Tips On Marriages During Quarantine
If you are like most, there is a chance Cabin Fever is starting to set in these days. In times of “social distancing” it is important to make sure that you make adjustments to your everyday life to help maintain your relationships, and overall well-being. Here are a list of ideas to help make it through these days.
Tips for your relationship/marriage during this time:
- Accept Where We Are and Plan for Where We Are Going—It is important to communicate with your spouse about your feelings on the situations, your fears, your hopes, and what you see at the end of all of this. It is also important to talk about what you expect out of your partner and vise versa, in order to find ways to adjust to the “new norm.”
- Be Positive—This may sound silly, but we are all in the same boat. It is okay to be frustrated, and it is okay to communicate that from time to time but remember to not let it consume you. Do your best to look on the bright side, and be a source of relief for your partner, and not a source of negativity.
- Plan a date night—cook a new meal together, order in from your favorite place, binge out on your favorite movies, play a fun board game, watch a comedian on Netflix ( we can all use a laugh these days), work on a home DIY project, etc. Make sure that whatever you do, you are intentional with your time, and prioritizing your spouse when doing so. It is important to spend time focusing on each other, and help one another relax, during this stressful time.
- Be Patient, and Be Understanding —For some people, working from home is a new concept. For others, it may be the norm, but perhaps having kids home isn’t. Likely, whatever dynamic is now present in your household, is new to both of you. For that reason, it is important to be patient with one another during this time. Be sure to check in with one another and see if any adjustments need to be made.
- Do At Least One Thing for Yourself Each Day— These times can make us feel like we are always on top of one another, it is important to still make time for yourself. So, whatever outlet you use to relax, whether it is working out, taking a long bath, going for a run—continue to do those things.
- Keep Arguments to a Minimum (especially with children around)—Arguments are inevitable, if we didn’t care, we wouldn’t argue. However, just because we have more time to discuss arguments and disagreements, doesn’t mean we should. Pick an amount of time with your partner (10, 14, 30 min) and discuss an issue for that amount of time and stick to it. Try to only bring up that issue once a week or so. This will help eliminate any big arguments.
- Kids Taking Up Your Time? Look on Amazon for crafts or projects, have them build the biggest (and we mean the biggest) fort they can make in their rooms, or simply put on their favorite movie. If they still can’t seem to kick that extra energy, have a competition to see who can do the most jumping jacks, or play outside (tag, hide and seek, slip in slides). These are sure to be fun, and wear out some energy.
- Keep In Mind The Resources Available—This is a daunting time for many, between the economy, the job market, and the medical crisis, having concerns is okay. However, do not feel that you are alone in feeling overwhelmed. There are resources out there like TalkSpace, and BetterHelp, for people to schedule counseling sessions. Or see if a local counselor is open to do Skype or Zoom sessions. Checking in on your mental health is so important at times like these.
Other Date Night Ideas
- Going for a walk or bike ride
- Order in your favorite bottle of wine
- Plan a trip (far out—maybe even a year) to look forward to.
- Do a spa night at home
- Exercise outside together
- Have a staycation at a local hotel
- Ordering in your favorite dessert & sharing a bottle of wine
- Making a fun cheese or charcuterie board
- Make Fondue together
- Have a Wine Tasting Night
