The thing is, I married an engineer. A nice, clever, exceedingly reliable engineer type chap. Nothing shocking there, I know. We pootled along quite nicely in the early stages, he even bought me 21 red roses for my 21st birthday; I know - romance truly displayed by engineer-brained man!
Everyone knows though, that relationships don't stay the same. We've been together over a decade now; got married, had two children, bought a family house, changed jobs etc etc. Now, life is different, and romance isn't top of either of our agendas. However - and herein lies the rub - it's much nearer the top of my agenda than it is on his. So - what to do next... Is there a way to keep us both happy?
There's a well known book called 'The Five Love Languages' by Gary Chapman. See http://www.5lovelanguages.com/
It looks at how different people feel loved, by looking at what speaks to them:
- affirming words
- physical touch
- thoughtful gifts
- quality time
- acts of service
A wise man once told me that in order to remain 'in love' with your spouse, you have to keep doing the things you did when you were first together. Feelings are fickle beasts, and will follow on if we perservere with loving our partner. So - what did we do?? Well, one thing I know Paul really likes is going for long walks in the countryside - preferably with several maps etc... So last week when his parents had the boys for us, that's what we did. Quality time - check, affirming words - check, acts of service - check (if you count him helping me over a wobbly stile!)
So I'd like to know (with family friendly content - you know what I mean...) what things your other half has done for you that have helped you feel loved? How do you keep the romance in your relationship? It's over to you...
