Submitted by Dave Moskovitz (not verified) on Mon, 06/10/2008 - 6:09am.
My in-laws had a great ritual when they arrived home from work. Every evening just before dinner they would shut the kids out of the living room for 15 minutes while they enjoyed a quiet beer together and reconnected with each other prior to having to deal with the hurly-burly of dinner with four kids.
Woe be to the kid who interrupted!
This may seem cruel on one level in that the kids were temporarily de-prioritised and physically shut out, but it meant that the foundation of the family - the relationship between husband and wife - was kept on an even keel.
Refreshed by a brief interval while they could relax, unwind, reconnect, dump, share with each other, and plan out joint strategy and tactics for the little crises that inevitably arrive on a daily basis in a family, they were in a much better space to focus on the kids - together.
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My in-laws had a great
My in-laws had a great ritual when they arrived home from work. Every evening just before dinner they would shut the kids out of the living room for 15 minutes while they enjoyed a quiet beer together and reconnected with each other prior to having to deal with the hurly-burly of dinner with four kids.
Woe be to the kid who interrupted!
This may seem cruel on one level in that the kids were temporarily de-prioritised and physically shut out, but it meant that the foundation of the family - the relationship between husband and wife - was kept on an even keel.
Refreshed by a brief interval while they could relax, unwind, reconnect, dump, share with each other, and plan out joint strategy and tactics for the little crises that inevitably arrive on a daily basis in a family, they were in a much better space to focus on the kids - together.