Of Parenthood & Beyond

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The baby you always wanted has arrived and you have fallen deeply and irrevocably in love. But your partner seems a little distant and doesn’t agree with some of the ways you are looking after the baby. He is not the same person he was and you are not sure you are happy with the changes. Day by day he is behaving more and more like his own father. Secretly, your partner may also be thinking that you are behaving more and more like your mother. What happened to the man you married; the one that was there for you when you were pregnant and during labour? Why does everything feel like such a strain? And, when will it all be over and when will life drift back to ‘normal’? 

Whilst the delights and wonders of your new, bundle of joy are many, the pressures can also at times feel overwhelming: parents can feel the burden of added responsibility, duties and household chores; 24-hour-nursing care in the early months [and, sometimes years] can be exhausting; adjusting to the new roles in the family from partner, friend and lover to parent and the changes in relationships can be hard work. Women also have the changes in their bodies to adjust to and the feelings that accompany them. For many of those years with young babies can be confusing at times, out of which conflict can grow, and if this is unresolved the stress on the relationship can reach breaking point. Children can test us every which way and can rock the foundations of even the most solid of relationships.

STRESSED-OUT PARTNERS