How do I have conversations with my husband about expectations for behavior at Church and contributing at home? Ask Dr. Julie Hanks

In this episode, I sit down with Amanda and answer the question, “How do I talk with my husband about expectations for behavior at Church and contributing at home?” Amanda’s husband often has his phone out during Church and doesn’t like singing along to the hymns. She recognizes that as an adult, he gets to choose how to worship. But she still wishes he wouldn’t do these things. I tell Amanda that it’s okay to have expectations, but that it is better to focus those expectations on herself. It’s not her job to change her husband’s patterns of worship.

What she and her husband can work on together, however, is striving for a partnership marriage. Amanda works full time, manages the majority of the household chores, and does much of the parenting when she and her husband are both home. She is feeling overwhelmed and burned out. We roleplay a conversation she could have with her husband and discuss how she can give some of her responsibilities to him to manage.