Flicking through my diary, I see vet's appointments and parents' evenings, work appraisals and dental visits. Oh, and the words 'Sex with Liam'. Liam is the man I've been married to for 18 years, and in very many respects we are a perfectly normal couple. He's 43 and works in the construction industry, I'm 44 and work part-time for a travel agent and part-time for a local charity. We have three children aged 15, nine and eight. And perhaps not surprisingly, given that we've been together for almost two decades, our sex life has hit a rocky patch.
Mr and Mrs Average Fortysomething are having sex once a week, according to a recent YouGov study. Liam and I are doing it once or twice a month - if that. This is why we decided to take part in an experiment designed to boost intimacy, revive our flagging sex life and, hopefully, form new habits for the long term.
We are going to schedule sex. We are designating a three-week period in our diaries in which we will book in a total of six mandatory sex sessions - so twice a week. When Liam and I first got together, our sex drive was equally matched, and we would do it four times a week at least.
Nowadays? He isn't shy about hopping into bed at any time of day or night - but I can take it or leave it. I've pushed sex down my priority list because there is always something more urgent to do at home, at work, or with the children.
It's hard to get turned on when you're preoccupied with loading the washing machine or remembering to get something out of the freezer. And yet I want the closeness, and I want it more often than the starvation rations we're currently on.
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