Yeah, so everyone knows that once you have kids, you have to work to stay connected to your mate, and the longer you are married, the more difficult it (allegedly) gets. Maybe that’s why this story is the most e-mailed on the New York Times Web site today: It’s a study that shows that when date night is “exciting” — i.e., you don’t do the same old thing — your satisfaction with your relationship goes up.

So how do you make Date Night exciting? The more I think, the more ideas I come up with: We go to Jillian’s and play pool; the stakes we play for could take on a whole new meaning. Or, we go bowling in the basement. Or we test drive that darling Mini Cooper I keep lusting after … do auto showrooms stay open on weekend nights? No? Then we get an afternoon babysitter, and go for a walk in Shelby Farms afterward. We see a play. We follow the Dempseys or the Bouffants or whomever we can both agree would be fun to listen to.

Mostly, we go for DIFFERENT. So, on the eve of Valentine’s Day, what do you and your beloved do to keep the spark in the relationship? Chocolate body paint? Making out at the back of the movie theatre? Or maybe just in the back of that Mini Cooper. Tell all …