The best parenting tip we most neglect

Hey Everyone,

I had quite a few request to talk about parenting tips so I wanted to share a tip Chris and I learned to have a great marriage and a family.

The most important tip we learned was: Protect your marriage
The husband-wife union is not just a good first step towards child rearing. It is a necessary one. (based on the book"Baby Wise")

I've learned that the greatest overall influence we will have on our child isn't as an individual parent, but in the joint role as husband and wife. A healthy husband-wife relationship is essential to the emotional health of children in the home, and it infuse a stability within the family. A strong marriage also provides a lot of security for children as they grow in the nurturing process.

Chris and I are very conscience of this as we are walking into the world of parenting. I have to be eve more mindful of this because I'm with Topher all day and I can easily make him the center of my attention. I tell Chris when I feel we need more alone time and I crave it if we don't have it on a daily basis.

Here are a few things we do and the tips the book "Baby Wise" recommends to have a strong marriage/ family:

1) Life doesn't stop once you have a baby. It may slow down for a few weeks, but it should not stop entirely. When you become a mother, you do not stop being a daughter, a sister, a friend, or a wife. Those relationship must still be maintained.
2) Date your spouse. Chris and I use to have weekly date nights so we do what we can to keep those sacred. We do what we can to get a babysitter.
3) Continue those loving gestures you enjoyed before the baby came along. I still tell Chris how much I love him everyday and we always give each other a kiss goodbye every morning. I also text him random text messages throughout the day. We also try to keep doing the activities we loved to do together such as singing, working out, outdoor activities, etc.
4) Invite some friends over for food and fellowship. This forces you to plan your child's day around serving others as you work together to prepare your home for the guests. Chris and I invited friends over to watch the football games or to play basketball.
5) At the end of each day, spend fifteen minutes sitting with your spouse discussing the day's event. Chris and I call this "couch time" which takes place after we put him to sleep around 11pm. We realized that the living room had too much distractions so we do it in our bedroom.

Hopefully these tips will help you guys as well!


Love,
Sandy