Anyone see our other kids lately?? 😜 You know, Anyone see our other kids lately?? 😜 You know, it's so funny how some parts of the newborn phase have been like muscle memory and others have been like we've had our first born all over again. 

We were worried about how David and Evy would feel with this new family member but they have been so sweet that it brings tears to my eyes to put it into words. I was especially worried about Ev being supplanted as the youngest but, honestly, being the big sister suits her SO well and I think she's been loving it, too. 

I've also loved getting to experience this again with Josh. The way you band together during the newborn phase especially is very bonding. You rely on each other deeply and it's not always cute or pretty. 

Super grateful 💗
To the best big brother and sister. Cleo is going To the best big brother and sister. Cleo is going to think she has the coolest, smartest, bravest big siblings in the world, and she's not wrong 😉
She's here 🌷 Cleo Renée was born 2 weeks early She's here 🌷 Cleo Renée was born 2 weeks early on Saturday March 11 at 1:52 in the morning. 

Josh and I just had a feeling about that day (Friday), so we kept the kids out of school, went out to breakfast, and just spent our last day together as a family of four. 

My contractions started right after my 38 week appointment that morning and progressed throughout the day until around 4pm when I thought, "Mmk, I'm starting to really need to breathe through these. Better go in."

I was so convinced they were going to turn us away that it really didn't hit me that we were actually going to meet our girl that night until we'd been there for a few hours already. 

Baby girl ended up being 7lbs 15oz and 20in long!

We are all so in love. David and Evy are OBSESSED. A few times their friends have come to the door to ask them to play and they've said they'd rather stay home with the baby 😄

We are so blessed and thankful for this little girl ❤️
How to use a French hair pin. I love these things How to use a French hair pin. I love these things because they can hold up even my thick and chunky hair and I don't have a large clip sticking off the back of my head (don't get me wrong, I love a good hair clip, too)! Have you tried one yet??
This season of waiting has been weird. But I’m s This season of waiting has been weird. But I’m so grateful for it.

On the one hand, there’s so much to do to get ready for little one to join us—it’s been a while since we’ve had a newborn! I’m spending most of my free time writing and nesting, nesting and writing. 

And then on the other hand, I’m feeling pretty ready to have my body back. And by that, I mean just to be done literally sharing it with another being. You start to miss things after a while like being able to breathe when you lay on your back or not getting indigestion for eating a few grapes. 

Overall, there’s so much to be thankful for. Each little inconvenience is a blessing and I’m happy they’re there. I’ll also be happy when they’re over. For now, I’m just savoring being a mom of “older kids” (8 and going on 6) that can grab their own snacks from time to time and put on their own shoes. We’re going to be heading back to square one in a couple months and I’m sure there’s a lot we’ve forgotten!
Naturally, when we see a need, we rush in to fill Naturally, when we see a need, we rush in to fill it and fix it. On top of this, it’s hard for us to ask for help because we don’t want to be a burden to others. 

But in the process of meeting everyone else’s needs and neglecting our own (especially our need for rest), we often become bitter towards the ones we’re helping.

Instead, one of the best things we can do as a wife or mother is to assess our own needs and make sure to leave space to meet them ourself or to ask for what we need. 

It might be time to rest, help with the next meal, time alone to pray and meditate on God’s word, or allowing yourself to leave a task un-done so you can “selfishly” enjoy a hobby of yours like the rest of your family gets to do. 

In the end, making room to find joy each day may be one of the best things you do for your relationships.
30 weeks and counting down the days til we meet yo 30 weeks and counting down the days til we meet you. We *think* we've finally settled on a first name after non-stop back-and-forth and brainstorming. Any guesses?? Or.. what are your favorite baby girl names right now??
Saturday highlights 🖤 We've been trying to be s Saturday highlights 🖤 We've been trying to be super intentional with the time we spend with David and Evy recently, knowing that big changes are just around the corner! We pray with them, ask them what questions they have, take the time to explain things. I'm hoping they'll be set up pretty well for the transition of little sis coming in March but most of the work will happen after she gets here! How did you help littles prepare for baby?
Merry Christmas from the Damons! ❤️ Merry Christmas from the Damons! ❤️
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Marriage, Relationships · May 9, 2017

5 things to do instead of having an argument with your husband in your head

I don’t know about your husband, but my husband is not always there to be a part of all the fights we have. Like, literally, he has no part in them. Because I’m so angry that I really don’t want to talk to him at the moment and have the fight that I’m having in my mind actually with him. These moments are where I’m able to come up with the best come backs (although he never actually said anything……) come up with the best pointed arguments, and honestly be a bit meaner than I ever would be in person. Safe to say that not a whole lot of good actually comes from these mental fights I have with him. So in an effort to avoid prolonging the anger I have for my husband in my mind, I do a few of these things I listed below:

I don’t know about your husband, but my husband is not always there to be a part of all the fights we have. Like, literally, he has no part in them. Because I’m so angry that I really don’t want to talk to him at the moment and have the fight that I’m having in my mind actually with him. These moments are where I’m able to come up with the best comebacks (although he never actually said anything……) come up with the best pointed arguments, and honestly be a bit meaner than I ever would be in person.

Safe to say that not a whole lot of good actually comes from these mental fights I have with him. So in an effort to avoid prolonging the anger I have for my husband in my mind, I do a few of these things I listed below:

1 | try to remember all the nice things he’s done recently

When I find myself running through the house picking up my husband’s shoes and socks along with the toys my 2-year-old left out, an inevitable one-sided mind-fight begins to break out: “Does anyone pick up after mommy? No. So why do I have to pick up after daddy??” And if I don’t watch it, that can go on for longer than I’d like to admit. Josh has literally caught me mumbling to myself during one of these mind-fights. That wasn’t embarrassing or anything.

But before these fights get out of hand, and before mental punches start getting thrown, I try to remind myself that I really don’t have it as bad as I’m thinking I do. I have to remember that- oh yeah- he did wash the dishes this morning. And last night he did get up to help get the 2-year-old get back in bed. That’s not to say that I’ll never bring the socks and sneakers issue up to him (see point #2) but I do have to remember that I am not a victim in my marriage and marriage is rarely a perfect 50/50. The sooner any spouse gets that out of their mind the better. As I say in much more detail in my post here, we married a real person, with flaws, and there will inevitably be times when we need to pick up their slack. If we can agree to do that without whining or holding it over their heads, we’ll find ourselves in a much happier marriage.

2 | Walk over to him and bring it up

Sometimes I’m a lot meaner in my mind than I am out loud. I know that’s not everyone. Sometimes the best thing- for me and my husband- is to walk away for a bit, chill out, and then when the initial anger has passed, bring it up. Personally, I know that I tend to hold onto things, build up a grudge, and let it ferment into bitterness before I bring it up. I can be like a lawyer building up evidence for my husband’s crimes against me instead of trying to nip the problem in the bud before it happens again. My poor husband. Over the course of our marriage, however, I’ve learned that he responds so much better when I address how his actions have bothered me in the moment. That means right as they happen. And that doesn’t always mean that we have to stop and have an hour long talk about it. Usually, the quick moment of confrontation sounds a lot like, “Hey, that actually doesn’t feel very good when you say that” or, “Hey, could you pick those up so I don’t have to grab them later? Thanks.”

Except if he’s at work- then pleaaassse wait. For Josh and I, flights over text naturally dissipated once we got married. Mostly because over time we became less dramatic and we also simply talked less during the day when we were both working. But there have been a few instances where I’ve really just wanted to tell him what’s what over the phone. And a couple times I have- and then felt like I was back in high school again (ie. embarrassed and regretful. And urgently feeling the need to send an apology text before he got home). Long story short, if you have an issue- bring it up quickly and almost always in person. The End.

3 | Ask yourself if it’s really worth getting worked up over

Sometimes, as much as I’m angry in the moment, my mind arguments with my husband are much more dramatic, pointed, and all-inclusive (meaning they include that time he said something insensitive 6 months ago) than they would be in person. If I don’t stop myself, I can go on for a pretty long time feeling like a self-righteous victim in my marriage rather than stopping to feel grateful for the man my husband is and the fact that he actually does love me- despite whether he hurt me or whether I’m deciding to simply feel hurt. Don’t get me wrong, there have been times when Josh has hurt me, but as I said before, those are times for action, confrontation, and forgiveness. Rarely, is internalizing the hurt and remaining the victim the outcome we’re actually looking for- it just feels vindicating in the moment.

4 Write down what you’re feeling

I know I’m not the only one out there who feels like getting their problem out on paper helps them clear their mind, figure out what’s truly bothering them, and prepares them better for confrontation. Note that in no way am I saying one should only write their problems in a journal and not bring them up face to face- simply that sometimes writing your feelings down beforehand will help you organize your thoughts while your emotions run their course, giving you the ability to be more a more calm and collected version of yourself when it comes time to talk to the hubs.

You know how you almost always come up with better talking points after a fight or confrontation? Think of this as a dry run where you can better figure out how you were hurt and explain how you would like your spouse to fix it/act differently in the future (not where you can figure out a more pointed insult).

5 | Just stop

Sometimes the best thing you can do for yourself, your husband, and your marriage is to just stop. If you know this is an area that just requires you to be a little more patient but you feel a mental argument a bewin’, try to just stop and think of something more positive and helpful. As I said earlier, you are not a victim in your own marriage. We always have a choice of how we react to whatever our husbands do and in these types of moments, we can choose to simply realize what we’re about to do, stop, move on, and be all the happier for it.

So, do mental fights happen to you, too? Or am I the only crazy one here? Help another married lady out and leave your best methods for helpful confrontation in the comments below!

I don’t know about your husband, but my husband is not always there to be a part of all the fights we have. Like, literally, he has no part in them. Because I’m so angry that I really don’t want to talk to him at the moment and have the fight that I’m having in my mind actually with him. These moments are where I’m able to come up with the best come backs (although he never actually said anything……) come up with the best pointed arguments, and honestly be a bit meaner than I ever would be in person.

In: Marriage, Relationships · Tagged: angry, annoyed, choice, confront, confrontation, fight, forgive, frustrated, Health, help, hurt, husband, imagine, journal, love, mad, marriage, mental, mind, patience, personal, react, Relationships, sad, talk, text, victim, wife, write

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Comments

  1. MacKenzie Rennert says

    May 14, 2017 at 4:09 pm

    This is so me I’m laughing and crying all at the same time whule trying to read! Thank you so much for posting this

  2. Sue says

    May 20, 2017 at 1:54 pm

    Something that helps me forgive things being left for me to take care of, like shoes laying around, is to be thankful those shoes are there, because if they weren’t, neither would he.

  3. J says

    May 23, 2017 at 1:14 pm

    This was me, literally, this past month. I was building up so much anger from doing everything and not getting anything in return (like a thank you or a cookie). After arguing with myself for weeks (trying to remember the good!), I finally came clean. I mean, my husband is loving enough to ask me about my day. Every. Single. Day. So I told him my frustrations and he admitted to not being mindful of me. Still a work in progress but that’s marriage, right?

  4. Theresa J. Nelson says

    May 26, 2017 at 2:49 pm

    I’d like to say the first thing I do is pray, but that’s not how it usually goes.
    I’ve been married 33 years and still have to stop and ask myself “Will this be a big deal tomorrow, next week, next year?” Deep breath, exhale. Now what’s really the problem? then pray for healing of my hurt feelings and wisdom to talk to him about it.

  5. Jenny says

    April 17, 2018 at 10:28 am

    You’re INCREDIBLE. First, your title snagged me right away. Instant smile. We’re in the mommy BLOGGER Pinterest group together and scrolling through the dozens of pins yours jusy Stuck out so well!
    Then there was your content. It was like you were literally I’m my head as I MUMBLE and GRUMBLE under my breath as I do my 3rd load of laundry. I try to do the same, Think of the positives about him and let it go, but somehow your post made me so much more aware of the things he does. Thank you. NOW every time I’m GRUMBLING in mg head i will think of you and remember “i am not a victim”.

  6. Samantha says

    August 20, 2019 at 1:20 pm

    Glad I’m not the only one who feels like a nut!! And is willing to admit it. Needed to read this, and the other comments as well.

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Hi! I'm Chelsea and we're the Damon's. We spent the last two years in WA state paying off student loans and just bought our first house in SC! I love a smooth black coffee, Josh's first love is the Seattle Sounders. Our kids are huge dorks and constantly make us laugh and we all love spending as much time outside as possible.

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Anyone see our other kids lately?? 😜 You know, Anyone see our other kids lately?? 😜 You know, it's so funny how some parts of the newborn phase have been like muscle memory and others have been like we've had our first born all over again. 

We were worried about how David and Evy would feel with this new family member but they have been so sweet that it brings tears to my eyes to put it into words. I was especially worried about Ev being supplanted as the youngest but, honestly, being the big sister suits her SO well and I think she's been loving it, too. 

I've also loved getting to experience this again with Josh. The way you band together during the newborn phase especially is very bonding. You rely on each other deeply and it's not always cute or pretty. 

Super grateful 💗
To the best big brother and sister. Cleo is going To the best big brother and sister. Cleo is going to think she has the coolest, smartest, bravest big siblings in the world, and she's not wrong 😉
She's here 🌷 Cleo Renée was born 2 weeks early She's here 🌷 Cleo Renée was born 2 weeks early on Saturday March 11 at 1:52 in the morning. 

Josh and I just had a feeling about that day (Friday), so we kept the kids out of school, went out to breakfast, and just spent our last day together as a family of four. 

My contractions started right after my 38 week appointment that morning and progressed throughout the day until around 4pm when I thought, "Mmk, I'm starting to really need to breathe through these. Better go in."

I was so convinced they were going to turn us away that it really didn't hit me that we were actually going to meet our girl that night until we'd been there for a few hours already. 

Baby girl ended up being 7lbs 15oz and 20in long!

We are all so in love. David and Evy are OBSESSED. A few times their friends have come to the door to ask them to play and they've said they'd rather stay home with the baby 😄

We are so blessed and thankful for this little girl ❤️
How to use a French hair pin. I love these things How to use a French hair pin. I love these things because they can hold up even my thick and chunky hair and I don't have a large clip sticking off the back of my head (don't get me wrong, I love a good hair clip, too)! Have you tried one yet??

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Anyone see our other kids lately?? 😜 You know, Anyone see our other kids lately?? 😜 You know, it's so funny how some parts of the newborn phase have been like muscle memory and others have been like we've had our first born all over again. 

We were worried about how David and Evy would feel with this new family member but they have been so sweet that it brings tears to my eyes to put it into words. I was especially worried about Ev being supplanted as the youngest but, honestly, being the big sister suits her SO well and I think she's been loving it, too. 

I've also loved getting to experience this again with Josh. The way you band together during the newborn phase especially is very bonding. You rely on each other deeply and it's not always cute or pretty. 

Super grateful 💗
To the best big brother and sister. Cleo is going To the best big brother and sister. Cleo is going to think she has the coolest, smartest, bravest big siblings in the world, and she's not wrong 😉
She's here 🌷 Cleo Renée was born 2 weeks early She's here 🌷 Cleo Renée was born 2 weeks early on Saturday March 11 at 1:52 in the morning. 

Josh and I just had a feeling about that day (Friday), so we kept the kids out of school, went out to breakfast, and just spent our last day together as a family of four. 

My contractions started right after my 38 week appointment that morning and progressed throughout the day until around 4pm when I thought, "Mmk, I'm starting to really need to breathe through these. Better go in."

I was so convinced they were going to turn us away that it really didn't hit me that we were actually going to meet our girl that night until we'd been there for a few hours already. 

Baby girl ended up being 7lbs 15oz and 20in long!

We are all so in love. David and Evy are OBSESSED. A few times their friends have come to the door to ask them to play and they've said they'd rather stay home with the baby 😄

We are so blessed and thankful for this little girl ❤️
How to use a French hair pin. I love these things How to use a French hair pin. I love these things because they can hold up even my thick and chunky hair and I don't have a large clip sticking off the back of my head (don't get me wrong, I love a good hair clip, too)! Have you tried one yet??
This season of waiting has been weird. But I’m s This season of waiting has been weird. But I’m so grateful for it.

On the one hand, there’s so much to do to get ready for little one to join us—it’s been a while since we’ve had a newborn! I’m spending most of my free time writing and nesting, nesting and writing. 

And then on the other hand, I’m feeling pretty ready to have my body back. And by that, I mean just to be done literally sharing it with another being. You start to miss things after a while like being able to breathe when you lay on your back or not getting indigestion for eating a few grapes. 

Overall, there’s so much to be thankful for. Each little inconvenience is a blessing and I’m happy they’re there. I’ll also be happy when they’re over. For now, I’m just savoring being a mom of “older kids” (8 and going on 6) that can grab their own snacks from time to time and put on their own shoes. We’re going to be heading back to square one in a couple months and I’m sure there’s a lot we’ve forgotten!
Naturally, when we see a need, we rush in to fill Naturally, when we see a need, we rush in to fill it and fix it. On top of this, it’s hard for us to ask for help because we don’t want to be a burden to others. 

But in the process of meeting everyone else’s needs and neglecting our own (especially our need for rest), we often become bitter towards the ones we’re helping.

Instead, one of the best things we can do as a wife or mother is to assess our own needs and make sure to leave space to meet them ourself or to ask for what we need. 

It might be time to rest, help with the next meal, time alone to pray and meditate on God’s word, or allowing yourself to leave a task un-done so you can “selfishly” enjoy a hobby of yours like the rest of your family gets to do. 

In the end, making room to find joy each day may be one of the best things you do for your relationships.
30 weeks and counting down the days til we meet yo 30 weeks and counting down the days til we meet you. We *think* we've finally settled on a first name after non-stop back-and-forth and brainstorming. Any guesses?? Or.. what are your favorite baby girl names right now??
Saturday highlights 🖤 We've been trying to be s Saturday highlights 🖤 We've been trying to be super intentional with the time we spend with David and Evy recently, knowing that big changes are just around the corner! We pray with them, ask them what questions they have, take the time to explain things. I'm hoping they'll be set up pretty well for the transition of little sis coming in March but most of the work will happen after she gets here! How did you help littles prepare for baby?
Merry Christmas from the Damons! ❤️ Merry Christmas from the Damons! ❤️
The 12+ hour drive is worth it 😊 The 12+ hour drive is worth it 😊

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