8 Ways to Make Your Spouse Happy Javascript must be enabled to use this site. Please enable Javascript in your browser and try again. × Search search POPULAR SEARCHES SUGGESTED LINKS Join AARP for just $9 per year when you sign up for a 5-year term. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. Leaving AARP.org Website You are now leaving AARP.org and going to a website that is not operated by AARP. A different privacy policy and terms of service will apply.

8 Ways to Celebrate Your Husband or Wife Tonight

Forget writing your spouse another to-do list and start showing your appreciation Learn great tips for a happy marriage

A couple kiss while cleaning house in this undated photo. One of the keys to a happy marriage is small, romantic gestures that lets your partner know you love them. Maskot/Getty Images Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. "Our partners stop existing as individuals to us," he says. Instead, we absorb that partner's identity into our own. "You stop noticing who they are. You see only what you want them to do for you. I often tell my clients: We have to treat our spouse as a gift, not a possession that we get to control." Entertainment $3 off popcorn and soft drink combos See more Entertainment offers > Susan Krauss Whitbourne, a professor of psychology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, who studies marital happiness, says the best way to celebrate one another is in the simple act of unplugging. A couple may feel like they're spending time together because they're in the same room, but if they're existing in a separate sphere, there's little, if any, shared intimacy. Some couples may spend an entire Sunday afternoon without their phones, others may just put their phones away for an hour during dinner. No matter what you decide, intentionally tuning in may "be the best gift you can give," says Whitbourne. AARP NEWSLETTERS %{ newsLetterPromoText }% %{ description }% Subscribe MORE FROM AARP AARP NEWSLETTERS %{ newsLetterPromoText }% %{ description }% Subscribe AARP VALUE & MEMBER BENEFITS See more Health & Wellness offers > See more Flights & Vacation Packages offers > See more Finances offers > See more Health & Wellness offers > SAVE MONEY WITH THESE LIMITED-TIME OFFERS