by Amber Wright
The other day I had a great conversation with a friend and colleague of mine. We always have a good time when we get the chance to sit and talk about love and life. Our conversation turned to marriage (as it always does) and unknowingly, she left me some great nuggets on marriage that were just too good to keep to myself!
Here are three things you can start doing today, to help strengthen your marriage:
Invest Time ““ as in a regularly scheduled date night. Ok, this is isn’t a new idea. But if having a regular date night was as easy as it sounds, every couple would do it. To ensure they get quality time in, every month my friend and her husband go out on the date of their wedding anniversary. Every. Single. Month.
I love that idea because 1) it makes it easy to remember your anniversary (and hopefully the reasons why you married your spouse) and 2) it establishes a feasible frequency with quality time.
The monthly anniversary may not always be on a weekend, so they get the chance to switch things up, according to the amount of time they have. Coffee dates, going for a walk together, or out dinner helps to keep things varied and fresh.
Our standing date night when were dating was on Thursdays. But now with baby, school, and work keeping us busy, weekly is unrealistic for us. Once a month though (our wedding date is on the 18th)? I think we can manage that.
Use Toothpaste. A cute rule they have is, whoever wakes up or goes to bed first, puts the toothpaste on the other person’s tooth brush. This may seem trivial, but it’s actually quite thoughtful when you think about it. For them it means that twice a day, every day, you get a reminder that your spouse has thought of you. She said that she can count the number of times it hasn’t happened. I found that kind of consistency to be admirable and the gesture to be really thoughtful and sweet!
Participate in Teamwork. In everything they do, they do it as a team. Again, this is not a new idea, but it’s great to see it put into practice. This means from housework to combing the kids’ hair, no job belongs exclusively to one person. Marriage is the ultimate partnership and it’s important to work together, even in the little things. My husband and I share that sentiment and have built our marriage on that same principle. Creating an environment of shared responsibility has really helped to create balance in our marriage.
Of course, to each his own! What works for one marriage may not work for another. But I hope these tips and reminders will inspire you to make small changes toward improving the health of your marriage, just like it did for me! Sometimes it’s the smaller, simpler things in life that can truly make a difference.
Oh, and wanna know how long they’ve been married?
Over 30 years.
Marinate on that!
Amber Wright, M.A. is a deliriously happy new mother of a special little girl and loving wife to a wonderful man. She invites you to visit her blog, The Yeyo Diaries, where she vows to tell the raw and lovely truth about motherhood.
ann says
Great Article!! Thank you for that! It just reinforce what we have been doing for each other for several years that has kept our marriage strong(26 years and counting…); very similar…
ditto to #1.
Almost ditto to #2 – we bring water to each other instead, twice a day at the minimum (morning and evenings a must) trivial as it may sounds it means the world to me.
and Absolutely!! ditto to #3.
Amber says
Thank you for reading, Ann! I’m glad you enjoyed it. It’s so important to remember the little things. And congrats on 26 years of marriage!
jessy says
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