How to Quarantine with Your Partner Without Destroying Your Relationship
/Couples are now suddenly spending an awful lot of time together - ALL the time!
How do I avoid a breakup during quarantine?
Follow these 4 tips from relationship experts to survive self-quarantine
without hating the one you love.
Forever may stop sounding ideal after weeks of forced togetherness.
1. Compliment your partner, even over little things.
Catch them doing good, and say something nice.
This may be your first opportunity to see them working, even if it is remotely. Tell them what you admire about how they do their job!
Don’t pout if you are the only one doing the complimenting. Lead by example; after a few days, it’s okay to ask for a compliment (“Look! I cleaned out the medicine cabinet. Isn’t that better?”)
If i don’t look at her, maybe she wont make me talk to her
2. Be responsive to attempts at conversation.
Everyone has lost most of their social interaction with self-quarantine.
It’s not your job to be a constant source of company for your partner, no matter how much you love them.
But be mindful of the little comments that seek connection, and don’t ignore them.
“Them - We’re out of eggs.
You - You’re the one who ate them all!”
“Them - We’re out of eggs.
You - Oh, well.”
“Them - We’re out of eggs.
You - Oh, you’re right, when do you think we should go shopping?”
Is it about the eggs, or is it about the attempt at socialization?
3. Schedule time for yourself.
If your only time by yourself is when you take a shower or make an emergency grocery run, you might be running low on much-needed alone time.
Schedule activities for yourself - have something to look forward to! Facetime with your cousin, jump rope to your favorite music, Houseparty with your buddies from the team.
we are not animals. we can talk things out.
4. Pick your battles.
Don’t sweat the small stuff. And most of it is small.
Just like always, don’t talk about big concerns in the midst of an argument. Wait until everyone is calm.
Even the strongest relationships are strained by constant togetherness
Divorce is expensive. And usually unpleasant.
By doing these four things, we are filling up our emotional bank account. We will have the resilience to get through this stressful time without wanting to clobber the one we love!
We can avoid a breakup during quarantine.
Here is a short video recap of this article. I like the music background!
Adapted from the longer article by Rachel Feltman in Popular Science Magazine, and The Week Magazine.
If you need to talk to someone, every community has free confidential counselors waiting by phone or by live chat.
Such as It’s Up to Us.
Call 888-724-7240.
Trained people are waiting to hear you.
Other free resources for when we are stressed:
If it’s your kids who are driving you crazy, we have this article for you.