International Marriage and Family Planning Strategies

The internet and its vast offering of various online dating and online matchmaking services have largely contributed to the rise in the rate of international marriage statistics. This has opened a new dynamic in dating and international marriage that quite frankly, was difficult and not viable before.

Singles essentially have the opportunity to meet people abroad without having to leave the borders of their own locale. Due to the ease of access and the wide possibilities that international dating sites offer today, more and more singles are turning to international dating and various international dating apps to have more opportunities for finding their partners from foreign countries.

International marriages come with their own unique challenges. These challenges will furthermore translate towards the families they raise. It is necessary to be able to hurdle these problems in order to have a harmonious family life.

What then is family management or family planning? Why is it so essential, and even more so with international marriages?

What is Family Management and Why is it important?

Families come in all forms, shapes, and sizes. Many people believe that families just come to be, and having a family is a simple go with the flow kind of process, sort of the “get on with it” dynamic.

The truth is that you have a lot of control when it comes to managing your family and the way it works. Families that work well are normally families that are managed well. Family planning does not mean rigid rules and lack of fun and spontaneity. In fact, family management actually frees the family up for more fun and quality time together.

Family management brings the family closer and allows every member of the family more opportunities to get along well with each other. When your family is well managed it provides you with more time and makes the most of your finances. When you have more time available to you, then your family has more opportunity to spend quality time together and be spontaneous.

Family management becomes even more essential when it comes to interracial marriages. This is because there are added challenges when it comes to foreign marriages that are unique compared to the common family issues we see in society.

Family Planning and Management Tips

Let us not over complicate the idea of family management and the importance of family planning. You don’t need to go through thick books to get a good grasp of even the basic steps to successfully managing the dynamics of your family.

The fundamental talking points? Time management, finances, communication, etc. These are all subjects that you are aware of, but we will delve deeper into how these dynamics change when it comes to international marriages.

1. Keep Communication Lines Open

This sounds simple enough, and yet communication remains the most important dynamic in any relationship. That makes this step the most important to ensure a successful management system. Now why a system? Because managing your family is a constant effort. This is something that you will be doing day in and day out.

With a proper line of communication in an international marriage, family members have the opportunity to raise and discuss issues encountered by the family. This allows each family member to take on a proactive role in the management of the unit. How do you know if your line of communication is open within the family? When you can raise and discuss concerns with each other without having the need to feel guilty for doing so.

This is most important in an international marriage as there will be differences in culture, therefore there will be differences in how both spouses will want to raise the family.

2. Set Goals

Setting goals allows your family to work towards something. This helps you assess what your priorities are. Whether your goal is as simple as being able to spend more time with your family, to a more complicated goal such as buying a new house, setting a goal will allow you to have a picture of where you want to take your family to.

3. Know your priorities

Building on the notion of setting goals and knowing your priorities will allow you to work through the dynamics of how you manage your family. Furthermore, this will allow you to thoroughly assess the limits of your resources and where you can cut corners to achieve your goals.

4. Manage your Finances

This is also one of the most basic, yet one of the most essential parts of family planning. Money is normally one of the greatest stressors in a family. Trust me, it has been studied by sociologists.

Money management will allow you to properly allocate resources for your priorities. This will also allow you to look into what kind of goals you want to set for your family.

Financial management goes beyond cutting back on unnecessary expenses and saving money. Family management will also mean that you find ways for the family to earn a bigger income, or promising investments that will help your family scale.

5. Accommodate the Cultural Differences

Being in an international marriage, you have to expect differences in your culture as a couple. Some of these cultures might just differ a bit, while for some cultures they will contrast each other entirely.

It is important that you accommodate each other’s cultural identity. Studies have shown that bicultural families tend to be happier in their long term relationship and couples in these types of marriages tend to stay married.

6. Time Management

Time management essentially means that you effectively use your time in the most efficient way possible in order to find a balance between family time and professional or personal time.

This is necessary in order for you to be able to spend time with your family without having to drop the other activities that you want to or need to do. It is necessary to spend time with your family, however, it is also necessary to find the time to do the things you yourself enjoy, the passions you have, or the hobbies you’re taking up.

Time management will help you strike the balance between bonding and taking care of your family, taking care of yourself and your own well being, and also to take care of your professional life while taking care of an international marriage.