Q: I'm away from my family three nights a week for work. I understand the travel is necessary yet I can tell my wife feels stressed when left alone with our two young kids. How can I make things better?
A: Your "wife feels stressed"? Where are you in all of this? Very regular business travel can have an extremely stressful impact on your home life.
When it comes to being away from each other, you can't help your wife deal with her emotions if you haven't dealt with your own.
Ask yourself... do you react more irritably after a strenuous week away?
How do you expect to be treated when you arrive home? Are you consistently disappointed in how your family receives you?
Do you ever find yourself thinking: "Hey... I'm doing all this traveling for the family. Doesn't she understand and appreciate that?"
She may indeed appreciate all of this. She probably does -- but it's still tough for her.
She is left to parent alone those nights and run the entire household. Even if you are the most well-adjusted, loving couple this takes a toll.
Here are some tips:
Explain to your wife the financial/career incentives for your travel.
Express to her the difficulties you experience being away from home. This will make her feel less alone.
Appreciate through words/actions all she does to take care of the kids and the household while you're away.
Create a nightly check-in call that works for both of you.
When you are home, make the nights together really count. Romantic reminders of how much you love her make a huge difference.
Best of luck to you and yours.
Questions and comments can be sent to ASK NOAH at nskass@gmail.com.
Have a profitable and peaceful week,
Noah
This blog post was originally posted on The Street.
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