The Children and the Couple

Children are a blessing — and also, let's be honest, one of the greatest challenges to a marriage. They arrive and change everything: couple time, sleep, finances, priorities. Without even realizing it, it's easy to push your spouse into second place while you take care of everything and everyone else.

But a marriage needs to be tended even with small children, teenage children, or grown children with dramas of their own. You and your spouse are not just mom and dad — before that, you are husband and wife, two people. That bond needs attention.

Five minutes of real conversation before bed, an outing every now and then just for the two of you, praying together for your children instead of only complaining separately — small gestures that remind you that you are partners, not just coworkers running a household.

Children grow up and move on. What remains is the marriage. It's worth taking care of it now.