Stardew Valley is a great game with simple, but effective, farming and combat systems, and relationship-building. Unfortunately, it tends to fall down once you get to the marriage part. Your spouse moves in with you, and sometimes has a gift for you in the morning, or just informs you that they've already watered the plants (even though you have sprinklers).
Your kids aren't overly impressive either. Sometimes you just want to divorce your spouse and turn your children into doves to be free of them. Before you do that, you may want to take a look at some great mods that expand on the spouse/family dynamics in the game.
10 Custom Spouse Nicknames
Pet names aren't essential, but they're often used in relationships, and personalized pet names are always loved. The default names used in Stardew Valley (honey, sweetheart, etc.), are okay, but if you want a little variety, add Custom Spouse Nicknames to your game to get personal in your Stardew Valley relationship as well.
The names can be as silly or as spicy as you want. Unfortunately, it won't increase the frequency with which the names are used, so you might still be waiting awhile before you see your in-game spouse call you doodle bug, so just be patient.
9 Customizable Children
Kids are pretty two-dimensional and generic, and there's nothing wrong with that if you're not too invested. But if you want to control every single aspect of your fake child's life, consider Customizable Children.
This mod allows you to control everything from your baby's hair color to the color of the onesie they wear, and everything in between. There are default options to make your baby look exactly like your spouse, or you can mix and match with custom and default options to make a baby that's a perfect match for you both.
8 Everyday Children Haircare
Children are a mess, as they're still learning to take care of themselves and need a lot of parental guidance. Hair is something that can be more fun to work on. Incorporate some of that fun into Stardew Valley with Everyday Children Haircare.
Choose your child's hair color and style, adding a little more of a personal touch to them, and letting you have more say in your child's appearance in the game. If you can't decide on the style, set the mod to randomize and get a new one every day!
7 Unique Children Talk
Are you tired of your kid being a lifeless statue? Try Unique Children Talk! Bring your children to life with added dialogue that lets them ask you for food, tell you good night, and express their love for you.
You can also customize which portrait appears next to their dialogue, or leave it as a default, and edit what your children call you if you're not into the traditional Mom/Dad titles. They even have unique dialogue for the festivals, the best times to be a kid. It's amazing how dialogue brings your kids to life.
6 Free Love
Pelican Town is full of great bachelors and bachelorettes. Instead of choosing, get Free Love and marry them all! Polyamory is always a valid choice. Free Love will allow you to have multiple spouses and roommates and expands your bed, so you can share with all of them.
You can also have multiple kids with all your spouses, filling your home with all the love it will ever need. Other mods under the Free Love umbrella will allow your spouses to interact with (hug and kiss) each other, give each spouse a custom patio space, and add more rooms for more kids. Everyone deserves love!
5 Immersive Spouses
A common complaint in Stardew Valley is that once married, your spouse will almost never engage with the outside world. They stop going to work (with a few exceptions) and stop participating in their hobbies.
And each morning and night you have a chance of getting randomized dialogue from a set list.
If you miss the vibrant, happy soul that you married, try Immersive Spouses. This will restore their hobbies and some parts of their schedule - like Emily going to work, Abigail playing video games, etc. - and gives you the chance to find them out and about for some unique dialogue.
No more lonely nights at home for your spouse!
4 Helpful Spouses
How many times have you seen, "Good morning sweetie! I watered the plants for you," and simply sighed because there are already sprinklers? It's clearly meant to be for show. Helpful Spouses changes that, though. It adds a list of chores that your spouse can help with (like petting the animals, feeding them, fixing fences around the yard, or providing a birthday gift for a local), and tries to balance it with the lore by making the spouse more likely to do a job they're used to.
For example, Alex is used to taking care of animals and would help with feeding, while Shane would be more comfortable petting them. Get your spouse really out there and working instead of seeing the same sprinkler dialogue again and again.
3 Spouses React To Player's Death
You "die" a lot in Stardew Valley. It's almost unavoidable with all the cave-diving you do. If you want your death to add a splash of drama and trauma to your game, consider the mod Spouses React To Player's Death.
This comes with a variety of options for spousal reaction, changing depending on who you're married to, roommate reactions, or you can even be visited by an ex if you haven't remarried.
Wake up and face the physical and emotional consequences of your reckless actions, and then repeat it all again the next day because you just can't get enough of that feeling.
2 Pelican Children
Where do babies come from? They're dropped off by the pelican, of course! Pelican Children makes it so that your children are always delivered via pelican, which is a more queer friendly option, and makes it the same option across the board.
If you're a female married to a male, or vice versa? Pelican baby. Two females or two males? Pelican baby. Do you have a nonbinary mod installed? Pelican baby. Pelican babies for everybody.
1 Children's Bed Removal
On the opposite end of the family scale, maybe you want to be child-free. Who has time for kids when you're running a successful farm and single-handedly funding the entire town? Children's Bed Removal is exactly what it says on the tin - it gets rid of those pesky beds Robin gives you, so you can decorate that space, or use another mod to add a different room to your home.
It's a small thing, but one that allows you to personalize the house a little bit more.