Yes, Dear, You Are Wonderful

I need to start this blog by explaining that I grew up with an Asian mother, and Asians are not known for being open with their feelings. So maybe it was my upbringing, or maybe it’s just the way I have always been, but I am not a mushy-gushy type of person who has the ability to constantly give praises to people. It’s just not in my nature.

Enter my sweet, thoughtful, SENSITIVE husband of ten years. You can all imagine a husband and wife relationship (maybe you ARE this couple) where the wife constantly needs to be told by her husband how beautiful and sexy she is, that she’s the best cook and mother on the planet, and that no, those pants don’t make your butt look big. Our relationship is different. Brian showers me with compliments daily, and my usual reaction is, “Whatever. You’re just saying that because you’re supposed to.” And Brian feels that he doesn’t get enough recognition for all the great things he does. I am now going to try to redeem myself by telling the whole world that Brian is wonderful. We all know this about Brian already, but he still needs some recognition every once in a while - I know, I know. So as uncomfortable as this might make me, here goes:

When I was pregnant with Kali (our first), Brian felt so bad for me when the morning sickness hit that he called his mom to find out what he could do to help. She suggested crackers. He went to the store looking for the magic food to take away my pain. He didn’t know which brand of crackers to get so he ended up buying EVERY kind he could find! He came home with about 10 different boxes. I laughed.

Brian knows that exercising is what keeps me sane. If I miss a day, oh boy - watch out - the crazy mommy emerges. He will do everything in his power to make sure our schedules will work out so I don’t miss my evening yoga session. And while I am gone doing my relaxation poses, he is at home bathing the kids, getting them to bed, and cleaning up the kitchen.

One last story - when Kali was around 7, Brian decided she was old enough to start learning how other boys should treat her, so he decided to take her out on a date. He called her from work during the week and asked her out on a date for that weekend. When date night arrived he rang the door and had flowers for her, and they went to dinner and a movie. It has kind of become a tradition now and he tries to take her out on a date about once a month. It's great because sometimes Kali gets neglected when her baby sister demands all the attention, so she really needs this special one-on-one time with her dad.

I could go on but that’s already more mush than I can stand. So now I have publicly acknowledged that I have the best husband in the world. I guess that means I have to forgive him for leaving his smelly gym shoes by the door and his sweaty workout clothes in the middle of the floor this morning when I was frantically trying to clean the house before a realtor came over to show our house ;P