Ferocious Flirting: Making Marriage Wonderful

A previous post, Romance and Children , talks about involving your children with the romantic gestures you show your sweetie. By involving your little helpers, they get to enjoy the experience, but they are also learning from your example and your wisdom. Today, let's take that a step further and teach the children to be more grateful. My sweetie does a lot and sacrifices a lot for me and the kids. Being a stay at home mom, she ends up doing a lot of thankless jobs. Why are they thankless? Because nobody bothers to thank her. Its not that they are not important, because they are. Its just that she does them and so nobody else notices. What's worse, the kids are often grumpy and disrespectful to my sweetheart. How can you teach the kids to be grateful and respectful? Make a game of it like is mentioned in the 25 Days of Thanksgiving . November is coming up quick so now is a good time to prepare. Another game would be to have the kids write down every nice thing that mo...

Did you see the moon last night? As it came up over the mountains, it was almost full and very bright. The wispy clouds combined with the light to give the evening an ethereal feel to it. And I almost missed it. My sweetheart came home and called me out into the yard. The kids were looking out the window to see what mom and dad were up to and I was a bit puzzled myself. My sweetie walked me out into the street and showed me the lovely moon and beautiful evening. We stood for a moment, admiring the scene and enjoying each others company. The air was just cool enough to make holding each other very pleasant. It was well worth a couple of minutes of time. Tonight, take a minute, just for the two of you. Hold hand, hug and enjoy.

A nice warm towel afterwards. I love this time of year with the warm days, cool evenings and crisp mornings. However, getting out of the shower is a bit of a shock, BRRRRR! Do something thoughtful for your sweetie, provide them with a nice warm towel. If you have never tried it, do so. Its luxurious.

In Season to Fall In Love I talked about the wonders of fall. We often speak of spring as the season of love and it truly is. However, fall is also a season of love. It is harvest time, the time to reap what we have sown. A time of plenty and thanksgiving . A time to prepare for winter. Sow thoughtfulness to reap romance. Sow thankfulness to reap joy. Sow kindness to reap peace.

Many of the TV screen shows and stories of fiction end with marriage: 'They lived happily ever after.' We have come to realize that the mere performance of a ceremony does not bring happiness and a successful marriage. Happiness does not come by pressing a button, as does the electric light; happiness is a state of mind and comes from within. It must be earned. It cannot be purchased with money; it cannot be taken for nothing. Some think of happiness as a glamorous life of ease, luxury, and constant thrills; but true marriage is based on a happiness which is more than that, one which comes from giving, serving, sharing, sacrificing, and selflessness. Spencer W. Kimball The honeymoon doesn't have to end, it just needs to adapt. By following the principles of giving, serving, sharing, sacrificing and selflessness, the feelings of love and joy can deepen over the years. Make the fire a bonfire rather than just smoldering embers. Just as a fire needs fuel to keep burning...

I have a difficult time recommending web-sites that deal with the topic of romance while still being family friendly. As you can imagine, most romance sites are not family friendly. Today, I have found a site I think can add to your marriage and your family. It is the Family Site at mormon.org. As you may or may not know, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (or Mormons) is a big supporter of families . For this reason, they have provided this website as a public service. It is just what it appears to be. There will not be any missionaries knocking on your door as a result of looking at this website. Feel free to look to take a look. A sample follows: Improve communication within your marriage Children need parents who are happy in their relationship. Good communication with your spouse contributes to a healthy family environment. Here are some things to consider: Keep problems private. When you need to discuss a serious concern with your spouse, do ...

My friend forwarded me an email making the rounds. The subject line was "The Good Wife's Guide" and it appears to be making the rounds on the internet. I liked it so much I included it on my Humor Page . Click for larger image It is supposed to be from a 1955 "Housekeeping Magazine" and I have not checked whether it is a fake or if it was real. Regardless, it is funny. My sweetie had a good laugh over it. While the none of the items on the list itself is not going to be taken very seriously, there is one grain of value that can be gleaned. It is the essence behind several of the suggestions. The thing we can apply is the notion of "preparing to greet your spouse". Think about it. My sweetie and I spend most of our time apart. Those first few moments of when we meet up in the evening seem to be most critical. If we greet each other warmly and with a smile, it sets a cheerful tone for the rest of the evening. If, contrariwise, we are grumpy an...

Yesterday, my daughter's soccer coach was out of town, so he asked me to fill in for him. I was happy to do so having coached her team for a couple of years previously. Being coach for a day reminded me of what a great opportunity coaching my child's team is to build a relationship with her. On top of that, its a great tool for keeping the fire going between me and my sweetie. When you coach a team, you get more involved in your child's life in a positive way. You don't even need to be a great coach, just put your heart into it and do your best. You get to spend time with your child and her friends. During the course of the season, you will meet many of the parents of your child's friends. Of course, your will develop an extra bond of love and shared experiences with your child. Besides, its great fun. Its not just the guys who can coach. There are a lot of gals who coach as well. Where does your sweetheart fit in? Its impossible to coach a team alone. It...

http://www.dineforamerica.org/ On October 5, 2005, restaurants across the country will band together in a "Dine for America" day, a national fundraising effort for the American Red Cross to help the survivors, victims, their families and other arising needs from the Hurricane Katrina and Rita disasters. Maybe take your sweetie out for dinner.  The website provides a list of participating restautants by state and city.  For example, the local Chili's is donating 100% of their profits today.

Recently, we were watching an episode of a show we like to watch together called Numb3rs. Its a television series about a math genius who helps his FBI brother solve tough cases by using math. I know, sounds boring, but it really is a fun show, really. During this last episode, the math genius finally worked up the nerve to ask out the girl he likes. They spent the first part of the date discuss mathematics but decide to talk about something else instead. At this point the conversation dries up because the have nothing else in common. The date ends up bombing due to a lack of anything to say to each other. Later he asks what he could have done differently. I was tempted to shout the answer at the TV. However, through years of experience, I have determined that the characters in television shows rarely listen, no matter how loud I yell. Instead, I'll quietly post my thoughts here. Dating is as important in marriage as it is in courtship. What to do on a date is very impor...