Confession time. Ladies, after almost ten years of marriage, I have hit a slump. I no longer remember the “little” anniversary’s…you know…the day we first rekindled our old love affair from the 6th grade, or the night of our first date, or even the moment he proposed. I have even stopped buying Valentine’s Day cards. I know, shameful! And ladies, if I were honest, it’s because I have become comfortable and lazy in our marriage. This is not good. It’s not acceptable. Because comfortable and lazy is the breeding ground for taking him, our marriage, and the love we share for granted. It’s the start of letting the little things (and even the big things) that keep a marriage alive, grow cold and dead. And so to fix this, I have decided to try and “wow” my man at least once a month and I couldn’t help but want to share my ideas with you. Because maybe you have also hit a slump. Or are in need of something new and fresh to do. Whatever the case, I hope you take the time and energy to keep the romance alive and your marriage as vibrant as the day you said I Do.
So without further ado, here they are…
1. Surprise him with a “just because” gift
I have learned over the years that a gift given as a surprise rather than expected, is better. For instance, if I call my husband from the grocery store and ask if he needs me to grab him anything, he will say yes and will be grateful I thought of him. But if I don’t call him and then surprise him later at work or after dinner with his favorite donuts, yogurt, or pie, I am all of a sudden the greatest wife in the world!. So ladies, surprise the men in your life with a “just because” gift. The possibilities are endless from something as cheap as a bag of his favorite candy to as expensive as an upgrade to his favorite sports channels.
2. Fall in love with his hobby
Well, maybe not forever, but you can at least do it for a day, right? The next time he mentions you tagging along when he goes fishing or wants you to sit down with him to watch a football game, don’t decline. Instead, just go with it! Showing genuine interest and enthusiasm in a hobby he loves, will not only strengthen your marriage, but will also make him feel like a million bucks! And who knows? You might just get a shopping trip in exchange.
3. Play Jenga
Why Jenga and not any other game? Because in Jenga, you can take the Jenga logs and write simple messages for your husband to read as you play. Remind him of your first date and how much you fell in love with him. Tell him thank you for helping around the house. Compliment his eyes. And if you want to give him the ultimate surprise, you can always write on a few logs, “take off one item of clothing.” The possibilities are endless and it’s a game he will most likely never forget. (And more than likely want to play every night.)
4. Write a sexy love note
You probably expected this idea, right? It’s a classic. But how about you change things up. Grab a red ink pen (meow) and write a love note letting him know how much you can’t wait to see him after work. Once you have done this (and signed it with a kiss), mail it to his work. Can’t do that? Then go ahead and place it inside of a balloon that is blown up and write “Pop Me” on it for him to find first thing in the morning. Or tuck it inside of his pants pocket before he gets dressed for work. I guarantee your note will have him blowing through every stop sign to get home to you.
9. Do him a favor
I am the worst at doing “extra” favors for my husband. I know, shame on me. And maybe you too? If so, do something unexpected for him, something little, that will make a huge impact in his day. For instance, slip out of bed a little early in the morning and start the vehicle and turn on the heat if it’s a bit nippy. Or brew his pot of coffee if he is the one to usually do it. If getting out of bed early is not your thing (it’s not mine), maybe complete a task around the house that is normally his job. I have always been told it’s the little things that count, so pick something little and wow him with it.
10. Cook his favorite meal
We all know food is one of the fastest ways to a man’s heart, so why not surprise him with his favorite meal or dessert? But don’t just stop there! Go above and beyond by serving it to him in bed, or in his favorite recliner, or wherever he calls his happy place so that he can relax while watching the latest sports news.
11. Initiate in bed
Does this one even need explaining? I don’t think so. And I am glad because I’m already blushing.
12. Text him
Finally, here’s one you can do right now–even if he’s home! Text him about anything–song lyrics that will remind him of your first date, memories of the fun times you’ve had on recent vacations, perhaps what you’re wearing…Men love to know when we are thinking of them and that we want them. I may be speaking for myself, but it’s often easier for wives to say, “I love you” than it is for them to say, “I want you.” But we must never forget that our men want to hear both. And they want to hear it often. So text him now, again in an hour, and one more time before he comes home from work.
Ladies, don’t forget to bookmark this post or print it out!
You will want to keep it handy so that you will always have a way to make your husband feel special.
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Thanks for sharing! I am way guilty of getting lazy in my relationship, and we’re only been married half as long as you guys. I blame on lots of things — fertility treatments, miscarriage, blah, blah, blah — but really there is no excuse! A text or a note takes 5 seconds to write.
I have become so lazy myself :/ But I’m going to try and do better and even take a few of my tips and try them out over the next several weeks 🙂
Your jenga idea is great!!! We have the life size jenga, maybe we should do it on that, haha 😉 Great ideas friend. I am bad at all of these so have a lot of work to do!
PS what happened to the middle ideas? I need all the ones I can get!
Even if we’re kinda lazy most of the year about these things, the one thing I will say that we take great care to do is celebrate both the anniversary of the day we met, and the anniversary of our wedding. We do text (sometimes frequently) throughout the day usually. Some of these other things are cute, and good reminders!
These are great ideas. I was pretty happy reading this because I often do the “just because” gift and hobby wise well I learnt about cars, computers, online gaming and most recently I began watching anime with him – must be love right hahaha.
He does like playing Jenga, but he’s not someone that is into overly romantic things. He is really happy when I do a big clean or a job that we have both been putting off and finds that romantic. I’m good on the favours thing, I am usually his coffee maker and always leave out his stuff for breakfast in the morning.
He loves my cooking, but often isn’t home for it because he gets home late so sometimes I will have a late dinner with him and cook one of his favourites. Or wait until he is just about home and order pizza and have a cold bottle of white wine and one of his favourite movies ready to go.
11. Totally agree. Stop blushing 🙂 It makes them feel good about themselves.
12. Not so good on this, but he is terrible too. We prefer actual phone calls. Quick couple of minutes. I will do things like if I make surprise brownies I will arrange them prettily on a plate with a note asking when he is coming home and send him the picture 🙂