Hubby has always given me great gifts.  I’m not bragging, just giving him credit for a job well done.  I also don’t mean that they are necessarily expensive, just incredibly thoughtful.  He’s good at paying attention when I say, “I want to…” and he keeps a mental list of the things I like.  It’s not difficult to do because I have a habit of saying, “Ooh, I’d love to…” or “Oh, my gosh! I wish…”  Over the years Hubby has taken me to see Baryshnikov dance (long after I thought he’d hung up his dancing shoes), rented suped up muscle cars for his motor head wife (yep, that’s me), and scored tickets to a Sharks (hockey) playoff game even though he wasn’t yet a fan (he was converted after that game).

Hubby is the artistic person in the family so Halloween costumes fall to him to create.  If the task were left to me the kids would have store-bought costumes, which means they wouldn’t be EXACTLY what they want, or they would be amoebas.  I don’t think my kids would actually choose to be an amoeba (or maybe they would) it’s just that something wrong happens when I try to create something with my hands.  I guess my hands and my brain don’t communicate well because no matter what image I have in my mind, my creation always ends up looking like a blob.  Needless to say, the kids have figured out that their dad is the person to consult.

October is also the beginning of hockey season, so while Hubby has been making costumes, the kids and I have been watching the games on TV. So one night I got up to take care of a few things while commercials were on and Jack came running in yelling that if I went online to a local hockey store’s website I could get everything I needed to look like a hockey player for Halloween. I thought he was buying into a commercial, but I later found out it was all Jack’s idea. He was so insistent that I check out the site immediately that I decided to entertain his idea. Now, let me be clear here, I had no intention of dressing up for Halloween or of buying anything.  However, the jersey I had been eyeing happened to be on sale. It also happens that the next night we were going to be in the area of the store anyway so I thought maybe I would go to find out what size jersey I wanted just in case I decided to buy one sometime.

Throughout that night and the next day Jack worked on me to dress up for Halloween.  “But, Mom, it would be AWESOME if you dressed up for Halloween!” He was so excited by the idea, how cold I disappoint him? So we went to the store, I tried on jerseys and then agonized over whether or not to spend the money. Those jerseys are not cheap. Hubby put in his two cents saying, “Well, which will enrich your life more, the jersey or the money?” I finally gave in to Jacks wishes and my desire to show my team loyalty. I was handing the clerk my money when Hubby stepped in, handed over his credit card and said, “The kids and I were going to get this for you for Christmas so I guess I’ll pay for it now.” Oh, how bad I felt. I hadn’t thought about Christmas. Hubby just laughed and said, “Don’t worry. I’ll be taking it from you on Christmas Eve to wrap. Remember to act surprised.”

I have to admit that I didn’t feel bad for long about ruining their surprise. After all, Hubby knew Jack had been working me to dress up for Halloween. Hubby’s a smart guy; he should have manipulated the situation by making other costume suggestions. Isn’t manipulating your children a natural part of parenting? I think Hubby secretly wanted to make a mock hockey stick and add more to his already full costume agenda. In the meantime, Happy Halloween and Merry Christmas to me!

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