We’ve been married now for almost 12 years and together for almost 17 years! Our relationship has changed a lot over the years and I’d be lying if I said it had all been plain sailing but I think we’re happier now than we’ve ever been.
We’ve learned that we need to remember that we’re not just parents, we’re also husband and wife and if we want to stay happily married we need to spend quality time together as a couple and not just as a family.
1. We have two date nights a week where from 7 0 clock onwards all mobiles, laptops and computers are completely banned. We usually watch a film or catch up on a few Sky+ shows before turning the TV off completely and talking. We sometimes play cards and we’ve recently bought some games for the xBox that we used to play together when we first got together. It doesn’t really matter what you do together, it’s just good to get some uninterrupted time together to catch up and have fun.
2. You don’t have to make a big grand gestures to let your partner know that you love them. In the past Mr Frugal has written a love note in the greasy fat of the burgers we had for tea (Yuck I know but the thought was there), he always saves me his last Rolo and in our old (much colder house) he used to get in to bed and lie on my side to warm it up for me before I got in on a night. I often write little messages on his computer using Paint and save it to his desktop background so he reads it when he turns his computer on. It’s the little silly things that we do to show our love to each other that means more than flowers and chocolates to me.
3. Every now and again we have a cinema night at home where we buy popcorn and a big bag of Revels and watch a film together. Usually we watch a family movie first with the kids before sending them to bed and putting one of our films on.
4. We haven’t got around to actually doing this one yet but we’re planning a bit of a Come Dine with Me with a few of our friends. One couple’s going to bring the desert, one will supply that main meal and another couple will be in charge of the desert. Lots of fun and you’ll have a lovely meal with lovely friends that won’t break the bank.
5. Write a list of things you want to do together, a bit like a bucket list and then work your way through the list together. We wrote our list a few years back (I bought a new notebook for the occasion) and included lots of smaller, very achievable things that we wanted to do together like going to a football match, going to the midnight showing of a film at the cinema and going to a music concert together (still not done as we don’t like the same types of music).
How do you make sure that you have ‘couple’ time?
