Clarify the obligations and priorities you each feel about visits with your extended families. Relationships with in-laws may be challenging for either of you.
To open the discussion, each of you can rate how comfortable you feel visiting your own family. Then rate how comfortable you feel visiting your partner’s family. Use a scale of one to ten, with one being terrible and ten being wonderful. Use the same scale to respond to the statement: I get all the help and support I need from my partner when visiting my family. Next rate: I get all the help and support I need from my partner when visiting his/her family.
Your weekly assignment, should you choose to accept it:
Compare your responses to these statements, and if you discover any problem areas, discuss specific ways your partner can help you in these situations. Then make realistic plans about what to do next time.
Clarify the obligations and priorities you each feel about visits with your extended families. Relationships with in-laws may be challenging for either of you.
To open the discussion, each of you can rate how comfortable you feel visiting your own family. Then rate how comfortable you feel visiting your partner’s family. Use a scale of one to ten, with one being terrible and ten being wonderful. Use the same scale to respond to the statement: I get all the help and support I need from my partner when visiting my family. Next rate: I get all the help and support I need from my partner when visiting his/her family.
Your weekly assignment, should you choose to accept it:
Compare your responses to these statements, and if you discover any problem areas, discuss specific ways your partner can help you in these situations. Then make realistic plans about what to do next time.
This is an excerpt from Being Happy Together: How to Have a Fabulous Relationship With Your Life Partner in Less Than an Hour a Week, by Laurie Weiss, Ph.D.
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