You don’t want to be one of the couples that contributes to the country’s high divorce rate. In order to avoid being another statistic, you should do a few key things with your partner before agreeing to marry them. After all, it’s healthy to get to know your partner as much as you can before you tie the knot. That’s why you shouldn’t wait until marriage to do these ten things:
- Share an apartment. Imagine getting married to someone, and then finding out that they only do the dishes once a week, or that they leave toenail clippings on the bed? These are things you should know before agreeing to get married, and the only way you’re going to find them out is by living together. If you don’t hate each other after a year or two, then you should go through with the wedding.
- Take a road trip together. You’ll feel much closer to your mate after spending twenty-four hours stuck in a car or on an airplane with them. Plus, when you take a vacation with someone, you’ll see how much they’re willing to spend on a hotel, how well they packed for the occasion, and how well they planned out the itinerary.
- Own a pet. It doesn’t matter if you buy a puppy, a kitty, or even a fish. It’s important for you two to share ownership of another living creature to see how well you distribute responsibility for it, reprimand it, and play with it. If you don’t agree on each other’s care taking methods, you need to learn how to compromise so that you raise it the “right” way.
- Share your income. Financial issues are one of the biggest reasons why couples get divorced. If you’re planning on creating a joint banking account once you’re married, then you should test run that idea before the big day. That way, you’ll be able to see if you two are meant to be financially as well as emotionally.
- Spend time with his family. Once you marry someone, you’re going to be stuck with their family. Spending one Thanksgiving dinner with his parents isn’t enough to get to know them. You need to spend an entire weekend with them, or at least go out shopping with his mother, in order to really see what you’re getting yourself into.
- Talk about your past. You shouldn’t marry someone before you get to know them. Even though it’s awkward to discuss your exes, you should tell each other about them. Your past shaped your future, which means they won’t know the real you until you tell them about your best and worse memories.
- Sleep in the same bed. After you get married, you two are going to be sharing the same bed until death do you part. That’s why it’s always good to know how badly your partner snores, how much they drool, and how much they toss and turn throughout the night. You don’t want to wait until your honeymoon to find out these things.
- Have sex. Unless your religion or morals prevent you from having sex before marriage, it’s something you should definitely do. Losing your virginity can be painful, and you don’t want it to ruin your honeymoon. Besides, if you’re not sexually compatible with your mate, it’s best to find that out as soon as you can. After all, sex can make or break a relationship.
- Have a huge fight. It doesn’t matter if you’ve found your soulmate. You’re still going to fight with him. Stop holding yourself back from telling him off, because you’re worried it’ll cause a break up. If you’re meant to be, then you need to learn how to voice your feelings and compromise with each other. If you don’t, then your bottled up emotions will be the death of your relationship.
- Discuss your future together. Children, finances, and apartments aren’t the most entertaining topics to talk about, but you need to bring them up in conversation before you get hitched. If you find out that you don’t feel the same about having kids, budgeting, or moving out of state, then that wedding might not happen at all.
