I hear ya. And not to go school marm on ya, but "validating" doesn't mean "agreeing with everything she says," either. Validating means that you acknowledge her FEELING that way about a particular issue, while not necessarily agreeing one way or another with her POSITION on the issue.
btw, nothing wrong with the "I'll have to think about that one" response. That might've gotten me into a few less arguments that I didn't handle well myself.
