Slippers are Better than a Tie

His:
Here we are just a couple of days after Father's Day. I had a great time. The kids bought me slippers, which I really needed... and the wife bought me slippers... Hmmmmm. Is there a message here? I was really hoping for a John Deere riding mower. Aaaaah well, slippers. At least I didn't get ANOTHER tie!! We had a bar-b-que at home, hot dogs, burgers, chips, dip and baked beans. Then we sat around and played some board games and laughed until our sides hurt. It was one daughter-in-laws birthday, so we had birthday cake too!! The only low point of the day was when it started pouring while I was cooking. Luckily we were able to put the BBQ under the awning so I only got wet instead of soaked. A belated happy Father's Day to all you Dad's out there. Anyone get the John Deere riding mower this year? If you live nearby, I'd love to try it out!

Hers:
Father's day was fun, but so wet and yucky!! It poured on and off all day and the kids didn't know what to do with themselves. We had a bar-b-que anyway, although I offered to take hubs and the kids out to a restaurant. He wanted a "regular" bar-b-que and it's his day, so we cooked in the rain. I realized just before we were about to get started that we didn't have any chips or dip, so off to the store I ran. Made it back in the nick of time. Made baked beans with sausage in it and a big salad. After the squall and dinner we all sat inside... it was too wet to go out... and played board games. That was fun!! We celebrated one daughter-in-law's birthday with a cake. Everyone got a piece and they took home the rest. Sooooo glad. I certainly don't need any cake in this house!! I don't need to eat it, just rub it on my butt!! Hubs got a pair of shearling slippers for the winter from me. They were soooo soft, mmmmm. He got a pair of summer slippers from the kids. Very tasteful. I think he really appreciated their thoughfulness. All in all it was a good, but wet, day!! Glad we had fun, but we should've gone to the restaurant. Oh well, maybe next year! Happy Father's Day everyone!!

TALK:
Couples often disagree on how to spend holidays and family events. A good way to avoid problems is to take turns letting each partner have their way. For smaller holidays, like Father's and Mother's Day it's easy to see how to decide. For more complex holidays, like Christmas or Hanukkah, family traditions need to be included in the decisions as well. Try sharing holidays by alternating years or family traditions.

How do you share holiday decisions with your partner?
What have you learned that helped you accomplish your sharing goal more easily?

Karma works!!

His:
Okay, so I get home from work and the wife wants to have a friend over for dinner. My gut reaction is to say,"WTF are you nuts? I'm dog tired. It's not a weekend!! I just busted my butt at work all day!! I really just want to take a shower, eat dinner, veg out in front of the TV, scan the channels, watch a game, maybe get lucky... and go to bed early." But, I think... I figure if I agree nicely it'll come back to me... you know, karma and all that. So I agree. The kids are all here with their friends, playing PS3 upstairs and making a racket. Just about when I'm ready to ask them to simmer down, they head out for the night. Whew!! Her friend is nice enough and the rest of the evening goes by pretty well. Lucky for me the night ends at a reasonable time and I get to hit the sack early... etc... Karma works!!

Hers:
Today was a busy day. Ran some errands in the morning, had a client in the early afternoon. Found myself on the phone with a single friend who hasn't had any work in a while and is struggling. Tough economy. I figure we all need to eat anyway, so one more person for supper won't make much difference. It's nice to help others when you can. Hubs came home from work looking tired and dragged out. I told him we were having my friend over for dinner. He had a funny look on his face for a moment, seemed distracted, then said, "Sure, okay." It was busy around here with the kids having friends over, playing video games and laughing upstairs. A bit after dinner the kids started heading out for the night and our friend left to go home. Hubs was obviously tired but so sweet all night. I wondered what he was thinking, but he didn't say anything much when I asked. I made sure he got to bed early so he could rest after such a hard day. (Wink!)

Talk:
We all have times when we compromise. Relationships flourish when we make accomodations for our partners in small ways on a daily basis. When we make frequent small deposits into the bank account of our relationship, we have a balance of good feelings there to back us up when we need to make a withdrawal.



How do you make deposits in your relationship?