marital sex

Photo by AdrinaBabyMama

"This is the era of the "hot mom," or so marketers will tell you. In our metastasized culture of self-help, we're constantly fed tips on how to be the sexiest selves we can be. Aren't we the last people who would stop having sex just a few years into marriage?" That was the question posed by Melissa Rayworth in her article "The New Celibacy: Are Generation X Parents Giving Up On Sex?" As a 40-year-old mother of two, Rayworth confesses that her sex life is still so strong it makes her friends jealous.

 

Though research on the issue of marital sex patterns is insufficient, The Journal of Sex Research conducted a study in 2002 that found the average married couple, out of 452 studied, stopped having regular sex four years after having their first child, whether or not they had more children in those four years. Some experts interviewed for the story blame the lack of sex on distractions like work, technology, and childcare duties. All these things can become so overwhelming that couples actually have to schedule sex. Rayworth's advice: "Forget the babysitter. Forget the romantic dinner and movie or the weekend getaway. Get busy with your partner in your own bed at home. Sex with your spouse isn't just good for your marriage. It's also free."

How do you incorporate sexy time into your relationship? What's your advice to those of us who may not be getting any (or enough)?