Want Happy Children? Focus On The Relationship You Have With Your Spouse

Family | Did You Know

Want Happy Children? Focus On The Relationship You Have With Your Spouse

Paige Franklin Photography

Love spills over onto the people around us, more often than not, those people are our children. The best way to ensure you've got emotionally balanced kids? Provide them with a strong foundation of love and respect.

That foundation starts with the relationship you have with your partner. A deeply connected and supportive relationship with your partner sets a foundation of security and happiness that spills over into your children's emotional health.

According to a study presented to the American Psychological Association by Robert Epstein and Shannon Fox, one of the top three important "parenting competencies" is how well you relate to your spouse, significant other and/or co-parent.

As partners and parents we can take a cue from Ollie and Donald King.

At the request of their granddaughter, the happily married couple agreed to pose for these beautiful anniversary shots taken by photographer, Paige Franklin.

The love these two have for one another practically bursts off the screen and it's clear to see why they've been married for 68 years!

"He told me in all their 68 years together they've never spent one full day or night apart. That was so touching to me." said Franklin, "I kept thinking, 'That is the sweetest thing I've ever heard.'"

Read more about their sweet story on page 2...

The couple, in their 80s, still care for their 100-acre farm so it was only fitting that their anniversary shots be taken on the land they both love.

"It means the world to me because they mean the world to me," said their granddaughter, Ashley Owen.

"They've been there for each other and they've been there for us. They make jokes together and pretty much do everything together and they'll do pretty much anything for everybody."

Their love for one another transcended generations and spilled-over into the lives of their grandchildren.

If ever there was a recipe for raising two generations of happy, healthy children here it is: take two people, add a heaping cup of love, a hearty splash of respect and a dash of humility.

Owen told abcNews that her grandparents have "always been there" for the entire family, and that she was thrilled to have these sentimental photos to print and share as memories with her relatives.

During the photoshoot Franklin asked Donald King to tell her what he was most proud of his wife for - she wasn't expecting this sweet response:

Franklin tells Scary Mommy, " he looked at me for a minute and looked at her, and then he said 'there really isn't just one thing. She's just amazing all around...'"

[h/t Huffington Post / abcNews / Paige Franklin Photography/ Scary Mommy]