WWYD: Romantic Ideas for a Two-Income Household
This week’s WWYD is a short one, but a goodie. I’m hoping we can generate ideas that are helpful for everyone.
There are days my job is so stressful, I’m completely depleted by the time I get home. Some days at work are so dull that my brain is a bowl of porridge by 5:00 p.m. Zac has ups and downs at the lab too. We’re a two-income household with lots of responsibilities in and out of work. How do couples like us keep the romance alive?
I poked around the internet and found a nice guide to surviving a two-career partnership. Most of the ideas presented are about maintaining good communication, which Zac and I do already.
Another site I found discussed fun dates ideas to loosen up.
But I guess what I’m looking for is truly romantic ideas that aren’t so ridiculously expensive. Stuff like: coming home to a surprise bouquet of flowers, or having an intimate, relaxed dinner. See where I’m going- romance doesn’t come cheap.
So to keep the romance alive when both your time and money are on a budget, what would you do?
With the travel schedule that accompanies my chosen career (lawyer/governmental consultant/project manager), I find that I am gone two to three days a week with project meetings, public hearings and general client-feel-good meetings. Accordingly, no matter where I travel or how many times I return, it the trip requires an overnight stay, I obtain a simple 50 cent postcard representative of my destination location and mail it back to my partner with a loving note or romantic thought for when I return. Even better is when I beat the postcard back home and I am there to see my partner read the endearing note. It is a small price to pay (.50 for the card and .41 for the stamp) with a big and reassuring impact on our relationship.
When I come home with mush-brain, I don’t really want to leave the house.
My best idea is to go to bed early and cuddle and smooth each other’s hair and give each other back rubs simultaneously. You can always get up later for dinner.
I also like watching a video while sitting next to each other on the couch.
I also like reading aloud to each other.
Heck, just talking about each other’s day is great, but then my partner is a good story teller!
I like to surprise my gal after a long day with a drawn bubble bath when she gets home. Especially if she’s had a rough day. I line the tub with candles and put on some music and close the door and let her have a sanctuary. It doesn’t cost hardly anything at all, but the thought is what counts. We also bought a lotion that we like the scent to use to give eachother massages.
When she wants to show me that she cares, she paints my toenails, which is something she’s better at, and I love that she’s simply showing me that she cares that I care how my feet look.
Making dinner and taking it to a new environment, such as a park is a nice change in environment. Also you can try things like going to a drive in movie that are different. Just a change of scenery is romantic.
I think the biggest objective isn’t to spend money on extravagant gifts or vacations, but just showing that you care enough to think about something they would enjoy and then making it happen for them. It doesn’t really need to be that planned either…just having my favorite drink ready on the table for me when come home, or stopping what I’m doing at home to slow dance with her to a song on the radio….they take no time at all to plan or do.
PS–I love this post…I’m always looking for new ideas 😀
My favorite dates with my husband were those where he would pick me up for lunch and take me to the park. We’d spread an old quilt out on the ground in a shady, secluded area, chow down on some Chick-Fil-A, and then lay down and rest while talking. (Sometimes there was some kissing too!)
Of course, you may not be able to schedule lunch times together, but there’s nothing stopping you for meeting up at the park for an after-work or weekend picnic.