Author Kate Kelly is a mother of three and co-founder of the website getinherhead.com, a gift and date reminder service for couples.

My favorite radio host, Dennis Prager said in a speech, “That which is conceived in romance then goes ahead and kills all the romance.” Is there a mother of small children out there that can not attest to that statement? We all love our kids, but let’s be honest, they do take a little of the romance out of our lives.

Well, maybe that’s not totally accurate, they don’t take the romance away, just all the energy you may have put into being romantic. So, if your jaunts to Victoria Secret have been totally replaced with treks to Baby Gap, then I’m talking to you!

My friends and I laugh about the end of the day, when the little cherubs are finally asleep, and being thankful that for the first time in twelve hours, no one is touching us! Not to mention that we are thinking about the laundry that needs folding the dishwasher that needs running, the toys strewn all over the house and on and on and on… Then one day I had an epiphany and realized that the best thing I could possibly do for our family was to attend to my relationship with my husband with at least the same attention I paid to the dishes!

So, in a world of endless diapers, laundry and dishes, I learned to put romance on my daily checklist. That may sound absurd and perhaps even unromantic, but if it’s on my mental checklist for the day, it gets done. It may be something as simple as a little email when the kids are asleep, a loving hug when he walks in the door or an extra effort to connect at the end of the day. It’s just a little something everyday but it makes a difference…and it is a lot more rewarding than folding another load of laundry!

So, grab your planner and schedule in a little romance… take a moment away from maintaining your life so you don’t miss out on the joys of living it!