{"id":918,"date":"2012-11-04T15:35:33","date_gmt":"2012-11-04T19:35:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/heartsdesireintl.wordpress.com\/?p=918"},"modified":"2012-11-04T15:35:33","modified_gmt":"2012-11-04T19:35:33","slug":"your-hearts-desire-thought-for-the-day-lovers-first-parents-second","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/heartsdesireintl.com\/home\/your-hearts-desire-thought-for-the-day-lovers-first-parents-second\/","title":{"rendered":"Your Heart’s Desire Thought for the Day: Lovers First, Parents Second"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Gladys Diaz<\/span><\/p>\n

\"lovers-and-parents\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0When we transition from \u201cjust us\u201d to being a family, it\u2019s easy to get wrapped up in the joys and responsibilities of parenthood.\u00a0 There is so much to do, so many new roles and responsibilities, and, quite frankly, you learn to be \u201cexhausted\u201d on a whole new level.\u00a0 Add to that everything you were already doing before the children were born, and it\u2019s easy to forget to make your relationship a priority.<\/p>\n

I know that after I had my first child, I was in a completely new space.\u00a0 For the first time in my life I questioned how \u201ccompetent\u201d I was for a job!\u00a0 I felt so vulnerable, so insecure, and so tired<\/i>, and I admit that I put my son before everything else.\u00a0 It caused friction in our marriage for the first couple of years, and, it wasn\u2019t until I started practicing the skills and principles that I now teach that I realized that it wasn\u2019t that my husband had changed or that he didn\u2019t want to \u201cpitch in,\u201d or that the \u201cmyth\u201d out there that the relationship has to change once you have children does not have to be true.\u00a0 I <\/i>had changed. And I\u2019d forgot that the one who I promised to love, cherish, and honor for the rest of my life was my husband<\/i>.\u00a0 I forgot to be a lover as well as a wife.<\/p>\n

Now, will your relationship go through changes once children enter the picture?\u00a0 Of course it will!\u00a0 Growing and changing are natural part of life.\u00a0 But that doesn\u2019t mean that the romantic part of your relations can\u2019t grow, change, and become deeper than ever!\u00a0 Continuing to see and treat each other as lovers, while honoring one another as parents makes us better at both roles.\u00a0 And I believe that there is perhaps no better gift to give our children than an example of what love, intimacy, and partnership looks like when they can see in us the love we have for one another and the love we share with them.<\/p>\n

So, what are some easy steps to make sure that we are loving and supporting one another as lovers\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 and appreciating one another as parents:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Make time for \u201calone time.\u201d<\/b> Even if it means an hour or two after the kids are gone to bed, spend time talking, snuggling and being \u201ca couple.\u201d Oh, and make time for date nights.\u00a0 If you can\u2019t afford a sitter, then plan a special dinner, have a glass of wine on the porch, or watch an adult cartoon-free movie together.\u00a0 Just make sure to plan the time and honor it!<\/li>\n
  2. Keep the romance alive. <\/b>And this doesn\u2019t only mean the sexual part of the relationship, although, of course, that\u2019s an important (and one of the most fun parts) of the relationship.\u00a0 Do \u201cthe little things\u201d you used to do to show him that you love him.\u00a0 Leave little love notes, walk by and give him a kiss, give him a back rub, and let him know how lucky you feel to be loved by him.\u00a0 While we don\u2019t need to be making out in front of our kids, a few stolen kisses, grabs, and flirting go a long way to keep that spark lit!<\/li>\n
  3. Make time for yourself.<\/b>\u00a0 It\u2019s important to replenish and refuel your mind, body, and spirit.\u00a0 Take time to relax, take a bubble bath, spend time with friends, or just take a nap.\u00a0 You can\u2019t draw water from an empty well, and making sure your emotional tank is full will also help you make sure you have the patience and energy it takes to be the best wife and mother you can be!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Do you have ideas for continuing to keep the love alive as a couple, while still being there to love and support our children?\u00a0 Please share them!\u00a0 We\u2019d love to hear (and maybe steal them)!<\/p>\n

    Photo credit: PhotgraTree<\/a> via photopin.com<\/a> cc<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    by Gladys Diaz \u00a0When we transition from \u201cjust us\u201d to being a family, it\u2019s easy to get wrapped up in the joys and responsibilities of parenthood.\u00a0 There is so much to do, so many new roles and responsibilities, and, quite frankly, you learn to be \u201cexhausted\u201d on a whole new level.\u00a0 Add to that everything […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,9,13,16,17,21,22,23],"tags":[31,57,63,68,70,79,88,90],"class_list":["post-918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dating-2","category-hdi-blog","category-intimacy-2","category-love-2","category-marriage","category-relationship","category-relationship-advice","category-romance","tag-advice","tag-hearts-desire-international","tag-intimacy","tag-love","tag-marriage-2","tag-parenting","tag-relationships","tag-romance-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/heartsdesireintl.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/heartsdesireintl.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/heartsdesireintl.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heartsdesireintl.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heartsdesireintl.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=918"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/heartsdesireintl.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/918\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/heartsdesireintl.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heartsdesireintl.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heartsdesireintl.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}