Women Corner

These days there are many financial demands on households and so most people work, regardless of the age, sex or circumstance, and having children does not necessarily mean that one parent will stay at home to cover child care.

Therefore it is more important than ever that couples sit down and discuss their work commitments, in order to ensure that you can plan out a good balance between time spent at home and time working, as this will help to strengthen your relationship into the future.

Ambition
People can have different levels of ambition, so this is an important area to discuss early on in your relationship. You may be very keen to pursue a career, which may require further study or moving around to follow promotions and new job opportunities, and this could be difficult if your partner also wishes to pursue their own career in a different field. You must talk about your hopes for the future in terms of your careers, and there are many ways in which you could both pursue your own interests and still maintain a strong, solid relationship. If you are not ambitious then you may be happy supporting a more ambitious partner, but you should make sure you don’t ignore your own needs if you decide later on you might like to retrain in a new skill or pursue a career of your own.

Working Hours
A common factor in relationship problems is working hours, especially long hours which mean you rarely get time to spend with your partner, and when you do get time one or both of you are too tired to do anything special. If one of you works very long hours and the other has less heavy work commitments this can also cause resentment, as one person may feel as if they are bearing the brunt of the financial and working burdens of the relationship, so it is important that each of you finds a working level that you are both happy with. Relationships need a lot of work in order to be successful, and this means spending quality time together so that you can get to know each other and find pastimes you can enjoy together such as going out for meals or exploring the countryside.

Holidays
Holidays are very important if you and your partner have heavy work commitments, as they give you a chance to recharge your batteries and spend time together. Always take all of the holidays owed to you each year, and if you can’t take them all at once then have a number of mini breaks throughout the year such as long weekends, as these are also good for getting you away from it all and helping you both to relax. If you have children then long weekend breaks are also great for some ‘adults only time’ and you could ask a close member of family if they would have the children for a couple of days whilst you and your partner get away to spend some quality time alone.