Learn a lesson from me: Don't vent about marital problems in earshot of your kids. Bruce Sallan: I have a big mouth. Anyone that knows me knows I'm highly opinionated and my family, in particular, lives with me both repeating myself and just droning on endlessly. It's as if I don't get an "Okay" or "Yeah, Dad" I assume my boys haven't heard me. Recently, I've begun a very stupid habit of complaining or voicing out loud issues between my wife and I, venting and expecting a sympathetic ear, to one or the other of my boys.