I had the best AP Physics teacher. He was funny, and made learning fun. He sometimes talked to us about the girl he was dating and slipped in some relationship advice. I still am thankful for this piece. When his girlfriend would say something that required no response, something like, “Gosh the sky is so pretty today,” he would say,

Girls are different than guys. [Obviously.] According to the internet, girls use 20,000 words in a day. Men use 7,000. This is probably where the initial problem comes in. Girls just say things to say them. We like to have opinions. We like to talk things out. And then we like something else: acknowledgement. I don’t know why, but I know that this is SO true for me. I say stuff like this all the time.

I’ve always wanted to go to London.
My skin is cooler, so warm reds don’t look good on me.
I think I’d like to color my hair.
I saw a dog on the side of the road.
I love that movie.
This is my favorite song.
I’m going to bring my jacket in case it rains.
I painted my nails today.

No really. All the time. Sometimes Chad just doesn’t know to respond because whatever I’ve said… doesn’t require a response! So, at the beginning of our marriage, I told him about my physics teacher. “All I need is a response to let me know that you’ve heard what I said.” Even something as simple as acknowledged.