Juggling Marriage and Life’s Other Responsibilities
In today’s age, many couples have two-income families. Juggling two careers along with kids and household responsibilities can be difficult. Some people even experience extra stressors such as having to care for elderly parents an can add even more difficulty to juggling responsibilities.
So how do you juggle everything? One important factor is to not expect perfection. It is impossible to be the perfect partner, the best employee, and parent of the year. Recognize that when you are juggling many responsibilities, some things may not get done in the way you would like them to (or even get done at all).
Determine what things are most important to get done and set priorities. Is it more important to attend your child’s football practice or clean the house today? Remember that if you miss a sporting event or the house isn’t immaculate, it will be okay.
Be willing to ask for help when you need it. You may find that your spouse isn’t always able to fill in the gaps so you may need to ask for help from others. This can be very difficult for people to do, but can be very rewarding for everyone. Perhaps your mother-in-law, grandmother, or neighbor would be honored to complete a task for you. Consider whether or not there is a way to combine tasks with others. For example, can you help with transporting the kids two days a week and take another child as part of that in exchange for that child’s parent to assist with transportation on the other days?
Don’t compare yourself to other people. You may think that your friends are super heroes who can do it all. However, you don’t know their situation and no two situations are alike. Don’t feel bad if your friend’s house is cleaner, the neighbors make more money, or your kid’s friend’s parents seem to make it to every sporting event. There are plenty of other families who don’t manage to do all of those things.
When you are juggling so many responsibilities, it is important to decide how you will make time for your marriage. What can you do to still spend quality time with your spouse? Perhaps it is going on a date once a month or setting aside time to talk each evening when the kids are in bed. Talk to your spouse about ensuring you can schedule time to spend together.
