How To Make Your Partner Feel Special All the Time

Any other millennials remember that iconic line from The Suite Life of Zack and Cody? You know, the one where Mr. Moseby was freaking out and asked Cody: “How do you lose a woman?” And Cody simply responded with the most seemingly logical answer ever: “You forget to cherish her.” Well, little did little kid me know that Cody was actually on to something. Below I list and go over the different ways to make your partner feel special all the time, 100% of the time, because we most definitely don’t want to lose someone because we forget to cherish them!

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Compliment them

This probably seems like one of the most glaringly obvious ways to make your partner feel special, it goes beyond complimenting your other half on their appearance (even though it is really nice to be reminded regularly that our S.O’s still find us attractive). It’s important to take the time to compliment your partner on the little things. Tell them how proud you are of how hard they’ve been working. Take the time to make sure they know you’re appreciative of how they cleaned the living room and reorganized the decor. Whenever my boyfriend and I are really focused on a project, we’ll each take the time to tell the other one how proud we are of them. Compliments and words of encouragement make your partner feel good, and go a really long way in your relationship.

Ask them questions

I remember growing up and coming home from school and always hearing, “how was your day at school? What did you learn today?” And I would give my poor parents the most generic answer that kids will torture their parents with until the end of time. “It was fine. I learned nothing.” Only now that I’m older do I fully understand and appreciate the sentiment behind that simple question. It meant that they cared and were interested in what we had to say. (At least I hope so, anyway.)

It’s important to show your partner that you care. Ask them simple questions. My boyfriend’s career is in the fitness industry, and we both work from home, so whenever he comes home from the gym and I’m working in the office, I’ll pause whatever I’m doing to take the time and ask him how his workout went. He does the same for me. When I’m done working for the day he’ll ask me what I worked on, or if I wrote a new blog post and if I did, could he read it. Simple questions will lead to a dialogue of strong communication and interest in your partner’s day to day life.

Listen & retain

After you ask your partner something, it’s important you actually follow through and listen. Rather than zoning out or playing on your phone, really listen to their answer. If you’re focused on the conversation, it’ll be easier to retain the information. Nothing is more frustrating than feeling as though you’re being ignored. Although your S.O may have different interests than you, it’s good to remember how important various topics are to you that they might not care about. Put yourself in their shoes. Your partner should feel like they can confide in and talk to you about anything.

I remember when I first started getting into makeup my boyfriend was the one I talked to the most about it because of how excited I was. When we were out to dinner one night I began talking about a new highlighter that I was wearing. I almost fell out of my seat when he not only knew what I was talking about, he also followed up with different questions about it. To me, that showed he cared because he listened to me talk about something he had absolutely no interest in. He’d simply paid attention because he knew it was important to me. I always try to do the same whenever he talks about powerlifting numbers or various competitors around the world.

Remembering opens up broader discussions in your relationship, and can only bring you and your partner closer together.

Tell them you love them randomly

Not everyone is overly affectionate. I wouldn’t say that I used to be unaffectionate, but I’m definitely way more affectionate (and happier!) now. Like a lot of things in my life, I don’t know when I started implementing this one. I think it may have been something that started between my younger brother and I (there’s a 10 year age gap). He would tell me he loved me randomly all the time, and it would make my heart swell. I think he must’ve said it to my boyfriend a lot too, because I now find us randomly telling each other we love them—getting into the shower, going upstairs, going to do laundry in the basement. It’s become normal now to say “I love you” in the spur of the moment.

I’m a firm believer in always making sure you tell your S.O that you love them before you go to sleep at night. If you can’t in person, then do it over the phone or even in a text message. It’s nice falling asleep knowing that someone cares for and loves you. I also believe that telling someone you love them randomly throughout the day is an equally good reminder. A lot of people like knowing that someone loves them and won’t shy away from being reminded of it. Putting that kind of love out into the universe can only come back with a love that’s equally as strong.