• Place a standing order with a local florist. Give him your anniversary date, her birth date, and instruct him to send flowers automatically on those dates. Also on Valentine’s Day, and (if it’s appropriate) on Mother’s Day, and – just to be safe – have him send a bouquet once a month. Give the florist your charge card number and have him bill you automatically. This technique is for the forever-forgetful and the terminally unorganized! I know that the true romantics out there will be aghast at this suggestion, but hey sometimes the end justifies the means.
• Don’t just walk into the house tonight the way you always do. Pause on the porch; ring the doorbell; and greet her with one red rose and a bottle of champagne.
• Spend an entire afternoon together taking instant pictures of each other with a digital camera. One couple simply documented their experience of a dinner date. Another couple spent the afternoon in bed. One couple focused on close-ups, and another couple focused on artistic settings.
• Get up early on a weekday and go out for breakfast with your love. It’s a great way to start the day in a totally different way.
• Sometimes you really need to escape from the kids. Time alone together is required in order to build intimacy.
• Hang a “Do No Disturb” sign on your bedroom door when you want a little privacy. Enforce this strictly!
• Declare every Wednesday to be Mom’s and Dad’s date night. Just go off by yourselves for a couple of hours. Maybe just take a walk or go out for coffee. It makes a great, rejuvenating break in the middle of the week.
  

Copyright Gregory J.P. Godek, Sourcebooks, 2008