You need em and I am SERVING THEM UP! SEVEN, that’s right, count em SEVEN Cures to Combat your Marriage Slump.
Whether you’ve been married 21 years like yours truly and your relationship can use a little oomph or you’ve been married a year and you already find yourself slipping into a comfortable yet this-is-not-how-I-envisioned-my-marriage-to-be-rut I’ve complied SEVEN CURES to combat your marital SLUMP.
KEEP READING!
SEVEN Cures to Combat your Marriage Slump
1. The Sex Bucket List and your Unicorn Slippers:
Pick up a copy of “The Sex Bucket List” – This Adult Activity Book has the look, feel and appeal of a coloring book. It is not your typical Self Help Book! There are only eight pages of words and the rest of the Activity Book is filled with Sextivities for couples to stamp off before they kick the bucket! Yes, stamp off! The Sex Bucket List comes with a smiley face stamper, a page to personalize and over 600 Sextivities for couples to partake in for the rest of their lives! The Sextivities within The Sex Bucket List range from in your bed to in an igloo and from in your home state to in Antarctica and everything in between keeping with the concept of a bucket list!
#2 Do something you did when you were dating.
According to Sandy Fowler Creator of Heart Filled Holidays it’s a great way to bring back old memories, strengthen the bonds of shared fun and feel like young lovers all over again.
It doesn’t have to be a big romantic gesture; eat at a restaurant you used to frequent ( or get takeout and serve it on pretty flatware!) , go ice skating, attend a sporting event at the college where you met, anything that you used to do that you can both enjoy.
#3 Make a Love List.
Sit down with a Dreams Do Come True ban.do Rough Draft Mini Notebook, or at the laptop and start brainstorming what you love about your wonderful spouse. Jot it all down. Sherry Richert Belul of https://simplycelebrate.net/love/ says think about qualities that are unique to him, things he does for you and special times you’ve shared together. Think about his quirky jokes or stories. How he always spends time helping the elderly lady next door. The way he makes up songs in the shower. How he saved the day that time in New Mexico. Tell him you love that he always answers the phone with a hearty Hey there! That he taught the kids how to ride their bicycles. That he can always make you giggle. Tell him you love his eyes, his intelligence, and his love of puns. Tell him you love how well he treats Champie, the family’s four-legged, furry gal. Your Love List can include big things and small things, funny things and sweet things. Your list can have twenty things or two hundred things.
Make a Love List and then give your spouse a handmade gift like this Boxfox Fireside Gift Box. During or after dinner you can read the list aloud to him and there’s no way he won’t feel immediately IN LOVE! Check out this free video that tells folks some ways to present the Love List and give them a free download with a ready-made list they can fill out and give to their spouse.
#4 Meditate together: One of the best ways for a couple to connect is by committing to meditate together according to Jeff Cannon of SimpleTruth.com. Yes, that’s right, by sitting across from each other in silence not only can couples help to reduce stress, lessen the impact of disagreements and minimize the level a small fight can escalate to, it can lead to more Tantric explorations.
In all, it seems a relatively calm way to start a year, and it is. But it can set the stage for so much more. Think two people, candles, perhaps even incense and robes. It can really go in almost any direction. But most important, it can start the New Year with a healthy and happy bang.
#5 Take a romantic bath. What better way to ramp up the romance factor with your mate than to plan a nice, long, leisurely romantic bath for the two of you (Bath Salts included)? According to Jacqueline Del Rosario, Ed.D, President and CEO of Recapturing the Vision International, an organization dedicated to promoting healthy marriages and family strengthening, if you have children make arrangements to get the kids out of the house so you can plan to have your romantic bath without the threat of interruption. Hire a babysitter to take the kids out to a movie or cart them “over the river and through the woods” to grandma’s. Please remember to clean your bathroom. This should go without saying, but maybe not. Nothing can ruin a romantic mood quicker than ring-around-the tub.
To create a romantic atmosphere, light candles and play soft music in the background. Add essential oils or a scented bubble bath to your running bath water. Lavender oil is especially relaxing. As you relax in the bath together, talk, touch, bathe each other and just enjoy the time you’re sharing. Wine can greatly enhance your relaxation quotient–choose something light and refreshing to sip on as you enjoy your romantic bath. Choose large, soft towels for you and your spouse to use after your bath. Pre-heat them in the clothes dryer for a few minutes before your bath for an added touch. Think holistically and show some initiative by changing the sheets on your bed. Nothing feels better after a hot, relaxing bath than cool satin sheets. If you want to follow your romantic bath with an evening of passionate lovemaking satin sheets will help you close the deal. You might even wake up to a Winter Wonderland.
#6 Practice giving.
According to Del Rosario, Ed.D, a simple four-hour exercise in which you give completely to your partner will help get you back on track. This is such a simple exercise, but it can drastically ramp up the romance factor in your relationship while also giving you a new appreciation for your mate. Really, it’s an exercise in submission. Spend a whole day serving your partner. That means that whatever your partner wants, you are ready to do. As you might imagine, the requests can range from the truly mundane to the truly sensual. During the gift-giving season, this exercise will transform the way you think about giving and taking in the relationship. This is the real revelation of this whole exercise. It’s amazing how much of the things our partners do for us that we take for granted. We stop saying thank you and instead start thinking that we are automatically entitled to those small acts of consideration that let us knows we are loved. Instead we focus on the big gestures and forget about the million small ones we receive from our partner every day. Voltaire said: “Appreciation is a wonderful thing: it makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.” A little appreciation goes a long way in a marriage. Acknowledge your partner by telling them how much you appreciate everything that they are doing today and every other day of your lives together.
#7 If all else fails GET A BABYSITTER and get away- even if it’s just for one night! Romantic gestures from your spouse always made you feel loved and special, and your marriage blossomed with the nurturing. But now neither of you have the time nor the energy. The nose-to-the-grindstone approach works well as you juggle work and home demands, but it shouldn’t be employed 24/7/365. Good mental health requires some restorative time as well. In the long term, if you push through your exhaustion with more and more productivity, your marriage and your positive outlook will suffer . . . the children will observe the difficulties, and they, in turn, will suffer as well. Therefore, it is in everyone’s best interest to give yourself the periodic downtime that you need.
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i think meditating together is a great idea- love this list for sure!
These are some great ideas! My husband and I like to go out to eat. Well, we did. Obviously now we can’t. So in the evenings we make sure the kids go upstairs so we get alone time to watch TV.
My favorite is do something from when you dated. I don’t know if I can remember back that far…lol..but it is definitely worth thinking about.
This seems like a great list to help rekindle some romance. Spending time together is always (or mostly) fun.
These are great tips to keep the love in a relationship. I will save this I think it will help a lot.
These are all wonderful tips. I’ve actually never heard of a sex bucket list. That’s a really interesting idea.
These are fun ideas — I like the idea of doing something you would do when you were dating. I will have to think of something that would bring back memories!
I love all these ideas. I need to check that adult activity book out. It sounds like a fun book for both the hubs and I. 🙂
These are all some great ideas. I love the idea of doing something you did while dating. That is always a good idea.
Loved your post. I think this quarantine has been good for us. We’ve been able to slow down and reconnect.
These are great tips, yes we need to keep marriages, I like these are during this difficult time, a should to each other is important.
I am sure the married friends I have would appreciate this. I will share this with them. Life can be tough especially when married and has kids.
This sounds like great advice for married folks. Hopefully, it helps keep a lot of couples together.
These are some really good ideas. I like number 3 making a love list. I never even thought about that. But hubby and I been married for 9 years now (this year will make 10 years) although we\’re married this long we still take dates with each other. Dating each other is still one of my favorite things to do together. We do weekly day-dates on Friday\’s (because kids are in school during the day hahah).
Great tips! Even though financial problems or hectic schedules could bring so much stress,couples should give an effort in maintaining a good and romantic marriage.
These are some wonderful tips! My husband and I try to cook new recipes together, on the weekends and that is something we both really enjoy!
I miss doing some of the things we used do when we were dating. We used to stay up all night playing games and just being goofy. Now, life is just a lot more stressful and we spend more time playing on our phones to decompress. We talk about playing games again from time to time, but we haven’t yet. I should bring it up again.