Because so many of you responded to my post on 5 Ways to Help Your Marriage Feel Less Stressed, I decided to give you 3 new ways to avoid stress in your marriage. So, here are 3 great ways to cheer your spouse on by making your marriage feel less stressed:
1. Help more with the kids.
Does this sound familiar? “Hey Dad, where’s Mom? I need her to help me with my science project. ” When we consistently delegate things to our spouse, our kids naturally follow us along in this habit by aiming their needs at one parent instead of both. Break this habit and be involved in your kids’ lives. Help your daughter study for her math quiz, practice with your son to improve his baseball swing, take charge and discipline when your children disobey. Becoming involved will take some of the pressure off of your spouse, allowing your marriage to feel much less stressed in the long run because you’re doing it together.
2. Be your spouse’s teammate.
Taking opposing stances over a decision concerning your children is one of the biggest causes of stress in marriage. Selfishly, we often want to play the “good cop” in parenting. Whether we do this by giving in to our child, taking our child’s side, or by disagreeing with our spouse in front of our kids, these situations bring about disunity in marriage. I encourage you to talk through decisions concerning your kids when your kids are not in the room. This leaves you and your spouse free to talk through options and come to an agreement together. If you’re struggling in this area, I’ve got some practical solutions for you in my blog, How to Be Your Spouse’s Teammate in Parenting.
3. Create margin in your schedule.
We’re all well aware that life gets busy. Situations arise and circumstances change until you and your spouse are left with no time to simply be together and relax. To avoid this stress, be sure to intentionally create margin in your family’s calendar. In my blog, 6 Ways Your Marriage Can Thrive in a Busy Season I shared, “If you don’t block out time on your calendar each day where you don’t schedule anything, it will fill up by default. Leave room for the unexpected—the child who needs to be picked up, the call to get the A/C repaired, the friend who needs help—so that your focus can be fully on your spouse when you’re together.” To create margin, you also have to learn When to Say No to Good Things.
What are some other ways you and your spouse have worked to keep stress from ruling your marriage? Please leave your comments below.