Getting married to your man is an exciting event to look forward to, but before you say your “I dos,” there are some things you have to do with him to perpetuate your relationship. Here are some of them:
1. Travel together. Going on a road trip will put you and your future husband in close quarters with each other for a long time. You will start to recognize different aspects of your relationship when you are stuck with him. Little annoyances, like singing loudly and off-key to every song that comes on a radio is tolerable for the first 20 minutes, but after three hours in? Maybe not so much. You might discover that traveling with your man makes you or him more irritable with one another or more tolerable.
2. Disagree with each other. If you always agree with your future husband, take a step back and think about your relationship. Disagreements, arguments, and different opinions are important in a healthy relationship. Sometime down the road, you are going to disagree about a course of action, so before you get married, it is vital that you learn to compromise.
3. Discuss expectations. You most likely have an expectation of how your marriage is going to operate. Perhaps you expect him to split the household chores evenly and for both of you to work full-time when you have children. On the other hand, he might expect you to stay home when you have children and do all of the household chores since you are a stay-at-home mom.
4. Spend time apart. You love each other and therefore, you want to spend every moment together, but now is actually the time to spend time apart. Someone once said distance makes the heart grow fonder, which is true, but distance also makes a relationship healthier. Men and women need companionship in friends and family. As much as your future husband loves you, he might not understand your need to talk for hours about everything under the moon, but your best girlfriend totally understands that need. Don’t be afraid to have a girl’s night without him.
5. Live with someone other than family. Living with someone who was raised differently than you is important before you get married. You don’t need to live with your fiance to have this experience. Living with roommates teaches you to solve household problems like dirty dishes and general cleanliness. You get used to not having lots of privacy and dealing with other people’s quirks. You also learn how to compromise and how to have healthy conflicts. These experiences teach you how to adjust to another’s living habits, which is a vital skill you will bring into marriage.