Black and Married with Kids: 10 Ways to Strengthen Your Marriage Over the Holidays

If you’re married, you know that the holidays can be one of the best or worst times of the year, depending on how things play out. There is a host of scenarios that can pull and tug at the delicate balance of your relationship with your extended family, your in-laws and even your spouse. We host a weekly conversation on Twitter called #marriagechat each Wednesday night (9PM EST) and this topic was so hot, we decided to share it with our ESSENCE family.
 
What’s the scenario? You’ve grown up spending every Christmas morning with your family before marriage, but so has your spouse, what will you do now? Or, maybe you can’t stand your in-laws, but they’ll be coming to stay with you over the holidays, or worse, you’ll have to stay with them. (Yikes!) Another common trouble zone is when your spouse wants to buy gifts for everyone you’ve ever met, but you two just do not have the money to play Santa on your budget.

The key to successfully navigating through scenarios like these is to stay focused on your marriage and keep the covenant strong. Here are our 10 tips for strengthening your marriage over the holiday season. Give them a read and share your thoughts. Your feedback is always welcome.

Lamar and Ronnie Tyler are happily married, with kids, and founders of BlackandMarriedWithKids.com. Together they host #MarriageChat, the number one twitter party for married couples, on Wednesday nights at 9pm EST. Find them on Twitter @BlackandMarried.