When silence is used to manage conflict in an intimate partnership, misunderstanding and increased emotional distance are likely. Stonewalling in relationships can also cause one or both partners to experience anxiety or depression, and may lead ultimately to separation.
Technology enables moms to multitask more easily but more is expected of modern parents. Even in households espousing gender equality, women tend to take on more of the childcare and household responsibilities, as well as the corresponding mental load. Dads can ease this burden by taking more initiative and following through.
Being on your phone instead of listening when your partner is speaking as well using phones and cameras to monitor your partner’s activities are examples of how technology enters relationships. Our phones and other devices can interfere with intimacy and also help us avoid difficult conversations.
Motherhood is often not what we understood or imagined it would be based upon our observations of our own mothers. While growing up, we often failed to see the behind the scenes work and effort that we now experience first hand.
After baby arrives, the nature and extent of your social connections take on a whole new meaning. Becoming a mother can open a whole new world with different venues to explore, new topics of conversation, and a seemingly endless array of new things to do. But there can be comfort in reaching back to former support networks too.
For many new mothers, the excitement of the birth is overshadowed by a sense of loss in the postpartum. Some mothers miss being pregnant. Others feel the loss of certain aspects of their life before the baby including the ability to focus on career, the capacity to meet up spontaneously with friends and the intimacy in their relationships.
