Children are supposed to help hold a marriage together. They do this in a number of ways. For instance, they demand so much attention that a husband and wife, concentrating on their children, fail to notice each other’s faults.

Armour’s joke turns a familiar piece of marital advice—“have children to strengthen the marriage”—into a wry observation about distraction. The line suggests that children can function less as a romantic bond than as an all-consuming project that redirects spouses’ energy away from scrutinizing each other. By framing this as a “way” children “help,” Armour satirizes the idea that harmony necessarily comes from deeper understanding; sometimes it comes from having no time to quarrel. The humor depends on inversion: what sounds like a wholesome rationale becomes a commentary on how busyness and shared responsibility can temporarily mask incompatibilities or irritations.