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与孩子一起度过，但今天我要谈的是家庭成员中的另一个重要方面：夫妻关系。 如果你已经有了心上人，那麽我极力推荐你要保护好你们的爱情火种永不熄灭，如果有可能的话，每周甚至每天都找机会来表达对对方的珍视。

找一些小的，消费又不高的事情来营造浪漫，你们的关系会在这一次又一次的小事当中收到意想不到的效果。

为什么要消费不高呢？ 厄， 你可以租一辆豪华轿车，带着你的爱人去顶级法国餐馆，或者飞去白雪覆盖的阿尔卑斯山脉，再或者租一个体育场，以纽约音乐厅为背景，邀请“三高”为你们歌咏爱的乐章。我不了解你，但我无法负担这种形式的消费一个月以上。所以余下的日子，我还是要回归简朴的生活方式中去。

 在我们进入正题之前，先来看看如何运用这张清单的注意事项：

1.       一周的约会。 我建议你每周至少安排一次和你的爱人独处的时间。 这并不需要太多消费，只是找些消遣来和你的爱人共同度过。如果是有孩子的人，去请个保姆吧。

2.       交流。 浪漫是手势不能替代言语的交流。 找点时间谈谈你们共同的目标，共同的理想，以及未来的打算，你们现在的状况，你开心的事，你对对方关爱的事，你喜欢做的事和你要感激的事。

3.       鼓励。 这张清单上列了很多显而易见的东西——你自己可能会想出很多类似的事。 但清单上的目标不是为了搞创意——而是给人以启迪。 挑一些好的想法，或者用它去激发自己的灵感。 有的时候我们只是需要一点点提示。

4.       忘记情人节。 情人节只会让人们觉得浪漫只是在特殊的场合才要到的。相反，挑一个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，说的差不多了。让我们看看这些方法既可以浪漫又不会超出你的预算（通知我的妈妈： 不要读这个，因为等一下是夫妻的特别时间）：

1.       写一首诗。

2.       准备一顿烛光晚餐。

3.       发一张裸照的彩信。

4.       进行一次野餐。

5.       在回家的路上才几朵野花儿。

6.       灌制一张全是情歌的CD。

7.       送黑巧克力。

8.       一起读诗。

9.       准备一份芝士巧克力草莓蛋糕。

10.   雨中拥抱。

11.   在所有可能的地方都留下爱的小纸条。

12.   每天发送爱的电邮。

13.   月光下沙滩漫步。

14.   相偎着看浪漫爱情影片（卡萨布兰卡， 奥黛丽 赫本 都是我的最爱）。

15.   准备一瓶好酒，一起看流星雨。

16.   一起洗泡泡浴。

17.   往家里带好的咖啡或进口甜点。

18.   重游记忆中的小路——去一些特别的地方，是你们以前约会的地方。

19.   制作温暖牌巧克力甜点。

20.   制作一个小册子，里面贴着你们的照片，纪念品，和一起生活的点点滴滴。

21.   雨中接吻。

22.   骑双人自行车。

23.   从晚会中溜走，一起出去逛逛。

24.   带回家里巨额的取消银行贷款的收据，点上蜡烛。

25.   修理些什么或装修房子，只是为了你的另一半开心。

26.   伴着浪漫的乐曲曼舞。

27.   一起打瞌睡。

28.   慢慢的亲吻对方，慢慢的抚摸对方的背，对方的颈部。

29.   把你对他或她的爱全都写下来。

30.   写情书。

31.   每天想他或她的时候就送点东西过去。

32.   去电影院，但不为看电影，像年轻人一样。

33.   装扮自己，努力为爱人欣赏。

34.   享受一下安静的时光，谈论一下一天的生活。

35.   写些小字条，每次他或她让你发疯的时候用一张。

36.   给对方喂葡萄。

37.   再现爱人喜爱的浪漫场面。

38.   假装你们是第一次见面——在门口摆满了花，全副武装，包括车也要洗的亮亮的，看起来精神抖擞。再现你们第一次见面的场景。

39.   做个小盒子，里面装满了你的爱人喜欢的东西。

40.   互相给对方涂上身体彩绘。很有创意哦！

41.   做一些调情的游戏。穿的性感，大胆，刺激。

42.   在爱人的身上留下小记号，只是为了让他或她整天都能记得你们的爱。

43.   为他或她唱一首喜欢的歌。只有这样你才唱的好。

44.   在房顶上晚餐，点上些蜡烛。如果你的房顶很陡就不要这么做了。

45.   在可爱的灯光下，手牵手漫步。

46.   说我爱你。 每天，以不同的方式。

47.   蒙住对方的眼睛。用一片羽毛。慢慢的。

48.   在公共场合大声说出你的爱。

49.   用水果或果酱，新鲜的就好，做奶油冰淇淋。

50.   玩深沉。要表现得很自然。循序渐进的。