5 Marriage Mistakes That Will Hurt Your Children Later On

Married life not only impacts you, it touches your children. By allowing issues to grow and by not solving them in your relationship, they could really hurt and in some cases damage a child’s view on relationships as an adult. Things like not showing affection, calling each other names, avoiding discussions, or giving your spouse the silent treatment all can negatively impact children. By not addressing these issues, children could grow up doing the same things in their relationships and in life like being distant, not communicating, or becoming abusive. If you are in a toxic marriage where there is verbal, emotional, or physical abuse it is better that the children are kept out from that environment. Children can feel tension between parents and absorb emotional detachment. For those who are not in those conditions, it is important to remember that kids mimic what their parents do, so take inventory on what needs to be done to have a healthier marriage for you and the family.

You Fight

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Being in a hostile home and around unhappy spouses could impact a child’s self-esteem and creates trust issues. Kids can start to internalize and wonder what is wrong with them that their parents are fighting. They believe that they caused the disharmony, eventually accept it as the norm. Later in life they may carry unnecessary guilt and believe erroneously that they are doing something wrong in their relationships. This might harm future partnerships and influence decisions and become hostile themselves. Additionally, they could attract the wrong people, and could end up in the same situation like you. The cycle would continue and the foundation for having dysfunctional relationships is set.

You Lie

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Children observe and hear when you are dishonest. We all have known people who are habitual liars and know it is wrong behavior. If child see this, they will think that lying is completely normal and acceptable. Put it this way, would you want your little darling marrying a liar? Of course not, teach them that dishonesty is wrong. Being around people who are not truthful will show them that it is OK, and that everyone is like this. Even selective honesty can teach children to not be truthful. You know that “white lie” when you tell people you are not home to talk on the phone, when you are there and just tired? Well, they pick up on this and will emulate the same behavior when they are adults.