Spending
years loving someone often reveals hidden quirks that help keep a relationship
alive.
Dissecting
your relationship (rather than your partner) to find these hidden gems can be
quite a fun exercise. Here are some of the mundane, quirky, and loving habits
that keep my husband and I close.
Keeping
it hot in the kitchen.
While
waiting for our pasta to boil, you can usually find us making out or even
fondling each other while the kids aren’t looking. I don’t know what it
is about the kitchen, but cooking together always brings out our sexy.
Text
you in the morning, text you in the evening, text you at suppertime.
Texting
small messages like “I love you” or “thinking about you” throughout the day has
become a routine that never gets old. My husband once described my texts as
“small Christmas presents”. And who doesn’t love the gift of words?
Cuddling
on the couch.
We
have a ridiculously large couch that is better suited for a family of nine
rather than our small family of four. Still, on nights when we aren’t quite
ready for bed, my husband and I jam ourselves into the corner, with legs
crisscrossed on top of each other, and affectionately watch television together.
Holding
hands at dinner.
When
we go out for a bite to eat, we unconsciously hold hands. We’ve done this from
our first date and this endearing trend has yet to die.
Reading.
Before
bed, we snuggle up to each other and read together. It’s not sexy. It’s
just love.
Gaming
at night.
After
the kids are in bed, we use nighttime as our playtime. When we’re finished
reading, we turn down the lights and begin our oddball version of fun. You can
catch us competing in games like: who can slap the other’s bare ass the most,
who can whisper the oddest noises into each other’s ears, or who will win the
nipple tweaking contest.
Sex.
Sex
might not actually qualify as an item on this list of habits because, for us,
it is not a scheduled ritual, but rather a spontaneous activity that is always
on the table. Rather than making sex a task on our to-do list, unplanned sex
keeps us intrigued and excited.
In
some cases, the day to day course of a marriage can fall into dull routines.
However, taking a few moments to appreciate the habits that form out of love
can continue to boost an already strong foundation.
Based
on this list, it seems as though our habitual marital activities are centered
on touching, flirting or simply having fun together. We’ve found that we don’t
need grand gestures to show that we still love each other.
Small
daily presents are a constant reminder of how great we are…together.
*This piece was published on The Good Men Project on August 30, 2016.
