Today, I'm writing about transitions in early marriage life. Now, I am not married, but I have noticed a trend among newly married couples. Married life tends to go well for the first year or two, and then marital satisfaction begins to decline. I'd like to examine the cause of that decline today.

There is one large cause I wish to discuss here, though as always, you are welcome to comment any trends that you yourself may have noticed. The trend is the basis for all causes of has to do with family systems. A family system is the relationship between people in a family, and the most important system is the husband/wife system. What causes a decline in marital satisfaction is often a failure to establish the stability and supreme importance of that system, especially in dating (see last week's post). Family members, especially parents, can intrude upon the boundaries established by the husband and wife. Friends of the couple often also claim time that otherwise should be spent on strengthening the relationship. Likewise, both the husband and the wife are caught up in the romance and allure of marriage and often fail to realize that marriage requires hard work and effort; consequently, when the honeymoon phase has ended, the couple is left without a solid foundation of trust, communication, and dating or marital rituals. Finally, when children come along, another stress is placed on the marriage. Research indicates that marital satisfaction begins it most serious decline after the birth of the first child. This happens for a number of reasons: the mother has an increased work load, while the father's generally remains the same; the husband suddenly feels under-appreciated by his wife, as the mother and child often establish a stronger family system than the father and child; lack of sleep causes stress; other factors contribute to the decline.

So, the question for reflection today is this: how can couples overcome these trends? They all fall back to family systems. How can couples strengthen the husband/wife family system? WHat do you think? Please feel free to comment!