Pick Your Battles!

It’s Christmas and it’s your turn to open your final present. So far you’ve gotten a fabulous cashmere sweater, a white gold necklace, and that new perfume you’ve been wanting. You’ve saved the biggest present for last, assuming it’s the best. You tear off the ribbon then tear off the wrapping paper as your husband watches you wide eyed and grinning with a gleam in his eye. To your amazement and extreme discontent, you tear back the last of the paper to reveal the Hoover Windtunnel Bagless Vacuum Cleaner. You look at your husband wondering how he could possibly be cheesing so hard over such a preposterous present! You thank him half heartedly yet politely and casually get up to clean up the wrapping paper.

Now while reading this you may be thinking, “How typical! Men are so inconsiderate!” However, let’s stop and rewind time to the past 6 months where you complained at least 3 times on 3 separate occasions about how crappy the vacuum was and how frustrated you were by it. While it may seem like your husband got you a thoughtless gift on Christmas, the reality is actually quite the opposite when you really stop to think about it.

Women complain constantly that men don’t listen. Men often just seem to be distracted by their own interests and seem to have an amazing ability to tune us out. So, really how can you be upset about the vacuum cleaner? You complained, he listened, and responded by giving you what you wanted. Granted, maybe he could have just provided it for you as opposed to giving it as a gift. But regardless of what manner you received your new vacuum, the point is that he acknowledged your needs and tried to meet them. He may very well have been watching you as you angrily tossed the vacuum in the closet, and felt appreciative of the work you do around the house and thus wanted to make it easier on you. He may have spent time researching the top rated vacuums to make sure he got you something really reliable.

So even though, you may not have been thrilled that the last gift you unwrapped on Christmas was a vacuum cleaner, you may want to think twice about throwing your man in the dog house on this one. Think of his face and how excited he was while watching you open that present. Pick your battles and just throw him a bone! You asked and you received. It may not have been the ideal circumstances, but if you reward the effort now it may really pay off in the future!