Looking for essential marriage and relationship advice? Read on for the essential relationship strategies every couple should read.
THE BEST RELATIONSHIPS START IN THE BEDROOM
The bedroom can become a symbol of your relationship as a whole. Some of the biggest fights… and the best make-up moments take place in the bedroom. As unromantic as it sounds, the bedroom is first and foremost a good night’s sleep. You often want to go to sleep at different times or have different bedtime routines. Perhaps he likes to sit in bed watching game highlights until 1am, while she needs the full 8 hours of it, which means absolute silence and darkness by 11pm at the latest. Maybe she’s a light sleeper and he snores like a pig in heat. As mentioned, the key for both partners is to get a good night’s sleep…regardless. So she could wear visors and earplugs and he could watch the game with the TV off and using wireless headphones. Or he might look into anti-snoring solutions like breathing straps or a change in posture, or even surgical options.
HAVE JOINT AND SEPARATE BANK ACCOUNTS
Smart Money magazine and Redbook conducted a study that found that more than 70 percent of couples talk to their partner about money at least once a week. And yet, money remains one of the top five reasons couples argue. About 60% of couples maintain joint bank accounts, but I suggest you both have a joint bank account for key joint expenses like mortgage payments, utilities, phone bills, groceries, etc. And both should have separate accounts for personal expenses as well. If a partner earns double, he must put double in the joint account.
HAVE COMMON HOBBIES AND SEPARATE INTERESTS TOO
Do some things together and some things separately to keep your relationship fresh. Maybe you have something regular that you do together, like Thursday night or bowling night with another couple. But you also want to make sure you have quality time apart from each other, and that doesn’t mean that while he’s washing the car, she’s shopping for groceries. It means real, quality ‘me time’.
NEVER TAKE SHOT IN PUBLIC AMONG OTHERS
Just as you should never bad-mouth your boss in public, just agree to never, EVER put your partner down in front of anyone else. If he’s telling that lame joke for the 15th time, smile and quit.
GET OUT OF YOUR ROUTINE AND SURPRISE EACH OTHER FROM TIME TO TIME
The occasional break from routine can do wonders for a broken or stagnant relationship. For example, I know a guy who gave his girlfriend a “teenage tour” of their local town: they went to an arcade, continued ice skating, and ended the night drinking supermarket beer at their local park. It was a fun and fresh way to spend the night and they both laughed about it for weeks. A month later, she took him on an “old lady tour” of the city that included bingo, an art appreciation class and riverside iced tea.
Making a relationship work takes effort, commitment, a few nice surprises, patience, and a dash of humor.