By Burrow Hill
Most everyone has flown on an airplane and listened to the attendant review safety procedures – including the part that says, “In the event the cabin loses pressure, the oxygen masks will drop down from the overhead. Place the mask over your own face before assisting small children.” The airlines know that you will be of little help to a child unless you are in good shape yourself. You must be able to breathe yourself before you can help them breathe.
The same goes for your marriage. You cannot be a good parent unless your marriage is in good shape. If your marriage is in shambles, is that helping your children or harming them?
The Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) teaches its new members that “if things are not right at home, they won’t be right at the office!” All one has to do is look at golfer Tiger Woods. When things were not right at home for him, it certainly showed in his business.
So it’s not only important to you and your marriage partner that you have a good relationship and a successful marriage, its important to your entire family. Parents owe it to their children to build their marriage on a good foundation, a foundation that starts with communication.
Marriage retreats, or couple retreats, are a good tool for working out issues in your marriage and keeping both of you on the same track and working together. Those weekends away from the distraction of your children and day-to day life allow you to focus on your partner and renew the bonds of your love that help your marriage thrive as you work out the inevitable issues that tend to pull the two of you apart. Leaving your children with a relative so you can attend a couple retreat weekend can and will make you a better parent in the long run.
Burrow Hill is the author of "Talk Tools for the Business Side of Marriage." Hill also conducts couple seminars where he teaches talk tools and facilitates couple communication. Visit his website http://www.TalkToolsOnline.com