Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Love, and Marriage, and Children

Marriage is hard. We all know this. Throw some kids in the mix? Then it gets, like, calculus hard. Yes... that was just said by me... on the blog... for the whole world to see. No judgement here, y'all.

So how do marriages stay alive even after kids? 
Linking up with Christine, Brittany, and Ashley for Mama Tells All

Mamas Tell All

Well, it doesn't come easy that's for sure. For Josh and I it takes a lot of planning. Tomorrow is our 6 year wedding anniversary and no lie: we've been planning what we're going to do for weeks, y'all. Last year wasn't a great year for us, and we honestly didn't do anything to celebrate our 5th anniversary. Sometimes that's OK to not do anything (The Florkens did it this year!) But honestly, after kids I totally think it's important to make time for each other. We still haven't nailed down all of our plans for this year, but we know it'll involve dinner, maybe a movie, definitely an overnight hotel stay.


Oct 2013 Family photo
Why is it so important to take time for each other? Well, you get lost in the daily activities. It's so easy to get lost! Hell, as a mom / wife / sister / aunt / friend / granddaugter, I don't even take time for myself! I have to make sure to keep my marriage going!! For me it's important because I take my vows seriously. Sure, I wish we had been creative enough to write our own vows like Cassie did here, but we said vows and that means something. I want to be able to teach my kids that the divorce rate in the US doesn't have to be the norm. I want marriages to work to be the norm.

In my opinion, it doesn't even have to be the big plans that you schedule for to keep your marriage strong though. Josh will still send me random text messages throughout the day with a simple "I Love You." No matter what I'm doing in the day, it always makes me smile. It's special to me to know that even in his busy day, he's thinking about me. I do the same with him. His job is hard, and annoying, and I know he enjoys hearing from me even via text.

We also kiss each other every night before we go to bed. Even if we've argued about something or I might be pissed because he didn't feed the cat that night and I had to do it, we still take a moment. We always lay down, give each other a kiss; What I call a "real kiss" because I always want it to be a deep, meaningful kiss... not just a quick peck on the lips. After that we tell each other "I Love You", snuggle up, and go to sleep (sometimes not as quickly as Josh would like though). For us to keep our marriage alive is really very simple: Yes, it take a lot of planning for alone time but it's the little things that are most important to us.

Oct 2013 Family Photo
My wednesday wish (linking up with Anne from Love the Here and Now) is simple this week: I want to wish my husband a happy anniversary tomorrow. I love him to the moon and back, and even though we argue and disagree there's a lot of love. He's my special person and I wish for many more years together.
Love the Here and Now


What do y'all do to keep your marriage going after kids?



11 comments :

  1. Love this! And I agree that sometimes a text can mean the world! You have a beautiful family... Happy Anniversary!

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  2. My husband and I still send each other cutesy little texts throughout the day. I love it. It lets me know that he's thinking about me and I like to send him a nice one to cheer him up while he's working because his job has been extra tough lately. He also tucks me in every night (haha sounds cheesy, i know) and gives me a kiss goodnight. I love the little things. They end up being my favorite part of my day

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  3. I love this! The best bit of advice I was given was to never go to bed angry. So like you and your husband, no matter how we are feeling, we do the same before we go to sleep!

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  4. The small things feel like big things when it comes to taking care of your marriage! Great stuff mama! <3

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  5. Happy Anniversary Lovebirds! I think you're right...making your marriage a priority is so important and takes time and effort. It is well worth it though!

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  6. Great reminder to take time for your marriages. I don't even have kids yet, but the distractions of our jobs, pets, friends, blog, band, whatever, can definitely cut into making meaningful time together. And I think there's a lot of power in just a kiss every night, despite any arguments.

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  7. I love those simple texts, they really do mean so much! Great Post Mama. Thanks for linking up with us!

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  8. I love what you said about making marriage rates the norm, it seems like people just don't value it anymore! Great post! Happy anniversary!

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  9. such a cute little family! you're nighttime ritual is so sweet too, happy anniversary!!

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  10. I think it's SO important to never go to bed angry. Great point! Thanks for linking up to Mamas Tell All!

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  11. I love that I got to be a big part of most of your story and the growth of your little family.

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