One of the problems in many marriages is not being able to stay close to your partner the way you want to be able to. Emotionally there is distance at times. When you have kids, this is something that is very common. If you want to stay close to your partner, there are things that you need to be doing to preserve what you have.

Be sure that you make time for each other. At times this can be hard. Hire babysitters to make sure that your kids are taken care of and take this time to just spend with your partner not worrying about everything else. Don't let your children and having to watch them become an excuse to not actively having time with each other.

Plan nights out. Give each other something to look forward to each week. These could be very simple dates or other activities that you really want to do. Just have them planned from time to time so you both can be excited about your time with each other.

Make sure that you purposely communicate each day. It's just talking about the two of you. While you will talk about work and the kids, be sure there are moments that you only talk about your relationship. If it's not happening day to day, you literally must plan on doing it at a certain time.

If your children are having problems or issues, try to work on these things together. Don't put all the effort into your children's problems on just one parent. Work on these together. This helps you be the team you need to be as well as together as a couple.

Go back to doing the things that you used to do while dating. There have to be a number of little things that you used to enjoy that you haven't done in a long time.

Cut out things in life that are taking up time that just are not as important as your relationship. There are many things that can take up your time that are less important than your relationship.