Six Ways to Be Romantic With Your Partner

In honor of Valentine’s Day, I’ve come up with some easy ways you can up the romance factor in your marriage. (But these are good ideas all year long!) I’m using “husband” throughout, but obviously these tips work for any romantic relationship!

1. Write him a love letter.

Remind him of all the reasons you love and respect him. Put the letter in his work bag or stick it on his dashboard. If he’s not the mushy type, try for a quirky card that speaks his love language. Etsy and Paper Source have some great ones.

2. Kiss him more.

Moms with children at home always have a thousand things on the brain and kissing their husbands is usually NOT one of them. (Especially if you’ve recently had a baby—I get it, you probably aren’t craving any more closeness with another human being!) But every once in a while, try to stop and kiss your husband. Whether it’s a little peck on the cheek as you pass each other doing chores, or pulling him into the closet for a mini make-out sessions while the kids play, he will love you for it.

3. Surprise him with the unexpected.

Some ideas:

• If he’s a night owl, and you are usually asleep by 9:30pm, drink some caffeine and will yourself to stay up late with him to watch Netflix or cook a late-night dinner together.
• Get a sitter on a Saturday and have a day date doing something he would love. A tour/tasting of a local craft brewery would be fun (Four Corners in Trinity Groves is a good spot. Check out this round up for lots more ideas).
• Spend the day at a fancy hotel. Oftentimes, if you book a spa treatment you can hang out at their pool all day!
• Maybe more up his alley: Get tickets to a basketball or hockey game!

4. Greet him like he’s the king of his castle.

When he gets home one evening, stop whatever you are doing—and have your children stop their video games or homework—and everyone run to the door and give him a giant hug. Even if you’ve been working all day too, this is a sweet and easy way you can show him how excited you are to have him home. (My girls pretty much do this every night, and I see what joy it brings my husband!)

5. Get him A FUN gift.

Skip the boring presents. As a gift blogger I can tell you what’s really popular with men right now: funky socks and Tommy Johns or other moisture-wicking underwear. Guys love Yeti Ramblers because they keep ice frozen all day. For facial care, Jack Black is a great brand to go with. And tickets to his favorite band or sporting are always a sure bet.

6. Oh la la lingerie.

I think 90% of women hate lingerie. For a variety of reasons. But whoa does it make your husband happy. I challenged myself in a recent post on my own blog to find some tasteful intimates that women really want to wear. And what I found was that there are some really pretty things out there! Even if you just switch out the Old Navy pajama pants from college for a pretty romper or nightgown, that could work wonders for the romance factor (and honestly, you will probably feel better about yourself!). Shoot him a text of what’s inside your shopping bag, and chances are he’ll be home earlier than usual that night!

One of the best pieces of marital advice I received was that marriage is 100/100 (as opposed to 50/50). True, selfless love means that you love 100% without expecting anything in return. I get that that’s hard to do. But my instincts and experiences tell me that if you put out the effort to be more romantic and thoughtful, he might just do the same.

Just try and see!

Top Photo: Kristina Litvjak

This post was originally published on February 8, 2016.