Valentine's Day – the most romantic day of the year. Remember when you used to celebrate this occasion with fancy meals out and even fancier underwear to surprise the other half? Ah, those were the good days, weren’t they? With a newborn now on the scene, it seems the fancy meals have been replaced with reheated leftovers from the freezer and the even fancier underwear for nursing bras and giant pants that even Bridget Jones would be ashamed of!
Here are some top 5 tips to help bring a bit of the romance back into your relationship for this years special day:
Sex. To be or not to be? That is the question.
Don’t put pressure on yourself for this one. You have just birthed a baby after all and depending on how old that baby is will affect how much of a car crash it still feels ‘down there’ and how you feel about the idea of sex. You might even just quite simply feel too exhausted and that’s ok. Don’t let the pressures of Valentine's Day expectations guilt you into something you either aren’t ready for or just don’t fancy. Talk to your partner and be honest, there are plenty of other ways to get intimate. A cuddle on the sofa perhaps or even just a back massage are both perfect ways to reconnect and get affectionate with each other.
Cards and Gifts
Between the constant feeding, nappy changes and sleepless nights, you probably haven’t even had the chance to brush your hair let alone buy your other half a card or gift! But fear not, you don’t have to buy each other anything extravagant. The ideal gift for each other when you have just had a baby doesn’t have to be the traditional flowers and a fancy meal out. It could even be something simple as cooking a favourite meal at home or offering to do the dishes. And as for cards, there are plenty of online retailers such as Moonpig or Funky Pigeon that will have your back.
Who says you can’t still have the perfect date?
Just because its Valentine's Day doesn’t mean you have to have the perfect date on that one specific day of the year. You may not feel ready or able to leave your baby just yet so instead, why not plan ahead and pencil in a special date that you can both look forward to when you do feel ready. A trip to the cinema, a coffee date alone just the two of you or even just a nice long afternoon walk. It can be anything you want and quite often, having something to look forward to can help bring a bit of excitement back.
Share the love
Don’t get too hung up on thinking that Valentine's Day has just be confined to just the two of you. You will never love your partner more when you see them love your baby, so why not include your baby in on your celebrations? It probably won’t be the last time you will give your partner a bunch of flowers from ‘Mummy’s little boy’ or a card from ‘Daddy’s little Princess’ so make the most of it and spread some of those warm, fuzzy feelings around. Maybe even make some new family traditions and teach your child the importance of demonstrating love.
Don’t do anything
Maybe, the perfect Valentine's Day for you is to just do nothing. Order yourselves a takeaway, get something good on the TV to binge watch and curl up on the sofa together in your PJs. Just enjoy the time together...it will probably only last about 20 minutes anyway before either one of you falls asleep or the baby starts crying and needs feeding/changing/winding!
