Relationships—especially the marriage kind—usually have a rhythm: Monday through Friday afternoon, everyone is doing their thing (work, school drop-offs and pick-ups, dinner prep). In fact, maybe you and your spouse feel like even-keeled ships simply passing in the night to discuss logistics and where you did or didn’t your kid’s red water bottle. (Try the car, it’s always in the car.)
But when the weekend hits, so does the pressure. Anyone else feel like angry and frustrated feelings tend to erupt on Friday nights?
Jocelyn and Aaron Freeman, relationship experts and co-authors of the book The Argument Hangover, say there’s a reason for this: mismatched expectations about how to spend our leisure time.
I’m going to use myself as an example because this totally applies to me and my husband. As the week drifts toward Friday night, I am bursting with all my wishes and hopes for the weekend ahead–a combination of self-care, chores, family time, friend hangs and romantic reconnection. (It’s a lot, I know.) In other words, yes I’d like to clean the bathrooms and meal plan, but I also want to go for a run and finish Stranger Things and possibly/definitely meet up with my friend Barb.
