So What about Intimacy After Baby?

December 27, 2017 By Diane Constantine

Most couples find intimacy drops after baby arrives. The hormones that flood our brains immediately after baby’s arrival, actually lower our sex drive for a period of time. This gives us the energy to deal with the stresses of a new baby and healing after delivery and while nursing is established. But all too often, couples do not resume a satisfying sex life.

There are proven ways to reignite your sexual desire for your spouse and find a new or even better intimacy than before baby.

As we talked about in the first few lessons in this Child-Ready series, enriching your friendship is vital. It is easy to slip into the habit of just talking about work, chores, and stress. We become exhausted by all that needs to be done in a day and add to that interrupted nights’ sleep and it is a recipe for friction and isolation.

Intimacy is rooted in a good friendship. So make your friendship a priority. Continue learning about your spouse every day. Be sensitive to your spouse’s appeals for connection and respond in loving ways. Affirm your spouse and appreciate all they are doing.

Do little and thoughtful things for each other. These are not hard tasks that take a long time. They are finding ways to let your spouse know you love and appreciate them. It is showing you are aware of what they are facing and what they need. Of course we still need to do the big things, but it is the little extras that you do because you want to do them that makes your spouse feel they are worth your time, attention, and love.

Look for opportunities for non-sexual affection. Enjoy touching each other for the joy it brings. Relax in one another’s arms. Rediscover the pleasure of kissing. There is something powerful in creating the “just us” element in your relationship. Holding hands, hugs, and tender touch are great ways to affirm your love for your partner. Physical affection sets the stage for sexual touch that is focused on pleasure.

Make sex a priority. Schedule it sometimes so you can look forward to it. Anticipation is a great aphrodisiac. Other times grabbing a moment for a “quickie” lets our spouse know we still enjoy their lovemaking.

Discuss your needs, desires, and frustrations

The Masters talk about their needs, desires, and frustrations in love-making. It is awkward to talk about. But here are a few guidelines that will make these discussions helpful and not harmful.

Be kind and positive in the way you talk about love-making. Do not criticize! Mention successes, not failures.
Be patient. Give your spouse time to put their feelings into words. Let your spouse know that what they say is safe with you.
Be flexible. Be willing to try something new. Sometimes a small adjustment makes all the difference in our partner’s pleasure.
Find acceptable ways to let your spouse know you are interested in sex or that you are not. You may need a non-verbal signal to avoid misunderstanding cues. The fact is, every couple will miss the signals sometimes. Don’t make a federal case out of it. A cuddle instead of sex may be the best alternative this time or may even warm up the one who lacked interest in the beginning.

What you go through in the weeks and months after baby’s arrival is common to all parents. What you do to and for each other can make all the difference in coping with the changes. If you practice building your friendship, turning towards instead of away from your spouse, and dealing better with your conflicts; you can navigate the intimacy changes like a Master. Don’t just hope things will get better. Take action and get help if you need it.

Repair and Compromise

December 6, 2017 By Diane Constantine

This is the final article for the Child-Ready Marriage series, Dealing with Conflicts. We’re hoping that you have discovered ways to improve your communication and deal with conflicts. With these skills in place, you will be better able to parent your children together.

In the last article we discussed Solvable vs Perpetual Problems In this article we’re going to discuss Repair and Compromise.

All couples have disagreements that turn negative. What we do when we realize it is headed for anger and hurt feelings, can make all the difference. This is the point where we can make a Repair Attempt. It won’t always work, but the more you practice the attempt and the repair, the better your communication will become with each other.

We make an attempt at repair when we try to stop emotions from getting out of control or words from becoming angry and hurtful or hostile actions from starting. One partner says something calming or reasonable or asks for a break. A repair happens when the other partner accepts the attempt and responds appropriately to the attempt. The goal here is to calm down so you can find common ground from which to find a solution or compromise.

Please click, Gottman Repair Checklist for your copy of ways to attempt a repair. You may want to look at it and see possible ways to attempt a repair in arguments you and your spouse have. These will feel really strange to use at first, but as you practice them, they will significantly shorten and de-escalate your arguments.

Whether our conflict is solvable or perpetual, compromise is necessary. If it is on the level of an irritation that causes frustration, the solution can be reached just by mutual agreement of a change to be made.

But when the conflict is more serious or a recurring perpetual problem, a compromise is necessary to find a workable solution for the time being. Compromise is defined by Mike Constantine as “A mutual adjustment for the sake of improvement.” This means neither one gets their way 100% or gives in 100%. It means both choose to yield in some ways to improve the relationship.

Please get your copy of, The Compromise Exercise. The Compromise Exercise is a good one to discover areas where we can and cannot yield. Each of you takes a copy of the exercise.

Carefully consider your beliefs and your limitations concerning the issue at hand.
In the center circle, write your most minimal core areas on which you cannot yield. Remember, you cannot have it all. But what part are you unable to yield?
In the outside circle, write those parts of the situation on which you can yield.

When you are both ready, compare your charts. You may not have been aware of your spouse’s core areas on which they cannot yield. This gives you a chance to discuss why this is so vital to your spouse. With understanding, compromise is easier. You may easily see the parts you each can yield and a way to solve the problem for now or even permanently.

If you get to this point and you cannot find a solution yourselves; please talk to a counselor, pastor, or a wise friend you both trust. From another view point, often a path can be seen to peace that is hard to find when you are in the midst of conflict. Don’t let something like this simmer and destroy your friendship and your marriage. Nothing is worth that kind of damage.

Continue to deepen your love for your spouse by always learning more and better ways to reach their heart. Build your friendship.

If you have questions or comments you would like to make, please email, Diane.

Solvable vs Perpetual Problems

October 31, 2017 By Diane Constantine

Our last lesson was about accepting your spouse’s influence.

Accepting your spouse’s point of view does not mean you have to totally agree with them or do things the way they think it must be done. It does mean, however, you have to respect their opinion. You identify and empathize with your spouse’s point of view.

Solvable and Perpetual Problems

We need to be aware that not every problem is solvable. In other words, there may not be a way to come to agreement on many issues that you face in your marriage. There are Solvable problems and Perpetual problems.

Solvable problems are mostly irritants and annoyances that cause minimal frustration. These can be resolved because there is room for negotiating and compromise.

Perpetual problems on the other hand, are more intense and recur periodically. These problems usually have some underlying root for the conflict. They may have to do with personality differences, issues brought into the marriage, or the meaning attached to an action. Gottman’s research indicates as many as 69% of relationship problems are perpetual.

When perpetual problems resurface, we try to find the best workable solution for the time being. Knowing we cannot agree, we make a decision about our actions for the near future.

For example for years, my husband would want complete accounting for any money I spent while he was away on a trip. I was never careless with money, so I resented what seemed like his distrust of me. This was a perpetual problem. I tried different methods of keeping track of what I spent. These ‘solutions’ each worked for a while and then we’d have another argument.

Finally after many years, he told me he didn’t want to be that way. Just knowing he realized it was his problem and that he wanted to change, helped me tremendously. He had been very poor as a young adult and needed to watch every cent. He realized that it was no longer an issue. Understanding that, I was able to take his questions with more grace. And over time, he no longer asked at all.

Dealing with Perpetual Problems

So perpetual problems can have a temporary compromise. They will crop up again because the root problem has not been solved. Sometimes we just have to agree to disagree, but not be disagreeable about the issue.

Solvable Problem Exercise:

Categories of Disagreements

Household chores
Childcare
Diet, food or nutrition issues
In-laws and extended family
Recreation and having fun
Friends
Balancing Career and family
Handling stress
Other (please specify)

Instructions:

Review the list of common disagreements. Choose just one area that you want to work on.
Write a description of the problem you want to discuss.
Discuss ways you could compromise to solve this problem.

Choose a relatively small problem that seems to have a solution. Don’t choose a perpetual problem, one that comes up over and over.

Example:

Topic: Childcare

Description: I am often late getting our child from day care. I never know exactly when I can leave work, but my car has the car seat. My husband gets off at the same time every day, but he always stops to pick up dinner on his way home. Maybe if we switched chores, it would work better.

“The next time your spouse makes a complaint, think about it as their way of communicating how important the issue is to them – not as an attack on you. Then, instead of getting defensive, identify the reasonable part of their request, and yield to win. By identifying and empathizing with your partner’s point of view, you are more likely to find a solution that honors both of you.” From The Marriage Minute- Yield to Win

Accepting Influence

September 26, 2017 By Diane Constantine

Accepting influence is one of the most important ingredients for a healthy, happy marriage. Accepting our spouse’s influence is most important in conflict, yet it is the hardest time to do it. So, deciding ahead of time that you will accept influence is a great way to gain more respect, power, and influence in your marriage. It is the way to win. Both of you win. If only one wins in arguments, both really lose.

Gottman’s research shows that men, more frequently than women, have difficulty accepting influence from their wives. All their training and culture tune men to take a decisive lead and make decisions. BUT, statistically speaking, when a man is not willing to share power with his wife, there is an 81% chance that his marriage will self-destruct. The husband may think he has won the argument, but he has lost the war. His wife will either become weak and unwilling to participate in any decision making or she will sabotage his plans and become passive-aggressive.

Though men may statistically be more prone to unwillingness to accept influence, I’ve met my share of women who will not accept their husband’s influence. They destroy their marriages too.

The happiest, most stable marriages are those where neither one resists power-sharing and decision-making.

Unwillingness to accept influence, share power, and share decision-making is most easily seen when criticism, defensiveness, contempt and stonewalling are part of most arguments. These behaviors will poison the marriage and are great predictors of marriage failure.

Kyle Benson, writing for The Gottman Institute, describes a few different ways to help see the other person’s point of view. If we cannot see the problem from their perspective, it is nearly impossible to accept their influence in finding a solution.

Kyle starts with the assumption that every situation can yield two different yet valid perspectives that deserve equal weight. When my perspective seems so correct, how can I accept influence from my husband when his perspective is so different?!

Here are the three ways Mr. Benson describes to help us see another point of view.

The Conflict is the Space Between

Picture you and your spouse on two separate islands with murky water between. If you are going to see from your mate’s perspective, you would have to travel to your partner’s island to see as they see. Look at the problem as the murky water between your islands and focus on clearing that up. After the water’s cleaner, both of you can dive below the surface and discover what is actually going on.

Accusations, assumptions, or criticisms muddy the water and make the real problem and solution impossible to find. Stop these negative attitudes and words and be willing to listen, really listen, to your spouse. Then you can dip deep and discover the real issue.

Finding the Elephant in the Room

Perhaps you’ve seen the illustration of six blind men touching an elephant and declaring what is in the room. They say it is a pillar (leg), a rope (tail), a thick branch (trunk), a huge fan (ear), a wall (belly) and a solid pipe (tusk).

In practically every fight there is an invisible elephant in the room. The truth about the elephant lies somewhere between these perspectives. In other words, acknowledge that your mate’s perspective is just as valid as yours. You don’t have to agree, but in order to work through the problem you need to show respect for their opinion.

Check Your Jersey

Often in conflict we feel like we are on different teams. Imagine that underneath your different team jerseys, you are both wearing another jersey that is the same color. In trying to solve your disagreement, remember to check your jersey and remember you are really both on the same team.

Over the lifetime of your marriage, there will be many tests. Often you will have to accept your spouse’s influence if you are going to have a successful marriage. In five, ten, or fifty years you will look very different from now. You will have changed the way you think, how you act, and what is important to you. It happens through tests.

In our marriage vows we promise to love each other for better or worse, in sickness and health, poverty and wealth, forsaking all others. Our marriage will be tested by these big things and thousands of little things. Being able to recognize our spouse’s point of view, respect their feelings and thoughts, and then look beyond the immediate crisis to the underlying realities will make the difference between a growing and healthy marriage or a shell that we may choose to shed as useless.

So the next time an argument starts, you may want to do what one husband did. He began to act like a mime feeling the air. The wife looked at him with a ‘What is wrong with you?’ kind of look and he responded, “I’m trying to find the elephant in the room. Can you tell me what you’re seeing so we can figure out what this elephant is together?”

If you would like to read all of Kyle Benson’s article, see: There are Two Views to Every Conflict and Both are Valid.

Read more of our Child-Ready Marriage materials.

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Take-a-Break!

August 29, 2017 By Diane Constantine

The last lesson was about a Gentle Start up to conflicts. Since conversations and conflicts usually end on the same note that they began, how we bring up a problem is very, very important.

Many of us don’t think about how we are going to discuss a problem in our relationship. We would all improve our communication if we would think first. If you didn’t read the last lesson, why not take a few minutes to read, The Gentle Start-up.

When we don’t take the time to plan how to discuss and use a gentle start-up, we often get into a heated argument. Sometimes something just happens and we blow up before we even think. So what can we do when we realize we’ve stepped into a whirlwind of emotions?

Remember we talked about how to help a baby who is overstimulated? First you stop what you were doing with your child and you give them time to self-soothe. Taking a break uses the same principle. Stop the discussion right where it is and each one takes the time to self-soothe.

Taking a break is not the same thing as stonewalling. In stonewalling, we retreat from the conversation by leaving, either physically or emotionally. We quit talking and refuse to connect again in the discussion.

When an argument begins to spin out of control, we feel the physical symptoms of arousal; faster pulse and higher blood pressure. We begin having trouble processing new information and have difficulty listening. This certainly isn’t the atmosphere for solving our dilemma.

One or both of you may begin this process we call ‘flooding.’ You should have a previously agreed on signal that you can use when you need to take a break. It may be the sports signal making a T with your hands for ‘Time Out’, or something else you agree on.

At that point, you both agree to take a break. You set a time when you will begin again. A good length of time is about 20-30 minutes. It takes your body that long to de-escalate from the fight or flight flooding.

What you do with this time is vital to the process.

Don’t take the time to rehearse your arguments and try to plan an attack that cannot be refuted. Don’t just nurse your frustration and wallow in your emotions. Take a break!
Do whatever it is that is relaxing for you. Take a walk, take a bath, meditate, listen to lovely calming music, take a power nap. Whatever you do, make the goal calming yourself.

Resume the discussion when you are both calmed down.

Make it your goal to address the issue, not attack each other.
Keep your voices down and avoid harsh words or tone.
Try to understand what your spouse is saying.

In the next few lessons we’ll talk more about ways to come to an agreement that benefits your relationship.

Exercise:

Talk with your spouse about what signal you will use when you need to take a time out from a conflict.

Think about what activities are the most calming to you. Take 20 minutes calming yourself now. Then have a nice chat about something you like about your spouse. See how nice it feels? We can accomplish so much more when we are not flooded and stressed.

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