Bills, babies, business—your family’s to-do list grows every day. And it’s not likely you’re making time in your busy lives for an important key to marital happiness: dating. “[Parents get] so caught up in being good parents and doing what’s right for our kids that the relationship with our partner can be forgotten,” says Cathy O’Neill, a Texas mom of three and coauthor of Babyproofing Your Marriage.
But dating your spouse requires a bit of a readjustment, O’Neill notes. “You might have to scale back your idea of a date—it’s not just a candlelit dinner and roses. You don’t even have to leave the house.” A simple “date” with your partner can be as small as an act of kindness or consideration, like joining your spouse for a cup of coffee in the morning.
But, says O’Neill, don’t whip out your calendar and schedule a weekly date night. “You don’t want to ration the romance,” she says. “Dating your spouse is more than just spending time together one night a week—it’s making a commitment to do something nice for each other every single day.” Those acts of kindness add up.
