Last week I talked about a few of the reasons I think you need couples therapy. Now I’d like to expound on one that I’d place in the “So Obvious it Hurts My Feelings” category: Going to therapy together will improve the way you function as parents.
Even if parenting is not the focus of your hour on the couch, the permeating effect of the work you’re doing will no doubt reach the very core of who you are to your little ones and how you treat them.
Here are the top three lessons that my husband and I have found to be the most immediately applicable to parenting:
Words matter. Who better to prove this than my then-three-year-old daughter, who bristled when I jokingly told my husband he was being “a bad friend” for not sending a timely RSVP for a friend’s wedding. “But he’s a not a bad friend,” she said. “He’s my daddy and he’s a good guy.”
I felt like such a jerk, and was instantly saddened for all the kids whose parents insult, name-call and disrespect one another without a thought for what it does to their children.
Through the process of therapy you learn how to speak to and about one another in a way that is constructive, loving and honest. You realize that even a flippant comment said in jest or out of frustration can carry long-lasting consequences.
Messages are delivered and quickly take root, so be sure that you mean exactly what you’re saying. Modeling this thoughtful approach for your children will serve them well in their own relationships.
Your happiness is everything. This one seems particularly important for moms to hear and internalize. Though we’ve come a long way, as they say, women still tend to postpone their own happiness for that of others – especially our children. But guess what? Your kids are not happy if you are not happy. Neglecting yourself and your needs is a well-trod path to a sad little household.
It’s okay that you need a break and it’s imperative that you take it. Plan a girls’ night, a date night or just a night off. Exercise. Do something that recharges your soul so that you can be truly present when you’re with your children.
They’ll feel your distance more acutely if you are absent-mindedly sitting right next to them than they do when you leave their side to take yourself out to lunch.
Your kids will feel about things the way you feel about things. We parents spend a lot of time wondering how certain events will impact our children in the long-term. Instead of trying to predict the future, devote your energy to more consciously deciding how you react to those events now.
An example: My husband travels a bunch for his job as a touring musician. I miss him when he’s gone and it can be a pain in the ass being the only parent at home for days or weeks at a time (sincerest kudos to single parents). But I have a choice to make. I can wallow in my loneliness and harbor resentment towards my husband and the requirements of his career.
Or, I can keep in mind that I’m lucky to be married to a wonderfully creative man who loves what he does and has the freedom to spend a lot of time at home when he’s not on the road.
By choosing to focus on the joyful aspects of my husband’s frequent departures, I’m able to share, in words and energy, a positive message with our children. When our daughter says she misses her Dada, I remind her that he’s away because he’s making people happy by playing music for them.
I assure her that he misses her a bunch, too, and that he’ll be soooo happy to hug her when he comes home. I know this message reaches the very important layers of her heart and mind when, each morning until he comes home, she wakes up and says, “Dada will be soooo happy to hug me when he comes home!”
There's been a lot of change for dads in a short period of time. Today they work as many hours as previous generations, but do three times the childcare and twice the housework as dads a generation ago. In this interview, Scott Behson, PhD, author of "The Working Dad's Survival Guide" talks about how working dads can create a more balanced life of family, work, and self, and how employers can help make it happen.
With a few practical tips and strategies in place, you can stay on top of your other responsibilities so you don’t feel overwhelmed by too many changes at once.
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