168: It's the Final Episode! – Parenting in Real Life
This month is the month of love and so we’re focusing on relationships. And in this podcast episode, we’re going to talk about going on dates with other couples, how to make friends as a married couple, and talk about if it’s even necessary? You can listen to the episode in the embedded player above or you can read the blog post below.
The Number 1 Thing That Makes Us Happy in Life
An 85 year Harvard study found that the number one thing that makes us happy in life is positive relationships and they help us live longer. They said to make sure your relationships are healthy and balanced so it’s important to practice “social fitness.” The idea behind this is you have to keep working on you relationships throughout your life.
As we read through this article, we both realized that we could use a little more support and relationships in some of these areas. One of the way that we would like to do this is to make more married couple friends. But sometimes finding friends as a married couple can feel like dating all over again as you try to find a couple that you both get along with.
Do Married Couples Even Need Friends?
In this article we found about how to make friends as a married couple, research shows that friendships outside of immediate family help with life satisfaction. But it’s important to remember that you don’t actually need friends to make your marriage better. You and your spouse are in charge of your own happiness so if you don’t feel like you need couple friends, it isn’t a necessity, So this will come down to personal preference
Getting to know other couples does help you have different conversations and may help you try new things that maybe you and your spouse don’t usually do. However, it isn’t bad if you don’t have these other couple relationships. So don’t feel pressure that you need to if you don’t want to or don’t have the time right now.
If your spouse doesn’t want to make new friends and you do, the article suggests finding out why. My husband is less likely to want to make other friends because he’s comfortable at home, but is willing to go out with a little nudge. Sometimes all they need is that little push to get the ball rolling.
How to Make Friends as a Married Couple
My parents are really good at making couple friends and they do this by having parties and get togethers at their house. Having people over for dinner may seem a little overwhelming, but a party just for the adults allows you to have good conversations and not stress about all the food.
The party can be as simple as a game night, paint night, or dessert night. And invite a few couples! Having a few different couples also allows you to invite a couple you may not know and help you feel more comfortable getting to know them in a group setting.
If you don’t know who to invite, start with neighbors, work friends, friends of friends, or people you meet at church and start to find those couples you click with.
Plan & Schedule It
As we’ve said before, you don’t have to have friends as a married couple to have a successful marriage, but if you want make married couple friends, schedule it! Last week on our episode we talked about scheduling fun with your kids because it’s hard to make things happen when things aren’t scheduled. So we challenge you so find a day you’re free, plan an activity, invite people, and schedule it! You can do it!