Step 1: Be home when your sweetie returns from work, if you can help it. If you must step out, leave a kind note, stating where you’ve gone, when you expect to return, and how much you love him or her. For example, “Ran to the market. Be back in ten minutes. Love, me.”
Step 2: Greet your mate at the door with a smile and kiss. Knowing that you make another person happy simply by showing up is enough to cheer anyone, even after the worst of days.
Step 3: Take his or her coat and bag and stow them away. It’s not about waiting on your partner; it’s just an easy way to give comfort. You are literally unburdening your honey.
Step 4: Listen and share. Sometimes all anyone needs is to feel heard and understood.
Step 5: Show your love. Small gestures, like a playful caress, a squeeze of the shoulder, or a hand on the knee, often mean more than large overtures, like a fancy dinner or a schmancy present. There is a difference between knowing that someone cares for you and actually physically feeling it over and over again.
More tips
• Share this page with your mate. Giving comfort to your partner is most definitely a twoway street.
• Don’t allow your evening to devolve into a complain-a-thon. If you’ve both got a lot to unload, set a time (and time limit) to do it and then be done.
• When all else fails, pour a glass of wine and make out. Hey, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.