Gentlemen, if you want to get your lady in the mood for love, you need something that's even more powerful than foreplay. You need "choreplay."

That's the word from Parenting magazine, which coined the term after it conducted a survey that revealed 15 percent of mothers say their idea of foreplay is their husband doing chores.

Do the dishes. Get lucky.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that choreplay can be a lot cheaper than draining the checking account for chocolate, roses and expensive dinners out. Smart husbands learn to multitask, too, letting their wives have a half-hour to themselves while they do the laundry and get the kids ready for bed. It's the unexpected gift of time that is the most romantic of all. Now that's hot!

"I call it the new romantic gesture," Scott Haltzman, professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University and author of the new book, "The Secrets of Happily Married Women," told the Journal-Constitution. "Women are looking for something that gives them the message they've gone the extra mile, and they've done something that matters to them. Being in the kitchen and emptying the dishwasher is a real clear signal you are fighting for her love."

Guys, do note that women aren't turned on watching you iron your own shirts, but rather they are turned on by being relieved of their chores and given time to relax. That is what allows her to de-stress and shift gears so she wants to have sex and not just flop into bed and fall asleep instantly.

There is one warning: Men can't engage in choreplay as a calculated move to have sex. "If that's the case, he'd be better off with roses," Jen Singer, editor of MommaSaid.net told the Journal-Constitution. "They act like there should be a parade down Broadway for making the bed. I hear from moms, 'Of course you should help, it's your underpants on the floor.'" But if your intentions are genuine, you can count on a more amorous mate.

--From the Editors at Netscape