How to Maintain a Healthy Relationship As a New Parent
As we know, parenting requires most of our time, and it doesn’t leave much room for other activities. This is why most couples struggle to keep up with their new roles while unintentionally ignoring every factor that contributes to a healthy relationship. Of course, the dynamics may have changed between the two of you, but the only way to remain connected is if you don’t lose sight of those very dynamics. So the thing you need to work on is how you can connect with your partner and not be consumed by parenthood. Having trouble in this area? Here’s what you need.
The first thing both of you need to do is to distinguish between time with the kids and time with your better half. To do this, you need to try to carve some time out for your spouse from your child’s nap time. Try to talk about everyday experiences, or what your hopes and dreams are or anything you used to enjoy talking about as a couple. Talking to your partner and letting them into your safe space is a very important factor in maintaining a healthy relationship – even as a new parent. While this has its own benefits, sharing an emotional connection also leads to physical intimacy; this reduces significantly as soon as your kids come along. Yes, you may be sleepy when your child is asleep, but try to connect physically in this valuable time. Don’t put off your sex life for an annual vacation! On that note, a healthy social life also helps reinforce a healthy relationship. If possible, hire a babysitter now and then to be something more than just parents. If you don’t enjoy a social life, try to adopt or revisit a personal interest. If, for instance, you are a stay-at-home parent, you need to take some time out to relax, like enjoying a book, going for a run, or scrapbooking.
While you try and wriggle out of your everyday schedule for all of the above, you should set apart one day of the week for ‘date night.’ If your idea of a date is to go out for a fancy dinner, you need to change it. You can have a date-night dinner at home too. How about one of you cooks something up while the other one puts the baby to sleep? A healthy relationship takes some work, but now, it requires a whole new set of skills. Naturally, your relationship may take some time to evolve. You need to put in a little extra effort to show appreciation for each other along the way.
