The holiday season is a wonderful time for everyone, surrounded by friends, family, and delicious food, but it’s especially great when you have someone special to share it with. Here are some ways for married couples like myself to make the most out of the holiday season this year, and use it to forge a closer bond with your partner.
1. Make sure you have days off at the same time.
Not everyone gets the same schedule for holiday time off, so try to plan ahead and make sure your days coincide with your husband’s. A lot of bigger companies require you to plot your leave ahead of time, and some may even make you choose between having Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve off to spend with your loved one. Make sure to plan early and have the same days off as your partner so that you can have as much time together as possible during this holiday season.
2. Buy a joint gift for yourselves instead of separate ones.
When you’ve been together for years already, buying gifts can get a little bit repetitive. Instead of buying your husband perfume or a tie, like you did last year and the year before, why not consider pooling your resources and buying yourselves a joint gift together?
My husband and I like to come up with something we both really want equally and buy it together as our Christmas gift to ourselves; this way we get a more valuable object that we know will be used and appreciated–plus, it’s one less person you have to go through the hassle for of trying to find out the perfect gift without letting them know your plans.
3. Get in shape together.
We all tend to gain a few–or a few dozen–extra pounds during the holiday season. It’s just too easy to do because food just surrounds us throughout the holidays, and most of us don’t have the willpower to turn as much down as perhaps we should. So, this year, add some joint exercise into your schedule to help negate the effect of the scrumptious food.
Perhaps you can plan to go for a morning jog together every day until the New Year comes; not only will you keep those extra pounds off but it’s a great way to bond together. You may even enjoy it so much that you decide to keep it up into the next year!
4. Go on a couple’s retreat.
It doesn’t have to be an official marriage retreat, but you can plan your own couple’s retreat and still have a lot of fun while also learning more about each other and working on your relationship! Plan a staycation just for the two of you; leave the kids with their grandma if you have some, take two or three nights off to spend at a hotel, and pamper yourself.
Prepare ahead of time by finding marriage workshop tools online, printing them out, and bringing them along. Use them to strengthen your relationship and reconnect with each other while also enjoying some time at the spa or in the pool.
5. Host dinner for your families.
Not everyone gets along with their in-laws all the time, but the holiday season is the best time to try. Most married couples tend to spend the holidays alternating between each other’s family’s houses. Why not change things up and host Christmas dinner yourself this year for a change? Invite both your husband’s parents and your own and play hostess for the day. It may surprise you how much you enjoy cooking and preparing for the dinner with your husband, and it’ll strengthen the entire family when you spend the day as one entire unit instead of two separate families.
Make the most out of the holiday season as a married couple–don’t let it come and go as just another year, make this year a special one to remember with your husband for the decades to come together.