…aside from what I imagine some of you are thinking.
Bedtime is usually a great time for couples to reconnect–with each other and with God–before the end of a long day. I usually fall asleep immediately when my head hits the pillow, but it is absolutely important, especially with a Quality Time person like Caths, to ensure you spend a little time before the end of the day.
Here are three fun things that I recommend you and your spouse try:
A married couple…
1. Rocks Together. My wife and I like listening to music. If you do too, here’s a thought: spend some time as a couple to set up Spotify or iTunes playlists!
You can create playlists to lull you to sleep, or play on the road to work tomorrow, or for your spouse to use at work or during a workout. By selecting songs that you’re recommending for your spouse, you’re exposing them to new music, and giving them insight into the kind of music that you like. Ask your spouse about the songs as you create them, and boom!, you’ve got yourself a playlist that you created together.
2. Talks Together. Before going to bed, always make it a point to pray for each other. But there are other things to talk about, sure! I’ve endeavored this year, however, to reduce the amount of “talking about other people” and increase the amount of “how was your day” conversation.
There will be times, however, when your spouse will not want to talk about their day. If you’re looking for great conversation starters that will give you insight into your spouse, I recommend Kokology: the Game of Self-Discovery. Written by Tadahiko Nagao and Isamu Saito, this book contains short stories and quizzes designed to reveal your hidden attitudes about sex, family, love, work, and more. Always fascinating–but don’t take the answers as gospel truth!–and fun to read, Kokology will provide a lot of laughter and insight into your relationship as a couple.
3. Chalks together. Chalks? lol This is a little pilit, I know, but I’m referring more to doodling and doing artsy things together. Caths and I recently bought Lisa Currie’s Me, You, Us which is a book that contains pages that you can use to doodle, list down memories, and scribble all kinds of things together.
As the book description says, “Write fortune cookies to each other! Decide on your perfect theme song! Brainstorm ideas for your matching tattoos! You can… complete the whole book with a special someone.” It’s a great and fun book to fill out, and you’ll end up with what essentially will be a time capsule to use years later when you reminisce about your relationship.
I hope that you can give any of these a try, and enjoy your bedtime!