Who comes first, your partner or your kids?

Put a lock on your bedroom door. Never let a child interrupt. Kiss your partner first. Andrew G Marshall's book, I Love You But You Always Put Me Last, argues that parents need to childproof their relationships, or lose them. Time for some expert survival adviceIt is any given breakfast time in my house. Marlene, four, is due at school in 40 minutes and is in a rage because she asked for Shreddies and Special K but now just wants Special K. Max, two, is cross because I put milk on his cereal. Marlene has chosen a tiny summer dress but my wife Alice thinks she needs leggings, too – it's not all that warm – and she's refusing to put them on.My wife starts to bargain with the sticker chart I've been using to persuade Marlene to go to bed at night without needing "one more wee" 40 times, and I pettily rebuke her that the chart is a bedtime bribe and not for general use. Alice is cross because all this is making her late for work. I'm cross because I've been up for an hour and a half and nobody has stopped wanting something or complaining about something for 30 seconds. We use the word "darling" with each other, but it doesn't always sound like a term of endearment.If Alice and I argued before we had children, I can't remember it. The truth is, I can't remember much because my brain these days has the texture of a sodden nappy, but I'm fairly sure it was a sunlit upland of laughter, kissing and skipping through bluebells. Certainly there was a lack of Diprobase, estate ca...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: The Guardian Family Psychology Sex Parents and parenting Marriage Extracts Features Life and style Relationships Source Type: news