Making Valentine’s Day Shine

While special events make Valentine’s Day lovely to begin with, details make the day shine. Here are a few simple things to make Valentine’s extra special all day long.

• Write love notes and place them throughout the house. As soon as possible, write notes of love or gratitude and put them in places that aren’t obvious, but that your sweetheart will eventually see as he or she goes through their day. If you can’t think of multiple things, use one of the silly (but sweet) Valentine’s cards from your child’s store-bought box and leave it for your spouse; it’s sure to warm the heart and get a little laugh.

• Be a gentleman, and be a lady. Men: Remember to open car doors, theater doors, restaurant doors, or any other doors you come across (except the lady’s room door) for your wife. Furthermore, make sure to pull out her chair when she sits down for dinner, if the waiter isn’t trained to do so. And ladies: once you’re in the car, reach over and open the door for your husband; hold open other doors for him as he walks through. It’s a little way for you to show kindness to him.

• Give an unexpected rose. Arrange for a single rose to be at your table for dinner, if you’re dining out. If not, find another way to give your wife a rose during the evening—whether it’s at the home dinner table or it’s placed by her sink before bed. Consider a special color: Red=Love, White=Purity, Yellow=Happiness, Orange=Desire, Pink=Gratitude.

• Hold hands. This small expression of love can be obliterated as the years go by. So, when the two of you are walking from place to place during the day, remember to hold hands with one another. At dinner, move drinks and plates out of the way so you have a clear space to reach across the table and clasp hands.

• Make the ambiance romantic at home. Follow through with the ideas you’ve had to play music, light candles, and arrange the room for a special evening. Doing things that show planning are especially meaningful for both men and women; it means that you’ve thought about him or her when you were apart, and you worked harder to make time together extra special.

And so that Valentine’s Day isn’t just one of a few days you go out of your way to show love, try incorporating one or two of these suggestions on a monthly basis.