Romantic weekends away are a thing of the past.
A distant memory from long ago in a life before children. The husband is more likely to bring home a bottle of nit shampoo than he is a bottle of bubbly. But romance is not dead. It's just different.
The best romantic gestures that leave me feeling all warm and fuzzy and loved up are far more likely to be one of the following:
1 Run me a bubble bath
(This includes remembering to remove all bit of plastic tat from the bathroom, ensuring there is no wee on the floor before I enter, and most importantly, keeping the small people out. And not just out of the room. Out of the room, and not sitting by the door asking me, "What you doing Mummy?" "I've taken my clothes off Mummy." "Can I blow the candles out, Mummy?" "Why don't you have a winkie, Mummy?")
2 Cook dinner
3 Take the kids to soft play - without me
4 Do the food shopping (and get the things on the list)
5 Do the stuff
(Imagine coming down in the morning and finding the lunchboxes done, the kid's bags packed ready for school, homework complete and permission slips signed, shoes and coats ready to go, something taken out of the freezer ready for dinner, and the breakfast things laid out, a cup of tea waiting for you. I think someone is getting lucky tonight...)
6 Buy me chocolates and don't give them to me in front of the kids so I don't have to share
7 Tell me you're coming home from work early
8 Take the bins out without being asked
9 Clean the toilets (I have two boys)
10 Tell me to slip into something comfortable
(And by something comfortable mean big fluffy PJ's. Give me full control of the remote. Even if it means watching Gilmore Girls.)
11 Put the washing on
12 Supervise the kid's maths homework
13 Volunteer to deal with all of the poo for a whole day
14 Prosecco
15 The lie in
(The ultimate of all romantic gestures for parents. And a huge sacrifice. Giving your other half a lie in and keeping the kids from jumping on the bed or reenacting Frozen at the top of their voices downstairs)
I'm lucky that the husband for-fills a lot of these romantic gestures on a regular basis. In fact, I think there is more romance in our lives than there was before kids. There are definitely lower expectations!
