Whether you’re looking to celebrate an anniversary or just want to spend more time together, working on your relationship requires extra effort after you’ve had kids. After all, your children take up most of your time, which means you don’t have much time to spend together, and this can take a toll on your relationship. Instead of allowing this neglect to ruin your relationship, you simply need to get more creative with the way you celebrate your relationship. Here are some great ways you can celebrate after you’ve had kiddos.
1. Have a date in.
Trying to find time to get out and have a date can be tricky, especially if you’re crunched for babysitters or don’t have a ton of extra cash. In these instances, why not bring the date to you? Make it special by getting your kids involved. Have them make you dinner, or have them pretend to be the restaurant or movie theater you attend for your date. If you can’t do that, then why not consider having your indoor date after the kids go to bed? Maybe you can just play a board game together or just spend the night talking to one another instead of catching up on your TV shows. Spending a date night in is a great way to celebrate your relationship without worrying about your kids.
2. Take a vacation.
Sometimes your celebration involves getting far away from your children, so why not plan a romantic vacation for just the two of you? You don’t have to use this to travel somewhere exotic (but you can if that’s what you want). Even staying at a local hotel and enjoying the town around you without the kids allows you to go back to that couple you were before the kids came around. Plus, this allows you to actually take and enjoy a vacation and not spend the time worrying about where your kids ran off to, or how often they’ll complain about being bored, or just being downright exhausted. And the best thing is that you can sleep in if you want without worrying about a child waking you up at the crack of dawn.
3. Buy something.
Another great way to celebrate your relationship is to buy something that is significant to your relationship. For instance, if you were young when you got married and couldn’t truly afford a ring, maybe now is the time to look into something fancier. This allows you to celebrate your relationship by seeing just how far you’ve come and relishing on where exactly you can go. Plus, you don’t have to stick with jewelry. You can instead buy something that’s meaningful to you both, whether it has something to do with you personally, your home, your family, or whatever it may be that puts a smile on your face and makes you think of one another.
4. Make true date night a thing.
Once you have kids, your schedule gets a little crazy. This means you will rely on a calendar or schedule to keep you organized. However, when it comes to date night, this is usually something you tend to try and fit in when you can. Instead of making this a last-minute thing, start being more intentional about date night. For instance, pick a specific date every month and then put that date on your calendar. This way, you’ll know not to schedule any other plans that day and you’ll know instead that you need to find a babysitter. When you are intentional about your date night, you’ll be able to treat it like the special event it is instead of something you try to do when you can. Also, when you’re planning these date nights, be sure to have a plan in mind before you head out the door, otherwise you’ll end up cheating yourself out of a great opportunity to spend time with one another.
Your relationship is the most important thing in your marriage, and it requires you to work hard to spend the right time together and keep each other sane from the craziness of your life with kids. By using these tips, you’ll have an easier time being together and making each other just as happy as you were when you didn’t have kids.
