It’s been an interesting week in our home. There are points in time that everything is going along fairly smoothly. There may be a bump or two in the road, but nothing major.
Then suddenly you have a week where all three of your preteen and teen children decide to test the waters or stretch your patience or whatever it may be. Suddenly your marriage finds itself being tested as well.
Navigating through the relationship of a husband and wife is challenging enough without throwing into the mix some children. Now you have additional relationships to work through. Then there are certain seasons in which it can become even more complicated, such as when they are preteens and teens (my world).
Or it may be the terrible two’s, or a newborn baby that is keeping you awake at night. No matter what age or stage, there are bound to be times when your marriage feels like it is being stretched beyond its limits.
The thing with parenting is that you have a husband and wife who may come at it from entirely different angles. That always makes things even more interesting.
One parent believes a situation should be handled one way, another parent believes it should be handled another way. One parent thinks the one is being soft and the other parent thinks the other is being too hard.
When you are faced with parenting challenges, it is so important that you don’t let it affect your marriage. You can’t necessarily separate the two but you can turn it into something that actually draws you closer.
Yes, even when you don’t agree—because sometimes you learn how to agree to disagree, or you learn to give a little. There are ways to compromise when you are trying to get through those challenging moments in parenting. But you have to purpose to make that happen.
Behind closed doors, when children are not in sight is the time to calmly and rationally discuss whatever issues you are facing as parents. Take the time to talk through it all. One spouse might offer something very helpful. Don’t try and solve problems at the moment it happens. Take a breather but take the time to actually communicate.
What tips do you have for working through challenging moments in parenting?
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Photo by Joey Crowley in Stockvault