The bedrock of successful parenting is, very often, a successful marriage.
That’s not to say that divorce isn’t sometimes the right choice, or that single parents can’t do an amazing job.
But when a child’s parents love each other deeply and, more importantly, work on their relationship — everyone wins.
There’s no doubt: Being a parent and husband or wife is hard work. The relationship tends to want to take a backseat to raising the kids, and paying the bills, and getting chores done, and on and on.
It’s a wonder anyone makes it work!
But they do. And to prove it, I’ve compiled some of the best true marriage stories from Reddit to give you hope and make you believe in the power of love!
Sound cheesy? Maybe it is. But read these and I guarantee you’ll feel more motivated than ever to put in new effort with your partner.
Couples therapy can actually work!
There’s a lot of pessimism (not to mention stigma) around couples therapy and marriage therapy in the online world.
People say it doesn’t work and if you get to that point, the relationship is dead anyway.
But not so fast!
Research shows that couples therapy can actually be quite successful. In fact, most of the time it is.
In this story from ZombieBoobies, counseling helped pull both partners out of a major funk and get them engaged in working on the relationship again.
It’s awesome to see happy endings like this one!
Read the story below.
It’s never too late to turn things around
A happy marriage is a choice.
It doesn’t come easily or naturally to anyone, not without both partners putting in the work.
This inspiring story from bombinabirdcage shows that even when things seem so bleak that divorce feels inevitable, a relationship can turn around when both partners really want it to.
These two were on the brink of splitting up when an unexpected medical complication brought them closer together. The changes stuck and now they’re happier than ever.
Read the whole story below.
Communication is key
Don’t forget to be in love
It’s easy — REALLY easy — to slip into a pattern where you’re just best friends with your partner.
Getting along isn’t so hard.
It’s romance that tends to take backseat to kids and chores and careers.
This couple, in a story retold by myhouseneedscleaned, found themselves in this exact situation.
As she puts it, they just “forgot to be in love.”
But when they finally made time for a date night — even just as friends, since at that point they had agreed to divorce — it sparked something in them and brought them back together for good.
It’s such a beautiful and relatable story for the busy parents out there.
Read the whole thing below.
Never let the family dog outdo you
Not so much a story as advice that everyone needs to hear.
It’s all well and good to talk about putting your relationship first, prioritizing your partner, and working on your marriage.
But how do you actually do it?
Well here’s just one, sweet, concrete example.
User swedishchef13 inherited some advice from her mom, and here it is:
“Don’t let the family dog outdo you.”
Meaning, greet your partner with as much love and enthusiasm as you can muster each and every time you see them.
Put that one into practice today!
Read the whole story below.
Communication is key
Yeah, yeah… everyone knows communication is important in a relationship.
But again — what does that mean when you’re busy, you’re stressed, and you’ve been together for a long time?
Here’s a sweet little (Gold winning!) story from WritingForDummies about an extremely minor moment of communication in her marriage, and the ripple effect it had on her relationship with her husband.
She realized that being passive aggressive, even about tiny things, was corrosive and honest and humor would be a much better strategy.
Read the whole story below.
Wrapping Up
So what can you take away from these Reddit marriage stories?
There are a lot of different ways to make a marriage or relationship work, but you no matter how you slice it, it IS work.
When you’re a parent, your time is minimal. Your attention is pulled in a million directions. Your kids need you. The household is a machine that must be fed with endless laundry and dish-cleaning.
But your partner deserves your best, too, and everything else gets easier when you put in that effort with them first.
More than anything, just know that it CAN work — even when things seem hard or bleak.
Hopefully these stories can serve as proof, or at least a glimmer of hope.
Before you go, you might like my guide to what to do with your partner when the kids are in bed or some anniversary ideas for when you’re pregnant!
Hope this helps!