海角大神

It鈥檚 easy to fall back on the big moments to show your partner that you care.

You spring for a big gift on your anniversary.

You buy flowers and chocolates on Valentine鈥檚 Day.

You help the kids create something special on Mother鈥檚 Day or Father鈥檚 Day.

The rest of the time, though, can easily be filled with complacency. The demands of everyday life can be great, particularly in partnerships where both members are working full-time or one member has a highly demanding career. Add children on top of that and you鈥檙e brewing a recipe for eventual problems.

The best way to keep a partnership on track is to make it clear on a very regular basis that you love, respect, and value your partner. You don鈥檛 have to make a big show of it every day 鈥� that鈥檚 not the point. It鈥檚 the smaller things that really add up and provide the backbone of a loving relationship.

Need some ideas? Here are ten.

Tell your partner you really enjoyed and appreciated the meal they made.

If your partner comes home tired, tell them that you love them and appreciate the hard work they do and insist that they spend an evening relaxing.

Pick a flower or two on your way home from work and put them in a glass vase on the table.

When you鈥檙e just sitting there near your partner, hold your partner鈥檚 hand for a while.

Tell your partner that you love him or her every day.

Suggest an evening activity that you know your partner loves, even if it鈥檚 not something you鈥檙e thrilled about.

Write a short 鈥淚 love you鈥� note on a piece of paper and stick it in your partner鈥檚 wallet or purse.

Take care of a task that your partner usually handles and don鈥檛 mention it; if it comes up, just smile and give your partner a kiss.

If your partner needs to blow off steam, listen and don鈥檛 interrupt (unless you鈥檙e trying to understand), and don鈥檛 bury the complaints in unwanted advice.

Hug your partner as the first one of you leaves for work, and hug your partner when the last of you gets home from work.

These are such little steps. They take perhaps a moment and rarely cost anything. Most of the time, the biggest effort involved is simply thinking of them. Yet, when they鈥檙e done consistently, they become a big part of the foundation of a stable and long-lasting relationship, and a stable and long-lasting relationship improves.

This post is part of a yearlong series called 鈥�365 Ways to Live Cheap (Revisited),鈥� in which I鈥檓 revisiting the entries from my book 鈥�365 Ways to Live Cheap,鈥� which is available聽at Amazon聽and at bookstores everywhere.聽