Why do we celebrate Valentine’s Day? The exact reason we celebrate Valentine’s Day could be argued but many believe that St Valentine defied a Emperor Claudius II and preformed marriages in secret for young lovers. St Valentine was discovered and put to death for his crimes. Others suggest that the month of February has always been a month to celebrate romance with several different ideas of how to celebrate that romance.
This year, use this day to show your spouse or partner that you care about them. Here are 10 suggestions gathered from what others do to show their love for their spouse.
1: Show gratitude to your spouse for the things that they do for you. One woman suggested making a book (lots of ways to do this online now: shutterfly, chatbooks, snapfish, blurb and many more). Fill it with pictures that tell your spouse why you love them or of the two of you together and the things that matter to both of you.
2: Surprise your spouse with a weekend getaway, could even just be to a local hotel or bed and breakfast. Arrange for childcare if needed, and make this weekend all about your relationship and reconnecting with each other.
3: Go on a date! Take your spouse to their favorite restaurant. What a rare thing for the two of you to be able to spend the evening together with just the two of you, no kids to worry about spilling on you or being too noisy.
4: Show up to work with lunch and maybe some flowers. Perhaps take your lunch for a rendezvous picnic to a favorite spot for the two of you. If it’s cold outside pack extra clothes, a warm blanket, and some hot cocoa.
5: After your spouse goes to bed, put sticky notes up either in their car or on the fridge listing all the reasons that you love them. One gentleman said, he covered the mirror in their bathroom with sticky notes so you couldn’t even see any part of the mirror. His wife loved it so much she put a little mirror to the side of it so she could get ready without disturbing the sticky notes.
6: Celebrate in the morning instead of at night – make a special breakfast, perhaps heart shaped pancakes, take the morning off of work, arrange for childcare if necessary and spend the morning together over breakfast in bed.
7: Grab some takeout (Papa Murphey’s Take ‘N Bake pizza does a heart shaped pizza for all you pizza lovers out there), have a candlelight picnic with just the two of you or your whole family in the living room. Over dinner, perhaps just like you might do at Thanksgiving, share the things about each other that you are grateful for.
8: Back rubs and foot massages are a great way to show the physical affection to your partner and helps set the mood for a romantic evening. After the rub downs, try something new and have a romantic photo session. Remember to delete them if you don’t want them discovered by little eyes.
9: Sending a sexy text message, email or even a phone call is a great way to get your partner excited to come home. Be waiting at home in a sexy pair of lingerie for your partner, added touches of candles and rose petals never hurt. It really shows you went the extra mile to make it special.
10: Do something that you love together – go for walk, a hike, biking, a long drive, grab a cup of coffee like you used to. Doing things together without distraction of work, kids, technology is something many couples don’t get enough of. Take extra time during the Valentine’s Season to celebrate what brought you together in the first place.
Remember, we should do these things often throughout the year, not just on one designated day and think that’s enough for the whole year. Of course, there are many other ways that you can show that you love and appreciate your spouse. Feel free to comment on what you like to do on Valentine’s Day with your spouse or partner.