The Times of India

Want a happy married life after becoming parents? These 7 simple rules can bring you and your partner closer than ever

You prepared for the baby. You read the books. You assembled the crib. You attended the classes. You bought everything on the list and probably a few things that were not on it. What nobody told you, what nobody ever quite prepares you for, is what having a baby does to your marriage. Suddenly the two of you are no longer just partners. You are co-managers of a tiny human being who needs everything, all the time, immediately. The romance gets scheduled into gaps that rarely arrive. The conversations that used to flow effortlessly now happen in fragments, between feeds and nap times and school runs. And the person you fell in love with is standing right next to you, equally exhausted, equally overwhelmed, and equally unsure of how to say so. Here is the truth: strong marriages after kids are not built through grand gestures. They are built in small moments, repeated daily, intentionally. And these 7 simple rules are where that intention begins.