Keep your marriage strong and vibrant, remain each other’s best friends. After your kids are grown and out of the house it will just be the two of you, and you don’t want to be living with a stranger.

What are some ways to do that?

*Keep having dates — if you don’t have a lot of time, even once a month works. And they don’t need to be long or expensive. Since we don’t eat out much we make sure and have a mini-date every Sunday morning at Caribou Coffee

*Communicate — ask each other about their day. Don’t assume how someone’s day went, aske them. You can share in their joy, or comfort them if it was a downer kind of day.

*Have fun — laugh and enjoy, even if silly little things. Laughing is one of THE best stress relievers!

*Compliment — remember how good it felt when you were dating to hear even the littlest compliment on your hair, or clothing? Well, I’m pretty sure you would still feel good to hear things like this, and so would your spouse.

*Little favors — for me, it is sometimes the act of a little favor that really makes me feel good. Now don’t laugh, but emptying the dishwasher, some cleaning, changing the bedding…all save me time and are really appreciated when I’ve not even asked for help.

*Intimacy — we won’t get too detailed here, as I’m sure you know what I mean

*Renew your vows — we did this for our 10th Wedding Anniversary, and our three children were our attendants. We are planning on doing it again for our 25th in a few years.

This is only a rough draft of things we have done. And there are many households where there is a single parent, or partners. We would love to hear everyone’s ideas on what works for you.