Ready for some solid marriage advice? Blake and Ryan can help
They look like Barbie and Ken. The fact they have two daughters under five and manage to pull off the Hollywood dream could make a person envious enough.
But as it turns out Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds actually have a solid partnership going on.
So what’s the secret to their success?
Friendship, apparently. Along with a healthy dose of mutual respect.
This is how Blake explains it:
“In other relationships,” she said, “If something came up I would call my girlfriends or my sister, and say, ‘Hey, this is what he did – what should I do?’ Whereas with him, we were friends for two years before we were ever dating. And I treat him like my girlfriend. I’m like, ‘Hey, this happened. It upset me. This is how I feel. What do I do?'” she continued. “He does the same for me. He treats me like his best buddy.”
Mutual respect also abounds
Remember this pledge of love from Ryan after Blake had their first daughter, James back in 2015.
“When we had that baby, I fell more in love with my wife than I’d ever been in my entire life. I couldn’t even believe it.”
Turns out Blake has taught Ryan more than a thing or two when it comes to emotional life:
“She meets anger with empathy. She meets hate with empathy. She’ll take the time to imagine what happened to a person when they were five or six years old. And she’s made me a more empathetic person.”
“I had a very fractured relationship with my father. Before he died, she made me remember things I didn’t want to remember. She made me remember the good times.”
How lovely is that?
True teamwork in action
In a recent conversation with Babyology, Kirsty Levin, a psychologist and co-founder of the The Parents Village, that’s the magic elixir when it comes to having a relationship that survives the challenges of parenthood.
“Couples who acknowledge that early parenthood is a transient phase of their life that will pass and they need to rally together to stay strong as a team,” says Kirsty.
She recommends couples eager to keep their connection strong adopt regular “State of the Union” meetings.
“Gottman & Gottman coined the term “State of the Union” to describe a great little technique to use within your relationship. It’s a little meeting at some point during the week where you check in with your partner and discuss how you are tracking and how you’re feeling and how to best support each other.”
Who knows, with a little more mutual resect you and your partner might also have a little bit more of the Blake and Ryan type Hollywood glow!
