7 Helpful Hints to Keep the Love Alive in Your Marriage

“It takes a village to raise a child” is a well-known African adage; when it comes to marriage “it takes two to tango.” Your marriage may not be on the rocks, but there’s never too much you can do to keep the fire burning (and no, we don’t just mean sex). Even if you and your spouse are smoothly sailing, these 7 helpful hints on keeping the love alive in your marriage will surely keep you on course.

1.    Make your spouse your top priority. You’re a mom, but a wife first and foremost. Your duty is to make your husband believe that he is the king of the world! Do acts of concern and love that communicate to him that he is your top priority. For example: Make sure he has the largest closet, the most convenient space. This practice testifies to him that you’ve put his needs first, without you having to say a word. Or, make sure that when your hubby gets home from work, everything in the house is tuned into one thing: making him feel comfortable. On romantic interludes, seek to meet his physical needs. All the while, you say without words that you care for him.

2.    Date each other often. Set aside an evening each week to go on a date. You don’t have to make reservations at a fancy restaurant; coffee and donuts or a frozen yogurt joint will do for some meaningful conversation! Of course, make time and set aside budgets for more special dates (which don’t include birthdays and anniversaries!). Dating each other lets you relive the days prior to your marriage, and allows you to talk one-on-one about more than just your financial problems or the kids’ schooling. Relive your dates past and hit your favorite hotspots before the kids came along. Reminisce memorable dates; they make for great conversation. And declare an embargo on talking about work, kids, school—these dates are just for the two of you.

3.    Honor one another. “That quiet mutual gaze of a trusting husband and wife is like the first moment of rest or refuge from a great weariness or a great danger,” said author George Eliot (who was a woman). Every time you go on a date, start the meal or whatever with a single act: Praise. Praise your spouse for something that week that you appreciated: Taking out the trash, washing the dog, taking care of the kids with no yaya, even picking up clothes. The point of honoring each other is to find one thing in your spouse to be thankful for.

Click here to read more ways on how to keep your marriage alive.