Normally my Family Day articles are about spending time with your kids, but today we’ll talk about another important aspect of families: couples. If you’ve got a significant other, I highly recommend you keep the spark of your relationship alive and find ways to show you appreciate each other, every week and every day, if possible.

Look for little, inexpensive ways to be romantic, and it will pay off for your relationship in innumerable ways.

Why inexpensive? Well, you could rent a limo and take your love to a snooty French restaurant, or whisk him or her off to a trip to the snow-capped Alps, or rent a stadium and have the Three Tenors sing love songs for you while the New York Philharmonic plays in the background. I don’t know about you, but I can’t afford to do that kind of stuff more than a few times a month. The rest of the time, I have to resort to cheaposity.

Before we get into the list, let’s look at a few notes on how to use the list:

Weekly dates. I recommend you have a date at least once a week with your partner. It doesn’t have to be an expensive one, but at least find some way to spend a couple hours time together. If you’ve got kids, like I do, find a babysitter.
Communicate. Romantic gestures don’t take the place of real communication. Take time to talk about your goals, your dreams, your plans for the future, your current lives, things you’re happy about, things you love about the other person, things you’d like to work on, things you’re grateful for.
Inspiration. This list contains a lot of obvious stuff - you could probably come up with twice as many good ideas yourself. But the list doesn’t aim for originality - it aims to be an inspiration. Pick and choose some good ideas, or use it to spark some of your own. Sometimes we just need a little reminder.
Forget Valentines. Boycott Valentine’s Day, as it makes people think they should be romantic on special occasions. Instead, pick one of these ideas and do it any day of the week - no need for a special occasion.
OK, enough talk. Let’s look at some ways to be romantic without breaking your budget (note to my mom: don’t read this, as there are a couple of sexy-time things later on):

Write a poem.
Cook a romantic dinner.
Give a full-body massage.
Pack a sunset picnic.
Pick wildflowers on the way home.
Burn a CD with love songs.
Give dark chocolates.
Read poetry together.
Prepare strawberries with fondue chocolate.
Snuggle together on a rainy day.
Leave little love notes everywhere.
Send a love email every day.
Take a moonlit walk on the beach.
Snuggle together while watching romantic movies (Casablanca, Audrey Hepburn are my favs).
Get good wine, watch shooting stars.
Take a bath together (use bubbles!).
Bring home good coffee or a decadent sweet.
Take a walk down memory lane - visit some of the special places from your early days of dating.
Make warm chocolate cake for dessert.
Make a scrapbook with photos, mementos, and little notes from you lives together.
Kiss in the rain.
Ride a ferris wheel.
Sneak away from a party and make out.
Bring home great take-out, and light some candles.
Fix something or fix up the house just to make your partner happy.
Slow dance to romantic music.
Take a nap together.
Kiss slowly, touching his or her back and neck and nape - slowly.
Make a list of everything you love about him or her.
Write a love letter.
Clip or email things that make you think of him or her, every day.
Go to a movie, ignore the movie, and make out like teen-agers.
Groom yourself, and try to look good for your partner.
Take some quiet time and talk about your day.
Write little notes, one for each way he or she drives you crazy.
Feed each other grapes.
Recreate your partner’s favorite romantic movie scene.
Pretend you’re going on a first date - show up at the door with flowers, all dressed up, with your car washed and cleaned, looking spiffy. Recreate the first time.
Create a little box with a bunch of your partner’s favorite things inside.
Paint each other with flavored body paint. Be creative!
Try some sexy role-playing. Get dressed up, be daring, have fun.
Give a little token to your partner to wear, and say it’s to remind him or her all day that you love them.
Sing a favorite song to him or her. Only do this if you can sing fairly well.
Have dinner on the roof, with some candles. This doesn’t work if your roof slopes sharply.
Hold hands, and walk somewhere with lots of pretty lights.
Say I love you. In a different way, every day.
Blindfold your partner. Use a feather. Slowly.
Declare your love, very publicly.
Fruit or berries and freshly made whipped cream.
Play Sade. Do what comes naturally. Slowly.

通常我的家庭日都是與孩子一起度過，但今天我要談的是家庭成員中的另一個重要方面：夫妻關系。 如果你已經有了心上人，那麼我極力推薦你要保護好你們的愛情火種永不熄滅，如果有可能的話，每周甚至每天都找機會來表達對對方的珍視。

找一些小的，消費又不高的事情來營造浪漫，你們的關系會在這一次又一次的小事當中收到意想不到的效果。

為什么要消費不高呢？ 厄， 你可以租一輛豪華轎車，帶著你的愛人去頂級法國餐館，或者飛去白雪覆蓋的阿爾卑斯山脈，再或者租一個體育場，以紐約音樂廳為背景，邀請“三高”為你們歌詠愛的樂章。我不了解你，但我無法負擔這種形式的消費一個月以上。所以余下的日子，我還是要回歸簡樸的生活方式中去。

 在我們進入正題之前，先來看看如何運用這張清單的注意事項：

1.       一周的約會。 我建議你每周至少安排一次和你的愛人獨處的時間。 這并不需要太多消費，只是找些消遣來和你的愛人共同度過。如果是有孩子的人，去請個保姆吧。

2.       交流。 浪漫是手勢不能替代言語的交流。 找點時間談談你們共同的目標，共同的理想，以及未來的打算，你們現在的狀況，你開心的事，你對對方關愛的事，你喜歡做的事和你要感激的事。

3.       鼓勵。 這張清單上列了很多顯而易見的東西——你自己可能會想出很多類似的事。 但清單上的目標不是為了搞創意——而是給人以啟迪。 挑一些好的想法，或者用它去激發自己的靈感。 有的時候我們只是需要一點點提示。

4.       忘記情人節。 情人節只會讓人們覺得浪漫只是在特殊的場合才要到的。相反，挑一個好的想法并在一周里的任何一天都可以做——不是只在特殊的日子哦。

 好了，說的差不多了。讓我們看看這些方法既可以浪漫又不會超出你的預算（通知我的媽媽： 不要讀這個，因為等一下是夫妻的特別時間）：

1.       寫一首詩。

2.       準備一頓燭光晚餐。

3.       發一張裸照的彩信。

4.       進行一次野餐。

5.       在回家的路上才幾朵野花兒。

6.       灌制一張全是情歌的CD。

7.       送黑巧克力。

8.       一起讀詩。

9.       準備一份芝士巧克力草莓蛋糕。

10.   雨中擁抱。

11.   在所有可能的地方都留下愛的小紙條。

12.   每天發送愛的電郵。

13.   月光下沙灘漫步。

14.   相偎著看浪漫愛情影片（卡薩布蘭卡， 奧黛麗 赫本 都是我的最愛）。

15.   準備一瓶好酒，一起看流星雨。

16.   一起洗泡泡浴。

17.   往家里帶好的咖啡或進口甜點。

18.   重游記憶中的小路——去一些特別的地方，是你們以前約會的地方。

19.   制作溫暖牌巧克力甜點。

20.   制作一個小冊子，里面貼著你們的照片，紀念品，和一起生活的點點滴滴。

21.   雨中接吻。

22.   騎雙人自行車。

23.   從晚會中溜走，一起出去逛逛。

24.   帶回家里巨額的取消銀行貸款的收據，點上蠟燭。

25.   修理些什么或裝修房子，只是為了你的另一半開心。

26.   伴著浪漫的樂曲曼舞。

27.   一起打瞌睡。

28.   慢慢的親吻對方，慢慢的撫摸對方的背，對方的頸部。

29.   把你對他或她的愛全都寫下來。

30.   寫情書。

31.   每天想他或她的時候就送點東西過去。

32.   去電影院，但不為看電影，像年輕人一樣。

33.   裝扮自己，努力為愛人欣賞。

34.   享受一下安靜的時光，談論一下一天的生活。

35.   寫些小字條，每次他或她讓你發瘋的時候用一張。

36.   給對方喂葡萄。

37.   再現愛人喜愛的浪漫場面。

38.   假裝你們是第一次見面——在門口擺滿了花，全副武裝，包括車也要洗的亮亮的，看起來精神抖擻。再現你們第一次見面的場景。

39.   做個小盒子，里面裝滿了你的愛人喜歡的東西。

40.   互相給對方涂上身體彩繪。很有創意哦！

41.   做一些調情的游戲。穿的性感，大膽，刺激。

42.   在愛人的身上留下小記號，只是為了讓他或她整天都能記得你們的愛。

43.   為他或她唱一首喜歡的歌。只有這樣你才唱的好。

44.   在房頂上晚餐，點上些蠟燭。如果你的房頂很陡就不要這么做了。

45.   在可愛的燈光下，手牽手漫步。

46.   說我愛你。 每天，以不同的方式。

47.   蒙住對方的眼睛。用一片羽毛。慢慢的。

48.   在公共場合大聲說出你的愛。

49.   用水果或果醬，新鮮的就好，做奶油冰淇淋。

50.   玩深沉。要表現得很自然。循序漸進的。