emotionally connected

Being emotionally connected in a marriage can be somewhat challenging.  It was easy at first but then children come along and let's face it...children are a distraction.  I remember when my son was born my husband had a difficult time because now my time and attention towards him was shared with another little person.  I know he adored my son but it was a difficult transition for him.  It was also difficult for me.  I had this little boy who was completely dependent on me and I wanted to hold him every second.  It took some time to figure it out and adjust.  It is important to connect every single day.  Some of the things we try to do to stay emotionally connected are...

1.  We try to go on date nights.  Sometimes those date nights are late night walks around the neighborhood after the kids are in bed.  Sometimes it is a run to Home Depot.  Sometimes it is sitting outside in our backyard just the two of us.
2.  We talk about everything.  Sometimes we don't want to listen.  I am sure my husband thinks I never stop talking but he knows that after a day of only talking to my kids I just need to speak to and adult so he listens.  He tells me about his work projects which I don't really understand but I listen.
3.   My favorite way to connect is by going to the temple.  There is power in attending the temple.  We live about 30 minutes away from our temple.  It can be a challenge to get babysitters and go but now we have a built in baby sitter and we are able to go more regularly.  I love to watch my husband while I am in the temple and think back on our sealing ceremony.
4.  Another thing we do to stay emotionally connected is we talk about spiritual matters.  We talk openly about what we are reading in the scriptures.  I am the Gospel Doctrine teacher and I talk about my lessons with my husband.
5.  The last one that I must share is feet.  I know this may seem silly but my husband and I always sit with our feet touching.  He uses his feet to rub my feet.  I may be sitting on the couch doing homework and he is doing his work on the computer but our feet are snuggled.  As silly as this may seem this is a comforting and connecting gesture for me.

Some days we are just a little out of sync.  One or both of us may be extra tired or over stressed.  On these days I like to think of the saying we have hanging over our bed on the wall.  It says, "Always kiss me good-night"  On those rough days I just need a kiss and a good nights sleep and then we can try again tomorrow.