Partnership can be challenging at times and it jumps to a whole new level of intensity when you add one or more tiny humans to the mix. Parenting as partners, partnering as parents -- however you slice it -- takes time, energy, patience and care. And all these things can feel in very short demand between the two of you when you become parents.
So, what can a couple do, in the early years of family life, to keep the relationship cooking and navigate the logistics of getting everything done as they parent growing people who need so much?
Here are 11 ways to strengthen your partnership in the midst of parenting:
- Accept what is. You two got together under completely different circumstances. And now you are here. So... be here now. Stay present. Meet this moment. Perpetually meet each other as you are now. Not as you were or how you wish each other to be. But right here. Right now. Warts and all.
The very nature of family life is chaotic when there are children in the home. And the chaos is typically in inverse proportion to the age of the children (younger = more chaos) and direct proportion to the amount (more kids = more chaos). Say it loud and proud, "This is NOT the season of our life where we will have lots of time to nurture each other and our relationship. That time will come again. AND we will do our best with the time we do have together now because this is important to us. All of us."
Please write a comment and let me know which strategy you will try in your partnership (or with yourself)!
If these concepts strike a cord with you, I'd love for you to visit my website www.carriecontey.com for more tips and tools to make family life everything you dream it can be.