222. Learning to Balance the See-Saw of Marriage

Whether it comes to parenting style, money, sex, or even how we spend the holidays as a family, it’s not uncommon to hold a different point of view than our spouse. But what happens if we sense our spouse go to the opposite extreme on an issue? Is too lenient with the kid’s discipline. Spends more money than we feel comfortable. Desires sex more than we have the energy for. So often, their lop-sided approach (in our mind anyway) creates a reaction in us to go to the opposite extreme on those issues in order to create balance. But when we do, it creates more tension and often a impasse on the issue. In this episode, Josh and Christi talk about ways to find common ground on these sometimes tense issues in marriage, and use teeter totters as an analogy to describe what happens when we go to the opposite extreme of our spouse.Here are some highlights:* When we fail to name our teeter totter (the issue at hand), we end up making our spouse out to be our opponent. * Inching closer to your spouse can be difficult, but it’s when you feel the see-saw begin to shift toward balance again. * Finding a common ground begins by not inferring or judging your spouse's behavior, recognizing you own underlying fears, and initiating a conversation.Show Notes:WANT TO LEARN ABOUT MY KID'S EQ? On-demand courses to help your child manage big feelings in a little body. Each course in KidsEQAcademyTM teaches your kids the life skills they need to develop emotional intelligence.SIGN UP FOR MARRIAGE AND FAMILY COACHING! We offer a transformative coaching journey to help your family build a rock solid marriage, create healthy rhythms between work and home, and set values that drive how you make decisions.