Make the Most of Your Time Together
Soul Mates
Time is more precious than gold. If we treat our time together as such, our relationship will flourish.
It's ideal to be able to spend many hours every week with your spouse. However, there are always weeks when that seems impossible. You might be working late or going to sleep early after being up all night with a sick child. We all have obligations outside our relationship.
Marriage Q & A's
Q: How can I make more time for my spouse when I am swamped with work and responsibilities around the house?
A: Sometimes it's worthwhile to spend money to buy time. If you are having trouble scheduling time to be with your spouse, you might consider hiring someone to do housecleaning, grocery shopping, or gardening.
When you don't have as much time to spend with one another as you would like, there are ways to maximize your time together:
- Keep the TV set off in the evenings. You are much more likely to talk with each other when there are no distractions.
- Take a walk together in the evenings. Even if you are too tired to talk, it will help you feel closer to each other.
- Spend 10 minutes every evening talking about each other's day. Even if you don't have a chance to see each other that much, you will at least know what the other person has been doing.
- Eat breakfast together in the morning. Even if you are rushed and only have 10 minutes, sitting together at the table will make you feel like you are starting your day as a team.
- Talk with each other once each day on the telephone. A five-minute conversation helps couples connect and will be time well spent.
Doing these small things won't take much time, but each one of them will help you feel closer to each other. When you don't have a lot of extra time, you need to make the most of the time that you do have.
Excerpted from The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Perfect Marriage © 2001 by Hilary Rich and Helaina Laks Kravitz, M.D. All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. Used by arrangement with Alpha Books, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
To order this book visit the Idiot's Guide web site or call 1-800-253-6476.
