by Galfato Wonago

Created on: October 23, 2007

SIX STRATEGIES THAT MAKE TRANSITION TO PARENTHOOD MORE JOYFUL

Considering the fact that most people view transition to parenthood as a positive experience, according to some studies, so many new parents describe their transition as a very stressful period in their lives. This article explores the challenges and rewards of transition to parenthood and presents six strategies that make transition to parenthood more joyful period for the new parents.

While most of the discussion in this article applies to all types of families( parents), I will use a husband and wife as a representative couple in this article.
The following are some of the common challenges the new parents experience following the arrival of the baby:

1) Issues such as the role of religion in the family and the role of men and women in the society, especially as it relates to career, must be discussed clearly, as how each parent feels about these issues influences his/her participation in the new family structure.

2) Taking care of a baby is a 24hr/day and 7days/week job. Household chores( preparing meals, feeding, cleaning, laundry, ...) increase drastically after baby's arrival. Someone has to take responsibility to arrange regular medical check ups or birthday parties in addition to daily baby care and other activities. Therefore, division of labor must be clearly defined, as the partner who end up carrying most of the burden, unwillingly, will eventually be very resentful, especially if he/she is also holding a full time job. That means, the division of labor issue may become a major source of conflict between husband and wife. What is more, significant increase in responsibility also means 1) less time for sleep, 2) less time for intimacy-promoting activities, for example, night outs, 3) disruption in sex life, and 4) less time for autonomous activities( sports, night out with friends ).

3) No matter how much a husband and wife love each other, they are still two different individuals with their own unique family background, past experiences, learnings, past life role participations, assumptions, and beliefs. Like any transition period that follows a significant life role change, each parent is forced to think about various life roles in a clear and sustained way. And like turning a corner at the end of a city block, each parent starts looking at things differently after the baby's arrival. That means, the differences between the husband and wife in dealing with various issues( division of labor,

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