How many people do you share your room with?

5?

10?

It depends on what shows you watch while in bed.

Long before marriage and even before dating my husband and I decided we would never have a TV in the bedroom. It sounds weird, but when we were just starting to get to know each other, we were having a conversation with a few mutual friends, and he said that when he was married, he would never have a TV in the bedroom. When asked why, he said that that should be time to talk to your spouse about the day and just relax together.

I hadn’t really ever thought about it, but I was really impressed that he had, and it made sense to me. After a long, usually hectic day, the time right before bed is a perfect opportunity to talk, and if you have kids, it might be the only time you have alone, so why invite the cast and crew of your favorite sitcom to join you?

At this point in our lives, I work full-time and my husband is a stay-at-home dad getting ready to start a part-time evening job, and we’re getting ready to welcome our second child soon. Our son is 2, so we don’t have any school functions, homework, or extracurriculars to juggle, but our days can go something like this:

Throughout the day, he takes care of our son, doing naptime, meals, errands, cleaning etc. By the time I get home he’s tired.

I leave at 6:30am, work all day and get home around 4:30. By the time I get home, I’m tired.

I spend a few minutes hanging out with him and our son and then start supper. Our son runs around wanting attention from me and my husband, and we try to catch up on our day while we try and keep him out of mischief.

After we eat, we play a little more and then it’s bedtime. I put our son down for bed, and then we usually end up watching TV in the living room or working on the computer before we go to our room.

I can’t imagine how busy things will be when our kids get older! It’s always nice knowing that when we go to bed, that’s time just for us. Sometimes we talk, sometimes we read, sometimes we just pass out. But we’re the only ones there, and that is a rare feat when you have a family.

So, if you feel like life is getting too hectic or you and your spouse don’t have time for each other, reclaim your room. Grab those last few minutes of each day and turn it into a time to focus on each other.