There’s a good chance you’re seeing a lot more of your spouse lately with so many working from home now – how’s that going??🙃

I know that in addition to the pressures of the unknown, sometimes just navigating the family dynamics with everyone at home can be challenging – at first it may seem like a delightful string of Saturdays, but eventually you’ll realize that the time away from home for everyone was a reliable “reset button” and that “absence makes the heart grow fonder”.

Jeremy started working from home about 4 years ago, so we have a lot of experience with the whole “home dynamics” thing. As dreamy as it may sound on the outside, it definitely isn’t for the faint of heart!

Here are some tips from our experience with doing life 24/7:

1. Treat your spouse like a co-worker that you respect. In marriage, we get comfortable, familiar, and begin to take one another for granted. It would do us well to step back and ask ourselves if we’d treat a co-worker with the same attitude. Would we extend a bit more grace? Extra patience? Try hitting a reset on how you respond to the little things and treat him with the same courtesy you would of a work associate – even if he didn’t rinse out his oatmeal bowl.

2. Give him sacred space. One of the most important parts of working from home is making sure that you have a dedicated work space and that everyone understands that it’s sacred. Make sure the kids know when it is/isn’t okay to pop in on dad. Recreating that “reset button” by giving him a place to retreat to can help sooooo much.

3. Honor his work hours. One of my favorite things about having Jeremy at home is that I know I’ve got backup for the kids. If Ivy is napping, I might be able to sneak out for a walk with the big kids knowing someone can keep an ear out for her or back when I ran errands (lol) I might be able to dash into town. But what I don’t have is a built in baby sitter. When I need help with the kids I work to get that on his schedule and make sure it’s not going to interfere with his plans for the day.

4. This ties into the previous point about childcare – know who is “on duty” with the kids. One of the most frustrating parts about having both parents at home is when each of them thinks the other one is “on duty” with the kids and ends up frustrated that the other person isn’t handling things. Ask me how I know? haha. Everyone will end up frustrated and the kids will be confused if they’re getting the runaround about who to go to with questions. Decide before the day/week begins when and where you’ll switch out with the kids. And then communicate that clearly to the children so there’s not doubt who to go to with the 15 million questions that will inevitably arise as soon as one of you sits down to work.

5. Plan a weekly date night in. We’ve always maintained a weekly date night on Thursday. I’m really sad that we won’t be headed to Rise for lava cake for dessert this week, but, we’ll still do our best with a date night in. The kids know that bedtime routine will be shorter and they’ll be in bed earlier so that mom and dad can hang out. I’ll even blowdry my hair to make it extra special. We’ll lay aside work and phones and give ourselves permission to relax and reconnect. It’s my favorite night of the week, even if we have to skip the queso.

What are your best tips for making it through this season with your spouse??