Readers’ Tips for Keeping the Love Alive, Installment III (originally published in True Romance, October 2006)

When our children were young, my hubby and I—like most young parents—found that “couple time” was scarce. Between both of us working, school, and the kids’ activities, the hectic schedule left precious few hours for us. We missed just being a couple.

When our kids were in first and second grade, we were very fortunate to find another couple that also had kids the approximate ages of ours. They all got along and we had similar styles of parenting, so we decided to “swap” kids every other month, enabling each couple to have a romantic weekend alone six times a year. For instance, if my hubby and I took both their kids for a weekend in January, then in February they’d take both our kids for an entire weekend.

My husband traveled quite a bit with his job, and money was a factor so we didn’t always plan a trip. But whether we flew somewhere, went camping, had a romantic date night or just puttered in the yard and had movie night at home, we cherished our special days and nights with each other. Those weekends reminded us that we were lovers first, and we’d be a couple long after the children were grown.

We’ve now been married 26 years and our kids have left the nest, resulting in all the romantic weekends we want. But a nice side effect of those kid-swapping weekends is that we still enjoy a friendship with that couple, who will soon celebrate their 25th anniversary. Thank goodness we kept our marriages strong by giving each other the gift of time.

—Carol Burnside, Canton, GA

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