At times, we are so used to being with our partner and sharing daily routines, that it is easy to forget the reason for which we chose to be with that person in the first place. Daily obligations like grocery shopping, taking care of the children, doing the laundry or cleaning house, take up a lot of time and energy. The danger of routine and exhaustion is that it may put out the flame that brought you together. So, don’t take your partner for granted.   

Small details that count

You may be aware of the fact that you have little time to be together and rekindle the romance you had early on in your relationship. To compensate for this, you may be buying gifts on special dates, such as anniversaries or taking your partner out on special occasions. But if these are few and far between, you may need to give your partner more reminders of why you are together.  

Small details can make a big difference in a monotonous relationship. Besides brightening the other person’s day, you will create an atmosphere conducive to this kind of exchange and you will also have very positive results. Following are some tips:

• The power of Post-its: leave love notes, thank-you notes or even jokes on the fridge, on the night-stand or on the bathroom mirror. You will at least make him or her smile.

• Love notes. Put a love note in his brown bag lunch, and include a treat. He will be thinking of you while enjoying his lunch.

• Prepare a special lunch for him or her to take to work. Even if you don’t have time to do it daily, try to include – as a surprise – his favorite dish in his lunchbox.  You will brighten his day.

• Do your partner’s chores one day and make him a coffee or tea to spend some time together. Do the laundry, iron the clothes, rake the leaves in the backyard or do any other chore that is usually your partner’s responsibility.  

• Prepare a surprise weekend. You don’t necessarily have to go anywhere. If you have kids, a weekend alone at home could be as relaxing as a mini-vacation.  

• Buy her an inexpensive token of love that will show you are thinking of her. It could be a card, a pendant or any other little something.

• Give your partner the day off. That would be a day on which your partner may decide what he or she wants to do, and you should follow along. Besides cheering him or her up, that will help you find out what he/she really enjoys doing. 

Recovering the fun times

These are some suggestions, but as you know your partner better, you may come up with many more. The objective is to reestablish the connection, the fun and partnership between you: what you had when you met. Try this method out for a couple of weeks at least and you’ll see how there are certain things that do start to change.