Before I joined my gym, one of the questions I had to answer was ‘What do you think is the cause of your stress?’ I just laughed. After I finished the session, I scrolled on Facebook and saw an article that says ‘Research shows that husbands cause women more stress than children’. Hmm, why am I not surprised?…
One woman said that she is “emotionally and physically exhausted when her husband comes home from work. He feels like another job.” I can almost feel her pain. Surely hundreds of women say the same thing.
Ok, where am I going with this? Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus. We, my husband and I, can both be exhausting to each other. That is why I am reading that book once again. We have known each other for like 17 years and people change, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t get along.
Marriage is not all love and easy-sailing. It takes a lot of understanding, patience, empathy, give and take, and most importantly, showing that you love your other half. So I’ve come up with a short list of Do’s and Don’ts to navigate through the partnership.
Do’s
- Say nice things to each other everyday especially in front of the kids.
- Laugh at each other’s jokes even if it is not funny.
- Help each other out with house chores.
- Find excuses to celebrate something together e.g birthdays, anniversary, etc.
- Give each other gifts just because it’s Monday. It doesn’t have to be expensive (I’m sure a bag of Maltesers can put a smile on your wife/husband’s face).
- Say sorry first. I know sorry is the hardest word to say but just effin say it ok!
Don’ts
- Don’t say hurtful, spiteful things just because you’re angry.
- Don’t bring up the past, please! If you want to have a future with your spouse, please leave the past behind!
- Don’t give your partner the silent treatment. Grow up and speak to each other!
- Don’t fight for too long. Seriously, that’s exhausting.
That’s all that I can come up with for now. Feel free to add more Do’s and Don’ts! I’d love to hear what others do to keep their marriage alive. (We don’t really have time for each other right now with 4 kids. We just ‘fight’ to keep our marriage alive lol).
P/s: I found a picture of us on a date, wayyy back in 2016!!
This article first appeared on the writer’s blog, saikowifey.com.
Photo Credit: Zun Zun/pexels