Summer is fast upon us and it’s super easy to get distracted with so many activities; especially if you have kids! Here’s are top 3 tips for couples to stay connected during the busy season to ensure your marriage doesn’t become an afterthought.
Come summertime the usual morning and even daily routine gets thrown off… especially if you have little kids who are home from school. It’s things like baseball season, summer camps and all the other sports practices, birthday parties and activities that keep our boys busy which make for a busy summer season in the Rose family.
So when all the crazy comes settling in and seasons get super busy, we know a disconnect in our marriage is on it’s way if we are not careful. Reality is, our marriage suffers when our lives get busy with things that are even good things.
We’ve learned we have to intentionally avoid doing too much at once and that it’s ok to just say no. For example, we have a general rule for our boys that it’s “1 sport, 1 season”… that’s all. There’s none of this baseball, basketball and soccer practice and games all happening in one season. 1 sport, 1 season. We are just the kind of people who can’t operate with more than that and we know it, so we intentionally say no to some things so that we don’t get caught up doing more than we can handle.
Along those same lines, here’s a few tips we are trying to ensure we implement in our own lives as well as a few that we think you can apply to your marriage too!
Tip 1: Communicate
It helps us so much if we have a quick 10 -15 minute meeting to review what’s coming up for the week ahead and who is headed to do what. Just mapping out and knowing as a family what is coming up can help pave the way for a peaceful and easier week.
Tip 2: Have Expectation
Expectations look different and come in a variety of capacities… set the expectations before it’s too late! From who will drop the kids off to school to who is cleaning the baseball uniforms… set the expectation as to who is doing what and if you’re expecting help from your spouse during the process, ask for it!
Expectations are in many ways a mindset thing… when you know what’s coming at you then you can prepare for it and be ready to tackle it.
Tip 3: Be Intentional in Staying Connected
Whether it’s practicing The Love Habits each day or planning a date night, plan to stay connected. Being connected won’t just happen on it’s own, it takes work.
What tips do you have that help connect you and your spouse during the busy seasons of life?
LINKS FROM THE PODCAST
My husband and I share our Google calendars too so we can see each other’s schedules alongside our own. It has been SOOO helpful, and then we can both add things and see where the other will be and what’s going on with everyone in the family at any point while we’re adding (helps prevent double or triple-booking our time!)
We do the Sunday meeting too, which is crucial at our house! And we have a dry erase board on our fridge where I transfer our weekly schedule so everyone (including the kids) can see what’s going on each day and what dinner plans are for each night.
We had a VERY busy spring, and although a few things ultimately fell off the sides (because it just does), it was the only way we could keep up with everything.
I would add to this, though you touched on it with planning date nights & being intentional about staying connected– PLAN for down time and put it on the calendar too. Otherwise, it disappears! (I’m guilty of filling every open spot and my husband does NOT like that).
A while back I blogged about how we try to keep organized week-by-week:
http://www.andreasteed.com/node/1665
Thanks for the great tips!
I love the tip on being intentional. Is that not what the whole of life and living made of? Lately, I’ve become more intentional with the stuff I do. With communication and connection. I’ve never been more happy as a result. And, this summer, intentionality is going to hold the aces.