Be Kids Together

Once you’ve been in a relationship for a long time, you can often start to forget to have fun. You may have moved in together, or even gotten married, and between the bills and odd work schedules, suddenly you’re wondering, “Where has all the fun gone?”

But it doesn’t take a miracle to recover your sense of fun. In fact, why not take up that piece of advice well-meaning, nonetheless annoying friends and family always tell you—“You’re not getting any younger… When are you two going to pop out some kids?”

Well, you don’t have to take it literally; how about instead of having kids, just for today, you be kids together? It doesn’t have to take much money—though it can if you want to do extravagant kid things—nor much time. Take tonight, or sometime this weekend, to just connect with your partner and be a kid together. Try…

Going to the park. When was the last time you swung on a swing set? Climbed the monkey bars? Take turns pushing each other. Spin yourselves dizzy on the merry-go-round. Bring a picnic if you like, but that’s really something grownups would plan to do.

Hitting the arcade. Play pinball, ride those stationary motorcycle games, and take goofy pictures in the photo booth. Find out who can win the most tickets, get a giant obnoxious animal out of the claw machine, and get the highest skeeball score. See a movie while you’re at it—but it can’t be anything other than what a twelve-year-old would enjoy.

Buy some toys together. Head over to the nearest kids’ toy store and buy something to play with. Play dough? A board game? A skate board? See if you can find the same kinds of toys you played with as a kid. If you’re short on money, go for something small like jacks or silly putty.

Visiting Chuck E. Cheese. After all, this is where a kid can be a kid. Play some games, eat some pizza, and sing along with Chuck E. and friends on stage.

Swimming. Skip the hotel pool, the fancy resort or any other “adult” swimming locale—instead, try one of those old galvanized pools, or the creek by your house. Remember catching crawdads? Or looking for cool rocks and other amazing discoveries? Revel in this time together. Slow down and really enjoy the water—or splash around like nobody’s business.