutions.
I’m on the sofa writing this to you on my laptop. My wife is sitting a few inches from me working on her laptop, but we might as well be on different continents. We loved and still love each other. I hate to think that the next step for us is to end our mixed marriage. What should we do?
Thanks in advance,
Muddled in Muncie
PS: If this matters in your response: I’m the MAC and she’s the PC.
Dear Muddled,
Sistertech is so very glad you wrote to her. You’ve brought to our readers a very serious problem. Few things are worse than when unequally yoked, especially couples and their operating programs. It’s time for a third party intervention. The solution is for you both to switch to Linux. The children, too. Sistertech would also recommend spending some time as a family reading prayers from The Book of Uncommon Prayer, for instance, prayers 3.8 and 4.9. Also read passages from The Document. I’d start with The Beatitudes (Matthew 5), then Matthew 7 and John 1. As always, Sistertech recommends adapting the prayers and passages from The Document as befits your particular situation. If you need a customized prayer, email your request to Tom the Intern.
May your conversions be swift and free from error,
Sistertech