Expressing Love
I rubbed my chin in amusement as the television as showed Mr. Perfect draping a diamond necklace around the swan neck of Mrs. Perfect – supposedly to declare his inexpressible love.
The love gifts from my beloved run a lot cheaper-always have always will, on a teacher’s salary. But I still give him my best Mona Lisa smile when I find a bouquet on the breakfast table-knowing he made a special early morning run to the grocery store to avail of a flower sale. I feel loved after a long day of housework when he leaves a note on the washing machine: “Thanks for taking a load off our minds and off our dirty bodies.”
The love gifts from my beloved run a lot cheaper-always have always will, on a teacher’s salary. But I still give him my best Mona Lisa smile when I find a bouquet on the breakfast table-knowing he made a special early morning run to the grocery store to avail of a flower sale. I feel loved after a long day of housework when he leaves a note on the washing machine: “Thanks for taking a load off our minds and off our dirty bodies.”
Even though advertising copywriters tells us otherwise, we don’t have to mortgage our futures for jewelry, charter to jet to a secluded beach, or book a room at a posh hotel to live out the biblical command to love and respect a spouse. Simple notes and activities can help keep the sizzle in romance and the warmth in expressions of love.
- Outwit Hallmark. Give your spouse a homemade love card. Make it on the computer or cut out magazines pictures for the artwork. Extra points: Write an original poem. Unless you’re an English professional, don’t worry about the meter and the rhyme. At a loss words? Look up “love” in a quote book.
- Note Your Affection. Dot the house with sticky notes expressing your appreciation for each other. Put them in odd places: the baby’s diaper stack (“I love you from the bottom of my heart”), by the toothpaste (“Thinking of you makes me smile”), or the sock drawer (“I’m glad you’re my mate”).
- Send Love for Lunch. Decorate a spouse’s lunch sack or write a sweet note on the paper napkin. Cut a heart out of the orange rind. Use a marking pen to apply your love message to a banana.
- Come Up With Codes. One couple knows that “1-4-3,” whether written or spoken, means “I love you.” (The number of letters in each word.)
- Make It A Game. A husband came home to a love message spelled out on a Scrabble board on the living room floor. Warning: Be sure to pick it up before the kids awaken!
- Leave Love Reminders. Let absence make the heart grow fonder. I know a wife who, before leaving for a weekend conference, created a “dummy” for their bed by stuffing her silky black nigh tie with her husband ‘s underwear and adding a note: “Can’t wait to come home!” A husband leaves his wife notes to open each morning while he’s away.
- Dim the Lights. Gather several small candles in a tray, light them, add some mugs of his or her favorite juice, and lead your spouse to a special cuddle-and-talk place.
- Mark “monthiversaries.” Grab the calendar and, each month, draw a big red heart around the day of the month you were married. Celebrate simply, with a moonlight walk or romantic music on the stereo instead of TV news as dinner background.
- Count Up Your Love. Eighth anniversary? Give your spouse something with eight in it – and something more original than eight roses. She might get just a excited over a note kids. He might appreciate eight tokens for the automatic car wash.
- Bag the Nag. Do something your spouse has repeatedly asked you to do and you haven’t done – such as clean up the workbench or deep-clean your clothes closet. Make a big deal of this being your “love job” – and be sure to do it cheerfully.
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