We often change over time, and hopefully that change is growth. It’s possible for one spouse to feel betrayed—or possibly left behind—if the other has changed significantly, especially if they feel that the other spouse has changed to be less committed to the marriage. A better outcome is that …
Then and Now
After marrying, you may begin to wonder about the person you were before marriage. Is that person still valuable? In fact, where is that person? Have you lost track of her? What was it like when you were first attracted to your husband? Undoubtedly something about him piqued your interest. That …
Role Changes
Whose roles change the most after marriage: his, or hers? A century or more ago, a woman might not have lived on her own, or been in the workforce before marrying. By 1998, 70% of single woman participated in the workforce. In 1900, only 6 percent of married women worked outside the home. Among …
Identities in Marriage
Yes, you read that right – “identities”. Not just because we all have multiple facets of our identity, but also because marriage involves three—or four—identities. Each person brings an individual identity into the marriage, and those identities become part of “us”—the couple, and then possibly the …
Balancing
A typical thought that arises when women feel the uncertainty of how to deal with competing aspirations and goals is that “something has to go”. Either I must simply resign myself to being ‘stuck’ in a marriage, or I must leave the marriage in order to do or have other things that are important to …
Navigating Women’s Roles
The Life Skills Weekly blog is shifting from general life skills to look at a very specific topic: how women can navigate their various roles within a traditional marriage. Women’s roles and possibilities have expanded drastically in the last 100 years. It is no longer a given that women …