Dear newly-wed wife,
The hectic pre-wedding days are over.
The many, often nerve-racking meetings with his parents, friends, family, colleagues are in the rear view mirror.
The glorious wedding day has come and gone. The heady honeymoon too. The last unopened wedding gift – you gave it to your best friend week.
Hunky husband has gone back to work.
And so have you.
The reality of wedded bliss is here. No dreamy, Cinderella trailers. Just the behind the scenes, unphoto-shoped reality.
Allow me to talk to you; tell you a couple of things about this new and exciting journey you have just begun.
Let me talk to you about these early wedded days; you will discover that they are very private days, filled with innovation, elation, learning, training, excitement, growth, stretching.
Let’s cover a few important areas;
ONE: He won’t “go home.”
And you won’t be able to “go home” either.
Home is where both of you now live.
Weeks back, you could walk out of a restaurant after a disagreement about his mother…and the color of his wedding shirt.
You could go home (your home) to cool off, studiously ignore his calls.
No more.
Even if you switch off your phone, he’ll still find you. Because you now live together.
Communication. Conflict resolution. Talking. It’s your new language. One that you need to muster well. And continue mastering for the rest of your married life.
You need to find this flow with hubby – without taking intermittent breaks to ask your girlfriend for advice. Using social media to air the not-so-clean laundry is also very uncool.
You can’t go to your mum’s for a few hours to “bring him to his senses”. That’s throwing a very bad spanner in the works.
Dear newly-wed wife, now is the time to dust up your premarital notes and actually practice what you were taught.
Develop a spine, which includes the courage to say “no” and create boundaries. Stick it through.
TWO: He is not as neat as his smart suits made you believe.
Aka, the masks do come off.
Well, that visit to his house?
He was expecting you and your friends, he had done a mini house-makeover. And yes, his breath, it’s not that fresh and minty in the morning either. He likes his pancakes brownish, not black.
And those socks….so why do they have to be rolled up in a ball and thrown into clean-cloths section?
It will not be easy adjusting to each other’s quirky habits and ingrained behavior. But that is the essence of marriage. Of adjusting to each other.
He may change. Eventually. But it’s not your call. You can’t change him (same as he can’t change you). He’ll do the changing all by himself, with the help of God.
Now you see why all those pre-wedding hangouts were so important.
Hopefully, you were not just checking out his cute dimples but were actually paying real attention to the whole man – his behavior, how he treated the waiters, family, women, his default thinking.
Dear newly-wed wife, change takes time. Change requires love..lots of love.
And by the way, the correct spelling for the word love is COMMITMENT. Iron sharpening iron. Patience. Patience. Acceptance. Acceptance. Talking. Talking. You get the drift.
THREE: Dear newly-wed wife, most new brides cry. A lot.
A whole lot.
Someone shared with me that little morsel just before I got married. I was floored. How rude, I thought. The knack of older women.
Yes, the person sharing the morsel had more than three decades of marriage tucked to her belt. I should have listened. Because turned out she was right.
So why do newly-wed wives cry? Emotional, psychological, physical, spiritual, social adjustments.
Let me encourage you, when you cry, you are not being a cry-baby neither are you weak.
No matter how glorious, how awesome and mind-blowing the newly- wedded bliss is, it’s also a season of serious transition for you. Moving from “me” to “us” is not easy. Ad most women cry generally.
Those who refuse to cry have to get some other not-so-pleasant ways of release.
Like smashing dishes, developing ulcers, gossiping hubby with others, stunted emotional growth,..and years down the line, they have a tendency to explode and walk out on their man.
Dear newly-wed wife, embrace your femininity, your womanhood. It beats having emotional or hysterical outbursts with your sweet brand new husband.
Tears can clean the heart, the same way they clean the eyes (wink).
They help your communication, help you get your point across better. When you think first, you speak even better.
FOUR: The roles
Ah yes, you dislike cooking, cleaning, washing, dusting, market shopping, folding laundry and all other things that have the tag “domestic responsibilities” written on them.
Or even if you enjoy dabbling in a couple of things domestic, it’s usually to your convenience e.g when you’ve had an easy day at the office and you get home early.
Now you are trying to get the hang of running a home – and it’s not dependent on your mood or day.
Let me encourage you, running a home does get into the system eventually.
No, you may not fall in love with domestic responsibilities entirely but you will definitely fall in love with its results; a healthy happy marriage and clean home.
And for that, you will discover that you can do almost anything.
And again, he can help in the domestic end, especially if that is how you’ve planned your home.
But accept that there are roles and responsibilities in marriage. Accept yours. And not just the ones on the domestic end (again, it’s about the heart, submitting to each other and encouraging each others’ strengths, more than anything else.)
FIVE: The juniors.
Get ready for the questions.
You are amongst the fortunate if you escaped the “we are waiting for the kids now!” line on your wedding day.
Most people wait until you are about a month old in marriage before they begin patting your tummy, guess your “months’ and generally put their nose in to your private business.
Forgive them, most of them mean well. (I know it doesn’t feel that way).
Now, you should have discussed all things ‘baby” with hubby before the wedding. When, how many, spacing e.t.c.
If you happen to change your mind about the ‘when” after the wedding, the first thing to do is NOT to ditch the contraceptive or “forget” counting the days. That’s not smart.
Plus it will earn you negative love points with hubby.
Dear newly-wed wife, the first thing to do is to talk. That’s the cardinal rule when it comes to making decisions in your marriage.
You consult each other. Consult again. Be in agreement.
Or maybe, you are one of those who want to wait before having the bundle(s )of joy, always remember that it’s your relationship. It’s your marriage. Do what works for you.
Once baby comes, baby stays. For a minimum of two decades at least. Straight up, no breaks. So breath easy, there is no baby bump competition going on.
Oh here’s the biggie. One that you will pass on to your daughters.
SIX: You will not be able to tell your girlfriends everything about your home, hubby, relationship.
Actually, rephrase that, you should not tell your girlfriends about your private goings on.
He left his mama and daddy for you. And you did the same. What happens in your home stays in your home. (It does not go to your Facebook or twitter either.)
By now (hopefully), you already feel the sacredness of your union. You can sense that some things are beyond an un-married mind.
So don’t beat up yourself if you can’t share everything with your friends who want to know all the details of the wedding night, details of the honeymoon and marriage.
Don’t feel faint if there is no glamor and glory to chatter about. It’s okay to hold your tongue and sound boring, just so you keep your sanity and honor in your marriage.
Marriage is not easy. Not everyone gets that. But now you get it.
SEVEN: On that same breadth, keep your mentor relationship strong.
You’ll have crazy days and you’ll need someone to talk to.
Yes, someone, not everyone.
That’s what a marriage mentor is for.
Also cultivate at least one married peer relationship, someone whom you can share your heart with; share your heart and life, not gossip your husband or marriage.
There’s a heaven and earth difference. A girl, especially a newly-wed, needs a friend. You must look for and cultivate yours.
EIGHT: Forgive yourself.
You don’t know it all. Relax. Just like kids don’t come with a manual, this institution didn’t either.
You are writing a story and as all good stories go, they get better down the chapters. It will get better, these adjustments.
Dear newly-wed wife, keep hope. Keep faith up. Connect deeply with God.
NINE: Try not to figure out everything in advance
It will kill you.
Live one glorious day at a time. Let this adage be true for you, that your vision is etched on stone but your goals on sand.
Stay flexible, easy and pliable.
~
Grateful to read this,about 3 months to marriage.I pray for wisdom to apply this insightful knowledge
Congratulations on your upcoming wedding! So glad this was helpful! ❤
One month in marriage… I’m experiencing most of that . Thanks for the encouragement especially about the crying part. I actually thought I was very immature so when i cried I’d tell God to allow me coz I needed to release the overwhelmed emotions inside me ….
Ann, there’s so much going on in the early days and sometimes the best release is tears 🙂 When we cry in God’s presence, makes all the difference!
Thank God i stumbled upon this! Very insightful!
So glad it helped Abbie!
Just re read this article again, 6 months after the big day…and it makes perfect sense!
🙂 🙂
Wow! I loved post and shared it with a friend of mine. She and I are both newlyweds, and your post pretty much says it all! Haha i especially love your observations about the crying (Yep! You are right!) and advice about babies, house chores, and having a mentor to talk to rather than everyone. I’m a new follower of your blog!
So glad the post spoke to you in this wonderful new season, Devoted! Belated congratulations to you and your friend!
The wonderful things we hear before marriage…. and how some of them turn out to be true..shock! 🙂 🙂
Thanks for following and i pray that you find tips and help around you for an awesome married life!
This is wonderful advice!!! I surely wish I had it over 32 years ago but thankfully I have smartened up and can teach younger women these truths. The one about being crying a lot is so true. I cried all the time when I was newly married, even asking him why I married him!
I think the crying was one of my biggest shockers (even though I had been ‘warned’ 🙂 ) Funny the things we ‘despise’…until we begin to walk the road ourselves 🙂
It’s so true that God comforts us in our time of need so that we can in turn comfort others. The lessons we learn are for others too.
Thanks so much for coming by and sharing. God bless you and happy new year.
Great words of advice to the newlywed, Ngina! I especially like number 1–it’s what seems to get most couples in trouble, but all of your points resonate and have important truth to realize and remember. Thanks for your heart to encourage marriages, Ngina and Happy New Year!
Thank you Beth, am glad the post resonated. Sometimes I wish there was a little manual for new brides..lol. Then i realize that a manual wouldn’t work cos we all discover, design and live on intent and as individuals – as God intended.
Happy new year to you too! Thanks for coming by.
hey nyambura, we should have a newly-wed wives finishing school, shouldn't we? 🙂 may make things just a tad easier.. blessings
Hi Ngina i wish i read this during my first days in marriage it would have really come in handy….I was just smiling as i was reading reminded me alot of stuff but now afta been there for 7 years i feel i have really grown…..this is good stuff didnt know you are a writer…thumbs up Nyambura
Reeny, arent they something, those early days…! Yesu ni Bwana 🙂 🙂 🙂
You make my smile remembering my 1st year of marriage!
@ warhia, most certainly 🙂 🙂 🙂
:-). Class 102 upcoming? 🙂