Some days can really feel like we’re scraping the bottom of the barrel with what we can do to fill our time. Days merge together and before you know it, 12:00pm becomes the norm for rolling out of bed.
You can barely think of what you can do on the weekend, let alone the 2-weeks of annual leave your boss is forcing you to take before they get removed in the new financial year. Now you have to think of a Valentine’s Day idea for your significant other?
Ugh… surely this is the best time to click checkout on her Amazon wish-list and call it a day?
With national restrictions and maybe even a lockdown, a brainstorm on FuN aCtivitIES can definitely be a challenge. For some of us, we can’t even drive to a nearby park for a country walk!
Having said this, a pandemic-stricken world does not equal an excuse to not be a little creative and ensure your partner feels appreciated on the 14 February! If this situation has actually physically separated the two of you, it’s even more essential you show your love to close that distance. Here are some ideas for this week’s special day!
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1.Make a restaurant at home
Men, in particular, overthink what they should be doing for their partners. We often think an expensive gift is the fail-proof plan: she’s happy and it is minimal effort on my end.
Or maybe even worse, you get her the generic bath bomb set or hand cream multipack that clearly shows you went online and chose from a pre-selected variety of ‘Valentine’s gifts’.
I’m telling you this: if you can make the effort of tidying the living room, lay out a freshly-ironed table cloth and set up the table, this will be much more meaningful than some leather handbag or jewellery that you had randomly picked to buy.
You can take this a step further by also cooking the meal so that your partner can totally relax for the evening and know everything is being dealt with. If cooking isn’t your forte (*cough* — talking to myself here…), order her favorite take-away.
My partner and I are one of those couples that have been separated due to the pandemic, so we’re actually going to be zoom-calling whilst we have our dinner together. Since we’re not physically together, I had to let her in on my plan so that she didn’t go ahead and arrange her own meal. She seemed ecstatic that I told her to choose anything and use my card at checkout.
The current situation means that we’re spending even more time at home. It is important, then, to make that room a little special for the evening so that it can be something new and exciting. You don’t want to be having dinner with your work laptops brushed to the side or you will never be able to fully wind-down.
NB. Oh, if you’re going to be dining together, please just automatically clear up the table afterwards. If they choose to do the dishes, I’ll still say to do it yourself but it’s up to you. Just don’t sour the mood and be like ‘yeah I did my part, now you can clean up’…!
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2. Liven the room with flowers
What is honestly a better combo than Valentine’s Day and flowers? Their fresh colors and bursting scent instantly add life to a room and smiles on our faces.
You do not need to be spending the day with your partner in order to gift flowers. There are plenty of online distributors delivering fresh flowers to doorsteps, some even now on Apps. This year, I even ordered from another country.
3. Decorate the room with sticky-notes
This is such a simple yet thoughtful gesture that I really wish I could do for my partner this year. If you are fortunate enough to spend the day with your partner, this may also be a suitable option!
The notes don’t have to be long. In fact, they shouldn’t be. They could be quotes either of you have said before that hold meaning, a compliment your partner loves to hear, or a future goal you both share. A little drawing, a special date of the relationship or a handmade coupon for a back massage. Literally anything.
Hide these in the crevices of your home, inside of cupboards and tucked into pockets.
It is exciting when your partner finds a message and even more so when you lose count of your notes and surprise yourself with what you wrote! It may be a good idea to keep a record of where you stored them and check every once in a while, to see if any remain undiscovered!
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Effort > Price
At the end of the day, no gift is more valuable than something that has clearly taken a lot of time to produce. Cheap fairy lights, new snack bowls and a comfy blanket can instantly elevate the atmosphere of a movie night. A new leather bag is just a bag.
Don’t get me wrong, sometimes a new fashion piece may be all that they want, or have suggested it to you for months. In that case, fair enough. But I think we often resort to these gifts because purchasing them do not actually require a lot of effort from our side. It’s almost like the last day of Christmas shopping where you’re throwing random gift boxes into your basket to check-off that list.
It can take hours to sit down and plan what to do for your partner. That alone may be enough to deter us.
But because you took the time to plan a surprise according to their specific enjoyments, it will make your partner that much happier. At the end of the day, isn’t that our ultimate goal in our relationship?
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This post was previously published on Medium.
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Photo credit: Ricky Kharawala on Unsplash