My sons are the only individuals in this world who can get away with calling me beautiful.
I sort of shiver when they do it, but they are children and my sons, and if they think I am beautiful as their mom, I can live with that.
D, on the other hand, is not allowed to tell me I'm beautiful. I don't remember a time when he ever has, but I think I remember having a conversation with him in which I said I don't want to ever be called beautiful.
I do not think I am beautiful. Attractive....occasionally. I have "windows" of attractive, and they are usually quite short-lived.
I do catch D, from time to time, giving me a googly-eyed look, to which I go "Wha?" and then he stops. It is in those moments that he is maybe thinking, "She's beautiful," but he knows better than to tell me that.
He would get this:
Today is Valentine's Day, a day on which I do nothing special to show my love to those I love. I don't give the kids candy or cards, nor does D get anything.
Ok, technically, he did get this, which I made during the children's worship service this weekend....but it was mostly to have something to do while all the littles were making their mommies and daddies valentines.
I expect nothing from him and would actually be royally pissed if he went out and spent $50 on flowers for me. That $50 could be better spent elsewhere....like on a souvenir from our upcoming anniversary trip.
I have the same philosophy about Valentine's Day (and all holidays) as my mother (she is a wise old bird). If a person spends time with me or lavishes special things on me one day of the year, and then doesn't make much time for me any other time, then that one 24-hour period doesn't really mean anything special. My mother would rather go out to lunch with me on 12 regular, boring Tuesdays of the year than spend 1 "magical" Christmas Day.
When I think about love, I tend to focus on the boring aspects of it---the mundane, the routine---because that seems to me to be what love is really about. That seems to be the 95% of it. The thrill doesn't last long in the beginning, and when it reasserts itself at random times throughout a relationship, it doesn't last long then either. It pops up to say, "Uh, I'm still here" as a reassurance that all is not hopelessly dull, even if it is mostly dull.
When I think about love, I think about what I want to instill in my children by the example of my relationship with their dad. That we find each other funny. That we don't have knock-down drag-out arguments. That we give and take. That we sometimes, albeit not very often because that is pretty expensive, take time just for us. That we provide a stable foundation of relationship on which they grow.
These parts of love don't get the glory.
Valentine's Day cards are all about soulmates, about one person fulfilling every single need in the other. About one person being beautiful or amazing or the everything to the other person. I'm a fan of hyperbole, but this is just hyperbole on speed. I stopped getting D these cards because I felt they were all bullshit (and they also cost $5 a pop).
D is not my soulmate, an expectation that is too high for one human being to meet. I don't want to idolize my husband.....because I have to share a bathroom with him. Idolizing a person with whom you share a bathroom is just holding too vast of opposing ideas in one's head at the same time.
So I choose to remember that he is human, and I am human, and we somehow try to make our humanness work together happily.
I sort of shiver when they do it, but they are children and my sons, and if they think I am beautiful as their mom, I can live with that.
D, on the other hand, is not allowed to tell me I'm beautiful. I don't remember a time when he ever has, but I think I remember having a conversation with him in which I said I don't want to ever be called beautiful.
I do not think I am beautiful. Attractive....occasionally. I have "windows" of attractive, and they are usually quite short-lived.
I do catch D, from time to time, giving me a googly-eyed look, to which I go "Wha?" and then he stops. It is in those moments that he is maybe thinking, "She's beautiful," but he knows better than to tell me that.
He would get this:
Today is Valentine's Day, a day on which I do nothing special to show my love to those I love. I don't give the kids candy or cards, nor does D get anything.
Ok, technically, he did get this, which I made during the children's worship service this weekend....but it was mostly to have something to do while all the littles were making their mommies and daddies valentines.
I expect nothing from him and would actually be royally pissed if he went out and spent $50 on flowers for me. That $50 could be better spent elsewhere....like on a souvenir from our upcoming anniversary trip.
I have the same philosophy about Valentine's Day (and all holidays) as my mother (she is a wise old bird). If a person spends time with me or lavishes special things on me one day of the year, and then doesn't make much time for me any other time, then that one 24-hour period doesn't really mean anything special. My mother would rather go out to lunch with me on 12 regular, boring Tuesdays of the year than spend 1 "magical" Christmas Day.
When I think about love, I tend to focus on the boring aspects of it---the mundane, the routine---because that seems to me to be what love is really about. That seems to be the 95% of it. The thrill doesn't last long in the beginning, and when it reasserts itself at random times throughout a relationship, it doesn't last long then either. It pops up to say, "Uh, I'm still here" as a reassurance that all is not hopelessly dull, even if it is mostly dull.
When I think about love, I think about what I want to instill in my children by the example of my relationship with their dad. That we find each other funny. That we don't have knock-down drag-out arguments. That we give and take. That we sometimes, albeit not very often because that is pretty expensive, take time just for us. That we provide a stable foundation of relationship on which they grow.
These parts of love don't get the glory.
Valentine's Day cards are all about soulmates, about one person fulfilling every single need in the other. About one person being beautiful or amazing or the everything to the other person. I'm a fan of hyperbole, but this is just hyperbole on speed. I stopped getting D these cards because I felt they were all bullshit (and they also cost $5 a pop).
D is not my soulmate, an expectation that is too high for one human being to meet. I don't want to idolize my husband.....because I have to share a bathroom with him. Idolizing a person with whom you share a bathroom is just holding too vast of opposing ideas in one's head at the same time.
So I choose to remember that he is human, and I am human, and we somehow try to make our humanness work together happily.
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