How to Destress & Relax Your Wife

By: Tiffany Barry

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Although husbands are taking a more active role in the home, wives who work are still responsible for about 80 percent of the household duties, according to the University of Alabama's Parenting Assistance Line. Wives are often juggling a full-time job, children, dinner, and housekeeping all at once. Even women who do not work outside the home can easily become stressed trying to keep the household running smoothly. It is a wonderful thing to indulge in pampering from your spouse. As a husband, destressing and relaxing your wife can be easy and fulfilling, and it will probably earn you a few favors, too.

Step 1

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Take over a daily chore that is normally hers. If you have the opportunity to get it done in secret, take advantage of the time to surprise her.

Step 2

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If you have children, arrange for a weekend at a relative's house. This will give your wife an opportunity to take a mental -- and possibly physical -- break from child care. She will be able to focus on relaxing and enjoy some valuable time for herself.

Step 3

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Finish some of those unfinished projects. Your wife will be pleased when she can cross the half-finished paint job in the spare bedroom off the "honey-do" list.

Step 4

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Arrange to take a day off work without telling your wife -- use your personal days rather than calling in sick -- to clean and organize the house. Organization is a huge destresser for wives juggling multiple tasks and will go a long way toward relaxing her.

Step 5

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Offer to give her a massage and treat it as if you are a real masseur. Play ambient music, light aromatherapy candles -- lavender and ylang-ylang scented candles are very relaxing -- and use massage oil or lotion.

Step 6

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Buy a bouquet of seasonal flowers, split it up and arrange small groups of blooms around the house. Cut the stems to fit in shorter vases. You can use virtually any container as a vase including an empty bottle of her favorite wine, cute coffee mugs and wide bowls.

Step 7

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Design a spa for your wife right in your own home. Purchase a new book by her favorite author, or one she reads often to relax, aromatherapy candles and lavender bath salts. Set up your bathroom as a luxurious spa. Arrange lit candles, flowers and towels around the room and turn on a soothing playlist of her favorite music. Run a hot bath for your wife just as she returns home, and let her soak it all in. If your wife drinks wine, a cool glass of her favorite is the perfect addition to your spa presentation.