When your husband or wife has settled in to watch TV or answer emails is a terrible time for “Let’s do something together.” And any time is a terrible time for “We never do anything together.” Here are some alternatives you might want to try.
- I want to take you to dinner tonight. Does Chinese or Mexican sound better?
- It’s a beautiful sunny day out, and I’m headed down to walk along the river. If you’re free, it would be so much fun to share this walk with you.
- There’s a jazz trio at the place around the corner tonight. Feel like going out after dinner?
- After this show ends, can I talk you into watching the movie Our Idiot Brother together? It came today.
- Let’s put on some music and dance until the game starts.
- There’s no rain forecast for Saturday, and we have a choice of three outdoor festivals we can take the kids to, Medieval, strawberries, and foods of the world. You up for any of them?
- What was your favorite date from before we got married? Let’s relive it this Friday night. We have some really great times together, don’t we?
- I want to try something we have never done before. I narrowed it down to three. One is a hot air balloon chase at sunset. Another is watching a professional jai alai game. And the third is a massage class. I would love it if you could pick one that sounds worth trying.
- I challenge you to a game of Scrabble. When is a good time for it today?
- You look like it was a really tough day. Would you like a back rub?
The trick is to be specific, considerate, and enthused.
These are wonderful suggestions. I will try a few of them. In addition, they will help me come up with some of my own ideas.
I hope you will share some of them, Lilian. Hundreds of people read this blog every day and most are hungry for ways to get their own marriages on a better path. Let’s add to these ten!