Becoming Parents

Moving into parenthood is typically a time of great joy and excitement, but it also brings fatigue, stress, and conflict. From the authors of the best-selling Fighting for Your Marriage and A Lasting Promise, this unique and innovative guide offers indispensable advice on how to protect and preserve your marriage and take care of yourselves as you become parents. Based on scientific research and containing real-life examples, Becoming Parents challenges you to seize this opportunity to really thrive in your relationship and in parenting together as a team. "If you're having a baby, buy this book! It will give your baby the most important gift of all-parents who know how to keep their relationship happy, satisfying, and stable-the kind of relationship your baby can count on and learn from." --Diane Sollee, director, Coalition for Marriage, Family and Couples Education

Handling conflict : protecting your marriage. Four key patterns that can harm a relationship Communicating safely and clearly : the speaker-listener technique Problem solving Ground rules for handling conflict Going deeper : dealing with core issues. The difference between issues and events Unmet expectations and what to do about them The importance of core values and beliefs Commitment : the glue that holds relationships together Forgiveness and the preservation or restoration of intimacy Relationship enhancement : maintaining the great things. Preserving and protecting friendship Preserving and protecting fun together Hello baby, goodbye sex? : protecting and enhancing your sex life Creating a healthy lifestyle. Managing fatigue Managing stress Warning : don't try parenting by yourselves Roles and tasks : who does what?