In many relationships, couples tend to bicker about the same old thing until it explodes into an all out argument. On the outside, we may be complaining about one thing, when the reality is, the issue is much larger. We’ve all experienced a version of this scenario. You have cleaned and vacuumed all week while your significant other just sat in front of the television. Finally, by the end of the week when he fails to take out the trash a huge argument ensues. While you both are focused on fighting over the trash, you don’t even consider the fact that your deeper frustrations are about household chores and responsibility. When this happens, sitting down in the heat of the moment and talking things out can often be a challenge, especially when one (or both) of you are still fired up about the topic at hand.
If couples could develop some sort of agreement in the form of a contract, would it help establish boundaries, prevent petty fights, and appease pet peeves for the relationship just as it would in a business negotiation? I challenged myself to test that theory on my own relationship.
With that in mind, I explained the idea to my boyfriend and found he was very open to trying it. After all, he would certainly have his say for every term. This process may not be suitable for every relationship, especially if there are underlying issues such as major insecurities, mental health, and an unstable history within the relationship. For my relationship, this was all meant in good fun and we both knew that before we began.
Before I explain how my relationship contract turned out, I’ll lay down some basic guidelines of how to make your own relationship contract.
What To List
Make a list of things that tend to be hot topics in your relationship. Ask your partner to make a list as well. Focus on pet peeves, issues you bicker about, and things that used to be the highlight of your relationship in the beginning. Sometimes we have to revert back to the ways in which we respected each other in the beginning of the relationship in order to find the sparks again. Whether it’s about leaving dirty underwear on the floor, criticizing each other too much, or how often you have sex, list anything you want to establish a guideline for. The contract goes both ways and is meant to benefit both parties.
How to Word It
Basically, you both want to agree on what will and won’t exist in your relationship. Be aware of how you word things and don’t list things as if you are making a deal. Listing that if Person A takes out the trash every week, Person B agrees to have sex 3 times a week, is just going to cause more arguments. Person A could refuse to take out the trash because they haven’t had sex all week. List each issue as a separate term.
Consequences
There should never be consequences for a relationship contract. This is supposed to be an enjoyable exercise to show both parties how well they can agree on issues and get to the root of specific problems. In my relationship, if we don’t follow a term every now and then, one of us brings up the contract and we pause, giggle, and move on. In the back of our minds, we know what we agreed on and understand there will be slip ups. This contract is just a way to establish guidelines and the actual document should not make or break the relationship.
Discussing the Terms
Sit down with the drafted terms and discuss each one. You may have to alter them or exclude some altogether. Explain your reasoning for everything. Your contract can be as specific or as vague as you want, as long as you agree on it. Once you agree on the drafted terms, make a clean version of the contract. Leave space for both of you to initial each term.
My boyfriend and I had a blast going over our relationship contract. Just reviewing the drafted terms together brought us closer and it really put into perspective how petty we can be at times. It reminded us both to be grateful for what we have and not take the positives of our relationship for granted. We both learned we still have similar moral values and we can agree to disagree on certain things.
A couple terms we agreed upon included:
- celebrating our monthly anniversaries,
- never going to bed angry,
- committing to resolving arguments by talking it out rather than storming off,
- not taking things too personally and being more careful of how critical we can be to each other,
- and continuing to respect each other’s privacy (no snooping – we don’t but it’s good to list for the future).
Our relationship is a lot healthier and happier since we established an agreement. Not only was the experience fun, but since we focused so much on editing the terms before we finally signed off on them, they became ingrained into our heads. This proved to be way more effective then nagging each other from time to time about the same old issue. My boyfriend even agreed to give me a foot massage once a week! So as you can see, a contract can benefit the entire relationship in a fun and exciting way!
