Take Time On The Wild Ride of Parenthood
Having a family is the most special and most stressful times of a couple’s lives. It’s important for a mother and father to strengthen each other while at the same time raising their family the best way they know how. We’ve got a few ways to help one another feel special and take time for each other while enjoying life at the same time.
Follow A Routine
It’s important to maintain a sense of routine. This way your kids know what to expect each day and night, and you get a little alone time together as a couple after they go to bed. Children thrive on a routine. At night, after they have activities, you have dinner, bathtime, maybe read a book and put them in bed, schedule in some time to just talk to your spouse. It’s up to you what you do together, but just make sure it’s all about the two of you, even if it’s a television show you both enjoy to watch.
Snuggle Up
It’s important to take time for yourselves in your own bed without the kids, but it’s also a lot of fun to sometimes just pile in and snuggle. The family bed doesn’t have to be all about families that co-sleep. It can also be when the kids have a nightmare, when you let them under the covers just because, and when they’re scared of a storm. Wake up and have a tickle fest or just sit and talk about the upcoming day. Some of the most precious times happen when you’re all in bed just being together. It’s a wild world out there. It’s fun to sometimes just hunker down under the covers and feel secure in one place for that period in time.
Date Night
Taking time to get away from the kids is important so you can remember why you fell in love in the first place. Wild nights of chasing kids, eating on the run, and cleaning messes can make anyone forget about the romance you had before all the insanity. It’s good to get back to your roots and just talk about yourselves as a couple. Ask one another how you are really doing and all about your life. Your life isn’t just about the kids. A huge part is about you as a family, but you are both still individuals and you have to remember the roots of your love.
Divide Child Care Equally
Taking care of children can be overwhelming for many couples. If both work out of the home, there is even more stress put on one or both after hours to work even harder to ensure the children are fed, bathed, and happy. It will strengthen both the mother and father as a couple if they feel the other is going above and beyond to take care of the kids. Some nights mom can bathe and put the kids to bed, other nights dad takes on this activity. Switch up who does the laundry, packs the lunches, etc. Resentment begins to build when one parent is busy getting the clothes ready for the next day, night after night, while the other parent watches television.
Take A Walk
It may sound strange, but taking a family walk can actually strengthen you emotionally as well as physically. Going on a walk, talking about your day, and just enjoying one another will build you up as a couple and as an entire family. Get out and enjoy nature together. It’s a free way to engage as a family. Think of it as free family therapy and a free gym membership.
Don’t Quit
Families fight. No matter the issues of you as a couple or a family, remember you’re all in this together. New obstacles are going to come as your family grows together, but you have to face them head-on. Talk about things in-depth and always take action as a family. Never lose sight of the root of your love and always hold on to the other’s hand throughout any problems.
