The best premarital advise we received was from Jamie’s fun-loving Aunt Kathy. For years, she had to remind her husband of every major milestone in their lives. One anniversary, she decided to not mention it and see if he remembered. Of course, he didn’t.
That brought out the flood gates and her anger was unleashed. Until she listened to a radio show that addressed this topic and posed the question: “Why do we test our significant others? Instead of having them prove their love, why can we just not tell them what we want and help them be successful?” This latter point has been the mantra of our marriage and the key in our communication efforts as we ensure both of our needs are met.
But then came Hadley. Even though she is delightful much of the time, she’s also into her toddler tantrums and is not sticking to the family motto. In fact, she shirks it in anyway possible. At 21 months, she has good language skills and is able to communicate her basic needs. However for her, this is not acceptable. Instead of saying “Jew,” [juice], she is more of the personality type that is aching to say, “Get me some juice, Mother Slave of Mine.”
The other day, we had some major meltdowns. Hadley was trying to tell me something but despite my best efforts, I just couldn’t comprehend what it was. She finally threw herself on the ground and in her best oppressed-and-frustrated-wife-fit, she appeared to scream, “If you loved me, you’d know what I’m trying to sayyyyyyy.”
I already fear for her husband.
I'm a Canadian-born mom of two, former Denver Post columnist, family travel writer, editor of MileHighMamas.com and 9News contributor. Expert on all things Utah, Denver, family and travel. Lover of laughter and life. Happily married to a man obsessed with growing The Great Pumpkin. 