Is life hectic? Running around in circles and forgetting about your love? Here’s a quick and easy fix: read together. It works WONDERS!

My husband and I rarely watch television together (we have no reception) but we do watch DVDs. For a while, we were watching DVDs every night. At least we were doing something, but it wasn’t very interactive, and it definitely was not relationship-building (my husband almost always falls asleep before the end of the movie).

When we were young and poor, we had no TV, no DVDs, nothing. We had his stereo and my books. So we played classical music and read together. It was wonderful. Over the years, we lost the habit, but are beginning to pick it up again.

Reading together can bring you together in ways you never dreamed. When you read together, you are sharing a story or event at the time, but reading spawns deeper thought throughout the day. You discover that you and your spouse are discussing things more, opening up each other’s thoughts and feelings. This deepens the relationship beyond the half-hour or so spent reading.

Reading a book can be very relaxing. There’s no hurry, because you can go at your own pace. If you’ve had a particularly busy day, read only a paragraph or a page, or even skip reading that day. There’s no rush like there is with a rented DVD, where you have to watch it so you can get it back to the rental store before tomorrow!

My husband and I like history and non-fiction books. We find that these kinds of books encourage discussion. Our discussions bring us closer together as we “hash” issues out. Of course, if one spouse is a Democrat and another a Republican, you probably want to avoid such polarizing books as Hillary Clinton’s autobiography or Ann Coulter’s latest best seller! Remember– the intent is for reading to bring you together!

Reading together can be a wonderfully simple and satisfying way to enrich your relationship. Books can be purchased or borrowed. And there is no limit to the subjects available!

Do you ever feel like the world is spinning by so fast that you just want to get off? I’ve been feeling that way myself lately and its times like these that we need to take time to slow down. Typically it’s not just one family member that needs to slow down, but sometimes, it’s the entire family.

Slowing down our pace can be a temporary thing, a time to catch our breath. Slowing down can also help you live a healthier and happier life. Here are a few suggestions for slowing down.

1. Choose one morning a week to take yourself and your family out to breakfast. This is a way to share your time together, maybe review the week together, talk with each other and catch up on what is going on in each of your lives.
2. Gather your family together and go for a walk. This can be a weekly or even a nightly event. Strap the leash on the dog and take him along too. Not only is it good exercise, but it’s a chance to be together, enjoy each other’s company.
3. Meet your spouse or significant other for lunch during the work week. (I just did this today with my husband and it was really nice!) This is a great opportunity to spend some time together while the kids are in school. Use this time to reconnect.
4. Invite your spouse for a nice long soak in a nice hot bath. Light some candles and break open a bottle of wine after the kids have all gone to bed.
5. Treat yourself to a manicure, pedicure, facial or the works! This can be time to yourself or maybe you’d like to enjoy a couples massage. Come on, spoil yourselves, you deserve it!

Remember, when you take the opportunity to slow down, you’ll have a chance to pay attention to areas of your life that maybe get put on hold or even ignored. Slowing down gives you a chance to rediscover yourself and your relationships. Spoil each other, but don’t forget, sometimes we need to spoil ourselves.

After doing some fun research I found the following bits of trivia concerning Mother’s Day.

· In the United States, there are about 82.5 million mothers. (source: US Census Bureau)

· about 96% of American consumers take part in some way in Mother’s Day (source: Hallmark)

· Mother’s Day is widely reported as the peak day of the year for long distance telephone calls

· Mother’s Day is the busiest day of the year for many restaurants

· Retailers report that Mother’s Day is the second highest gift-giving holiday in the United States (Christmas is the highest).

· Most popular month for having babies in the US is August, and most popular weekday is Tuesday.

Can you find more facts about Mother’s Day?