Having children can lead to plenty of marital problems, something most are already aware of. They’ll no longer have all of their free time to spend with each other. As the parents, you’ll be responsible for meeting the needs of the little ones since they can’t do it for themselves. Even smaller children who aren’t very active can quickly overwhelm a marriage. Unfortunately, some parents have a wedge formed between them thanks to these activities. So how can you help your marriage survive your child’s involvement in sports?
Your children’s sports activities will give you and your spouse a common interest. Make sure that this bonding time doesn’t turn into obsessive behavior though, which will surely cause additional problems. Make sure that your entire family knows what having one or more members in sports can mean. Talk about the chances for disrupted meal times, the commitment that everyone is going to have to make to accommodate frequent practices and games, and pain a realistic picture of what to expect. Make sure that everyone will know how much time can be involved.
You may not know exactly what it means at the time, but signing your child up for a sport can be a huge commitment. The leaders involved will always be looking for new people to help with driving, coaching, and many other tasks. If you plan to be a sidelines parent, you may well find yourself in the thick of things before you realize what’s happening. Is your spouse going to be content living around your time commitments? What about being able to take care of your childrens’ needs? Before you sign up for additional duties, make sure you know what’s involved.
You should also be aware of other pitfalls too. For example, my grandson recently finished the little league baseball season. The family thought they were done with the practices and games only to find out that the child had been selected for a state all-star team. Lo and behold, they now are committed to 5 p.m. practices every day for a month as well as games that can be held anywhere in the state. Since there are so many kids waiting to be on the team, he’ll be off of it if he misses a single practice. Surely, they didn’t plan for this in the beginning.
While your child is spending all of this time participating in sports, make sure that you have enough time to devote to your spouse and children. Your other children will likely end up feeling less loved if you spend all of your time with the family athlete. It’s important that you praise their other talents as well, even if they aren’t into sports. You and your spouse will need to make time to talk and communicate regularly. Doc No.lsdhhsdlh-sdlkjhsgd
Kristie Brown writes on a variety of topics from health to technology. Check out her websites on Save my marriage and Free marriage advice
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