5 Ways to Strengthen Your Marriage During a Pandemic
This past month has taken us through lots of twists and turns that we NEVER saw coming. Am I right? Some of us are working full time from home, some of us are still going to work and worrying about be out in the world so much, some of us aren’t working, and some of us are trying to learn how to homeschool and what time an acceptable time of day it is to start drinking wine…AMMMM I RIGHT? We’ve all been trying to process each and every emotion that comes to us on the daily and you may be stressed to the max. Here’s a little list of how to not only survive this time with your spouse, but come out of it even stronger.
- Be on the same page. This is a big one. You both need to sit down and decided how you are going to handle this. Before Colorado was put on stay at home orders we had decided to do our social responsibility to self isolate as much as possible. We want to be there for each other and we have done our best to work together to sanitize, stay home and social distance. If one of you are on board and the other isn’t, it will create fights in your marriage which is the last thing you need when you are spending so much time at home together.
- Don’t do everything together all of the time. Some of us aren’t used to spending so much time together and if it causes a little friction- THAT’S OKAY. If your husband wants to work on his truck in the garage- let him. If you want to do a craft- do it. It’s okay to have your own hobbies and not have them be together. Trust me, you will still have plenty of time together.
- Be willing to pick up the slack. As photography isn’t an essential business that means I am no working right now. Sure there are things that I am doing for my business, but I’ve had 4 weddings reschedule to later in 2020 or into 2021 & dozens of portrait sessions which means I am not bringing in an income right now. I’m very thankful my husband still have a full time job. If you are in this situation be mindful and be okay with picking up some of the financial burden or maybe some more of the housework if you are on either side of this. Marriage is a team & there will be trying seasons and it’s how you get trough them that will strengthen your relationship.
- Schedule a date night. We used to do this all the time back when going out to each or to a movie wasn’t always in the budget. Make a meal together, open a bottle of wine, eat outside on the patio if the weather is nice. Or possibly pick up take out from your favorite restaurant. Turn off the cell phones and really enjoy each other. We’ve been doing a lot of this lately and it’s been so much fun.
- Get outside. Some good old Vitamin D does the body good. Go for a walk, ride your bike, do some yard work. Working out our house is one of my favorite things we do in our marriage (Just think Chip & Jojo). We love the crank the country music, open a cold beer and get to town on our yard or an update in our home. There’s no time like now to work on these projects!
I know we are all in a trying season right now, but if we have a positive outlook to use this time to turn something positive out of it, it will do good things for our mind & mental health!
Happy Quarantin-ing friends!
Xo, Crystal
