Pet names are sweet and fun. But if you use them too early in your relationship, you risk falling in love with an idea of a sweetheart rather than the actual person.  Here’s how you can avoid that pitfall and help your relationship last.

1:30 Remember the beginning of your last relationship

1:46 The filter we see new lovers through

2:29 Milan Kundera quote about the risks of the first days of new love

3:22 The beginning of the relationship will determine what comes next

3:55 The risk of pet names

4:53 When my girlfriend called me “honey”, I cringed (here’s why)

5:50 Hilarious song parody about the lack of intimacy of pet names

7:06 It’s possible to recover from the distortion

7:50 It’s when you clutch onto the relationship that it slips through your fingers

8:25 Why I currently use pet names

8:42 This week’s homework

Resources: Milan Kundera: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milan_Kundera. Song “Don’t Ever Call Your Sweetheart By His Name” By Christine Lavin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2U8EcJLUlkw

Podcast produced by Sal DeRosalia

Music composed and performed by Aimee Mia Kelley

Photo by J E S U S R O C H A on Unsplash

Contact Information

Dr. Jessica Tartaro

Telephone: 1 (480) 993-5562

“Contact me to schedule an initial, complimentary consultation – called an Exploratory – to explore the fit for coaching together.”

Looking for tools you can immediately apply to improve your relationships? Tune into weekly installments of "Under 10: A Mini Intimacy Podcast with Dr. Jessica Tartaro".