Quite making excuses

Relationships are full of excuses. Excuses to get out of attending events, excuses for not having friends over, excuses for why the house is a mess, excuses for not making love and we can all fall into this trap. Excuses are easy to make up so that you don't have to go out of your way to do things. They can be as easy as I am tired to as complex as having several back up excuses so that if the first ones don't work you are covered. You can not mow the lawn because it's hot, or you can not go to your friends cook out because someone you don't like is going to be there. These are all cop outs and they don't allow you to live like you should. Stop making excuses today! Start living your life again and start enjoying your relationship like it is new again. Take that dance class, go to that ballgame, stay up late, enjoy life without excuses.

Sometimes you just have to let them sleep.

Our bedrooms are used mainly only for a couple of things. Sleeping is one of those things. We all have different sleeping patterns we discussed this in a post a couple of days ago about tucking your partner in. Well sometimes our partners are not ready to get up at the same time as we are. Maybe we went to bed earlier or we are just an early riser. If you are that early bird, here is a great chance for you to show how much you care about your love. Instead of snuggling up with them as you wake up and more or less waking them up, do the opposite. Slowly and quietly slip out of bed and let them sleep a while longer. I am sure you can find plenty to do while they finish getting the rest they require. You could exercise, read, write on you blog, or even put great smells in the air by starting some breakfast. Your partner will most likely be so glad to get that little extra slumber that they will search you out and give you a big hug, when they find you. Hugs are never a bad thing, unless it's a bear hug from a wild bear.

Keep your relationship strong and healthy.

Tuck em in!

It may sound a little silly but you need to tuck in your partner if they are the first one to go to bed. I know in my relationship my partner enjoys going to bed much earlier than I do. I enjoy staying up til the wee hours of the morning. My partner has tried this with me but it is just not to their liking. I have tried going to bed at the same time as my partner and it disrupts my whole day and night. In an effort to compromise each night that I am home, when my partner heads off to bed. I follow in like I am going to sleep with them I get in bed and spend at least 15 minutes with them as they fall asleep. This might seem a little strange but it gives us the bond at night time I hate to call it tucking them in but that is what is seems like. It is just that little security that comes from falling asleep with your partner. Once I feel like my partner is comfortable I quietly slip out of the room and continue my night. Spending those 15 minutes together in the peace of the night has made a wonderful routine for our relationship. Try it if you don't have matching sleeping styles it just might be what your relationship needs.

Communication Exercises

Communication is and always will be a hurdle in a relationship. We often have trouble communicating our wishes to our partner. Sometimes we fear hurting his/her feelings or we are afraid of being rejected by him/her and having our own feelings hurt.

Here is a little communication exercise that they two of you can implement into your relationship.
It will help clear up some communication problems. In my opinion, one of the biggest problems in a relationship is that one person is more out spoken than the other. This leads to discussions being one sided and the other person not being able to get his/her point across.

What you need to do is set up a couple of days for single communication for each one of you. Pick a day and a time when the two of you have time to sit down together and discuss things.  Set aside 15-30 minutes.

On the first day only one person gets to talk.  He/she expresses things that are bothering him/her as well as things that make him/her happy. Here is the kicker, the other person cannot respond to anything until the next day. It is important for him/her to remain quite and listen without interruption even if he/she disagrees with what the speaking partner is saying.

Both partners let that soak in until they can sit down again.   Then it is the other partner's turn to speak openly.  Not only does this offer the quieter of the two to get his/her point across, but it helps both partners learn to listen.  

Make this a regular practice - perhaps once a week or once a month.  Do this and you will see a change in your relationship as the communication lines begin to open.