What changes, if any, have you noticed in your relationship since getting married?
DH and I used to go out to eat, go to movies, watch tv/movies at home, go hiking, etc. Since getting married we rarely do these things (even before DD was born). However, after getting married we immediately built a house which DH worked on every waking minute he wasn't working at FT job, moved in and found out I was prego a month later, and now obviously we have a baby.
So basically, I'm wondering if our lack of doing things is due to those factors or have you ladies also noticed changes from when you were dating vs. being married.
Re: SO --> DH
Finances have been a huge change for us, sharing accounts, etc. This changed even more when I became a SAHM.... but didn't really effect our relationship.
Since getting married we seem to do more independently than we ever did while we were dating. Little things like errands we used to always go together... now we drive each other insane doing them. DH used to be more romantic and spontaneous. I used to randomly get flowers, or a card telling me how awesome I am. Now, I can't even tell you the last time I got flowers. We also used to love cooking together... now it's one or the other of us. I think it's natural for things to change and evolve... even though it seems like change only happened when we became married.
Um, no, marriage doesn't have to be a "ball and chain" type of marriage. I still compliment DH and we still dress up to go out. DH has never been much of a romantic so that hasn't changed.
A bit before getting engaged we had already bought a house and combined our finances so nothing like that was new and/or different for us.
Are you feeling neglected because he's no longer taking you places?
Nope. don't feel neglected.
Okie dokes.
I would say things have changed, some for the better, some not. DH is no longer as romantic as he was when we dated but he jokes that he doesn't have to woo me anymore now that he "owns" me. (He's totally joking). We are much better at communicating and hearing each other now that we're married. And intimacy is different now that we have DD, but still great. I would take being married any day. Our life is so blessed and full of love with each other. I have never considered myself to be tied down. We have a great marriage, even with the ups and downs.
I think the day-to-day stuff didn't change much for us, but the big picture definitely did. When you're married, you can't just break up. You're in it for the long haul. It just feels different than just dating. But as far as the stuff we do together, it's pretty much the same (obviously things changed after LO)
And the best part about being married is, when you fall out of love for a little while, being married keeps you together until you fall back in.