Parenting Together

A strong bond between partners, built from the beginning, can inoculate couples from stress.

Week 1
Demonstrate fondness and affection for your partner. A wife’s satisfaction is directly related to how much affection and attention she receives from her partner.

Week 2
Be aware of what is going on in your spouse's life and be responsive to it. Taking time to discuss the things that matter most to your partner shows you care and are involved.

Week 3
Approach problems as something you and your partner have control of and something you can solve together. Use statements like: “We have faced other difficulties before, and we will face this together too.” Or, “…it may not be easy, but we are dedicated to each other and our family. We will get through this”. These statements show that you are a real “team”.

Week 4
Adopt a respectful, gentler approach to conflict. Listen well, and make sure your partner knows that you have heard what she has to say.

Week 5
Essentially, happy marriages make for happy parents. After a baby is born the focus is naturally in the baby. But demonstrations by a father that the family is the most important thing goes a long way to strengthen the marriage partnership.

Source: "The Baby and the Marriage: Identifying Factors that Buffer Against Decline in Marital Satisfaction after the First Baby Arrives" Journal of Family Psychology, Vol. 14, No. 1