Quiet Time Musings

A place for my thoughts of the day while the children sleep.

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Navigating marital balance

A strange thing happened last night. My husband and I had an argument. His tone changed, my tears flowed. I went to bed tired and emotional. For some I'm sure this occurs often, but for us it doesn't. We get along pretty well and have a good give and take relationship when it comes to managing life and our outdoor pursuits. But last night, we just couldn't seem to find the same page. He has a full slate of things that he could and would like to do this weekend....watching hockey games with friends, going fishing, playing soccer. As a stay at home parent, I wait eagerly for the weekend to arrive to have some daytime backup in how we spend our day. Weekends where I have to manage the kids all day are not a weekend for me. I want us to do family things, even if it's just a trip to the park or a visit with friends. I know it comes back to expectations and maybe mine are just too high. I know the weekends are a down time for my husband too. He works hard all week and needs some space of his own.

And so here lies the conundrum. How to manage balance in our marriage? Keeping my head down and taking the weekends as they come seem wrong. But how to best argue my case? I don't want to be the nagging wife that says no to my husband's requests for extra-curricular activities, but at the same time I'm looking for balance and maybe just some renewed attention to us as a couple. Having little kids sure is hard for so many different reasons.

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1 Comments:

Blogger S said...

You have brought back to me what was the ESSENTIAL difficulty in our marriage when our kids were little. Weekends were so damn stressful -- I remember wanting them just to END. My husband's and my expectations were so different. I had been cooped up in the house all week and wanted nothing more than to escape, to spend time doing things outside of the house. And my husband, having spent all week at work, wanted nothing more than to chill in the house and do nothing (not even mind the kids...).

It was so unpleasant. But I'm here to tell you that it doesn't last. When your children are more independent, you and your husband should find yourselves meeting more as far as your expectations for weekends...

8:39 AM  

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