“We are your biggest fans, Shelby.” “We’ll always love you.” “You’ll always be our little girl.” “Shel, if you’re happy, we’re happy.”

Whoever came up with the phrase “Agree to Disagree” was probably single when they said it. It’s hard to have a romantic relationship that involves absolutely zero arguments. And that’s okay. A disagreement every now and then doesn’t make a relationship unhealthy—as long as you handle it in a healthy way.  The following five techniques should be avoided when arguing with your girlfriend if you put your relationship with her above always being right.

Is there anything more annoying than that couple you know who are always grossly engaging in excessive PDA? You know—the ones who can’t keep their hands off one another and are always so touchy-feely it makes everyone around them uncomfortable? Sadly there is. What’s worse is the guy who is a total overbearing boyfriend to his girl.

One moment you can feel like a suave Casanova while talking to a girl via text and the next like a bumbling uncomfortable dweeb speaking to her in person. But just because you might be more confident behind a screen doesn’t mean you should have your whole relationship through instant message. Emoticons are not legitimate substitutes for interacting face-to-face. If you want your relationships to work, you’ve got to learn how to function IRL (in real life).

After what seems like forever, you’ve finally caught yourself a good one—a boyfriend/girlfriend who’s absolutely awesome. You just can’t get enough of this person, and they feel the same way about you. So you become attached at the hip, and start doing everything together. There’s just one little problem: your friends are acting super cold and distant. Why? Because you’re not keeping the friend/relationship balance. Classic mistake, but worry not, you can certainly correct it.  Here’s how:

In high school we have teachers to help us through tough subjects, we have coaches to guide us to victory, and a lucky few of us have older brothers who are there to give us advice as we try to figure out girls, dating, and relationships. But I didn’t have an older brother and many of you might not either. In a previous post, Maritza noted that there was tons of information she never got from her older sister that might have prevented some stupid romantic mistakes. And now it’s my turn to imagine which words of wisdom would have been most helpful from an older brother. 

You’ve finally gotten the girl of your dreams to go out with you. In fact, she’s agreed to be your girlfriend. While it may seem like smooth sailing from here on out, this is only the beginning. And one of the best ways to keep your relationship strong is to win over your dream girl’s family and friends.

Did you know that 1 in 5 teens admit that their friends are in unhealthy relationships? That’s a pretty scary stat, although I guess the bright side is that teens are savvy enough to spot an unhealthy relationship when they see one. Sometimes the signs are obvious—a friend’s boyfriend or girlfriend makes fun of them in public, isolates them from their friends and family, or even physically abuses them. But other times, it can be difficult to tell whether your friend is really in an unhealthy situation, or you just don’t like the person they’re with.

You’ve met the guy/girl of your dreams. He or she is hot, smart, and totally into you. What more could you want, right? But when you’re out in public you notice that he or she has a habit of being…how shall we say…rude to other people. Like the waitress at the pizza restaurant who brought him a meatball slice when he ordered pepperoni. Or her mom, whose head she practically bit off when she simply asked her how her day was.

Finally, Teen Mom is back to catch us up on the original cast—Farrah, Maci, Catelynn, and Amber—as they struggle with relationships, moving out, and the terrible-two’s. In case you didn’t catch the season premiere this week, here’s what you missed: