This wasn’t our weekend to have Mini, so we didn’t really get to enjoy the benefits of last Saturday’s snow day. Instead, AM and I went out to play in the snow once and spent the rest of the day inside being moderately warm, reading, listening to music and podcasts and playing Nintendo Wii.

I’ve talked about the importance of staying home and playing games or watching movies as quality family time. And it occurred to me that I’ve mostly concentrated on the whole family, which makes sense as this is a parenting blog. I have, however, left out an important bit of being a parent: Taking time for yourself and your significant other.

It’s important, in any relationship, to make time just to be with each other. To talk, to sit and be silent, to watch a movie, whatever. It really doesn’t matter as long as it is time just for the two of you to be alone and together.

The arrangement of having Mini every other weekend is fortunate for AM and I in that we get to spend a great deal of time together. We get two weekends a month and all week. Spending time together allows us to learn about each other, to get to know each other. And even after being together as long as we have, we still have things to learn about each other.

That’s how our relationship has remained strong. We’re together a lot and we like it.

My advice is to make time to be with your significant other. Have date nights, spend time alone. Being a parent is important. But you can’t do that well, if you’re not balanced in your relationship.

How do you keep your adult relationships active? Leave your ideas, suggestions and questions in the comments.

One of the more serious issues I’ve had to work through with Mini is introducing her to my girlfriend of several years. And to be honest, one of the worst decisions I’ve made has been to wait so long to make the introduction.

I had quite a few concerns, and while I think they’re valid, they made me wait unnecessarily long to introduce the two most important people in my life. I didn’t want Mini to see a never-ending parade of women in my life. I didn’t want her to meet someone, become attached to her and then that relationship end.

As it turns out, I was off-base. My girlfriend and Mini get along great. They have similar interests (reading, crafty-stuff like knitting, painting and coloring and playing boardgames). It’s always a good time for the three of us when we’re together for weekends.

It’s always a risk for parents when we introduce new people into our children’s lives. Especially when those new people are very important to us. We’re never sure what’s going to happen, how personalities will mesh or what reactions will be. And it’s quite scary to consider that the most important people in our lives could have a built-in dislike for each other. It’s even more scary to consider that that dislike could poison both relationships.

I guess the takeaway here is that we have to trust that our children will be okay with new people and new relationships. Otherwise, we’ll be living separate lives as adults…And who has that kind of energy?

Have you been in a similar situation? Have a new boyfriend/girlfriend that you introduced to your child? Or are you the new boyfriend/girlfriend adjusting to a new relationship with a child? Share you questions, ideas and experiences in the comments.