Holidays From the Edge of the Map

Big Daddy is a logical, no nonsense, follow the laws of nature, mechanical engineer

who happens to be married to and have babies with Brownie, who is an abstract, romantic, make-up-the-rules-of-life-as-you-go-along, goat milking, poet-thinker.

So it came as quite a shock to me when we were discussing Valentine’s day ye many years ago when we were first dating.

“I mean, I’m not getting you anything, is that ok?”

Wha-wha-WHAT?!

No present? No card? No flowers (that would just die anyway) or fancy box of chocolate (that I wouldn’t eat lest I become fat and zitty…)

“I’m not going to waste money on a card when I can just tell you how I feel. Valentine’s Day is just a “Hallmark Holiday,” a way to boost sales after the post-Christmas slump in between New Years and Easter. When you love someone, you should appreciate them…

[Wait for it…wait for it…]

EVERYDAY, not just once a year.”

It was on that day that I realized that Big Daddy is either the smartest guy on the planet (for just getting himself out of every Valentine’s, Mother’s Day, Boxing Day, Kwaanza…just about anything Hallmark sells a card for, short of my birthday and Armistice Day (which just so happens to be our anniversary!) And don’t even get me started about his stance on the post-partem Push Present. He abhors the thought that a women should be materialistically rewarded for child birth (“Um, isn’t the “prize” at the end of labor…the baby?”) Of course, that didn’t stop me, after a nasty case of antepartem depression, from demanding insisting negotiating a pair of custom made diamond earrings. I kind of have to side with Tom Cruise in this case

…there’s nothing a little bling doesn’t fix for this gal…Either that, or he really meant that he wanted us to celebrated our love everyday until death do us part. I suspect it’s a little of both.

The point is, he takes great care of me all year long, and I think I take pretty good care of him, too! It’s a great philosophy to live by and I’m glad we “gave up” the Hallmark holidays. We demonstrate our love for each other with our words and our actions, rather than with things. Ok, fine, you can barf now.

That being said…it doesn’t mean we don’t let each other sleep in and treat each other really nice on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day…just with our own twist. You can imagine Big Daddy’s face when he received these two bad little boys for Father’s Day.

I know he not-so-secretly wanted a Weber Wok (Oh, so this year we ARE buying cool stuff for each other?!) but these are WAY better. The Wok can wait… but in the mean time, who doesn’t love eating tacos out of a hand-painted ceramic Chihuahua? Deliciouso!!!

And P.S…for Father’s Day, I got myself these…to honor my baby daddy by looking cute at the pool.