As an engaged couple you may have talked about when to start a family and how many children to have. Unless you’re entering a step-parent family, however, the nuts and bolts of daily parenting are probably not high on your radar screen. Here’s a checklist of items that couples should discuss before they get married. See if you’ve covered most of them.
- Do we both want to have children?
- Do we want to have children right away or wait awhile?
- If there is a good reason to wait, how long might that be? How will we decide when we’re ready?
- What method of family planning do we plan to use? Are we familiar with Natural Family Planning?
- How many children would we like to have? (It’s helpful to have a general idea, if not necessarily a specific number)
- What did you like most about the way you were raised?
- What would you like to change in the way you raise your own children?
- How would we deal with infertility if we have difficulty conceiving? Would we consider becoming foster parents or adopting?
- How would we deal with an unexpected pregnancy?
- How do I expect parenting to change our marriage?
- Do we want one parent to stay at home once we have a child?
- What is the hardest thing I expect to deal with in raising a child?
