tifi

My husband bought me a chair for Christmas, and I hated it. I’ve been wanting a chair like the yellow one I used to have, but somehow better. I don’t know how this “new” chair would be better, but I would know it when I saw it. Some time in mid-December, Luis called me up at work and made a big spectacle over the phone about how he was going to the thrift store. And he was going to pick up something big, and blah, blah, blah. Well, I put two and two together, but then thought, nah, no way. He knows I am way too picky and would never pick a piece of furniture for me on his own. Some women love having a man who knows how to pick gifts they love. I love having a man who knows better than to try. The last time I let him decide on anything for our house, we ended up with a fugly plaid couch which I hated.That night when I got home, the kids were quite excited to show me something. I went upstairs and sitting in my room was a chair with a big red bow on it. A pale yellow chair. An armchair. A reclining armchair. A reclining armchair with a mallard duck pattern all over it. W.T.F.?The children were so happy and asked if I liked it. I couldn’t lie. I told them immediately how horrible I thought it was. Since they didn’t pick it out, their feelings weren’t hurt and they moved on to climbing all over the thing and showing me the features. Like the matching arm rest covers. Lovely.Luis was in another room the entire time, and so I went to find him. I am, for the most part, not a person who can pretend I don’t feel anything when I am upset. And so I asked him how the hell he could’ve possibly thought of me when he picked that chair. Then he launched into a bit about how the other chairs were too pricey, or not my style, and on, and on. Another thing about me, I can wait for anything that I truly want. I waited 3 years for my new camera. I would rather wait, and get the thing I’d really like than settle for the quick fix.Next, he started to tell me how this was just one part of my gift. And how he ordered the book I really wanted to go with the chair so that I could have a new reading corner. Oh. Oh. And then of course, I felt like an ass, which is how I usually feel when I fly off the handle first and then think about it later. See: new year’s goal, patience.In the end, the chair ended up in the kids room because really, it wasn’t my style. But I definitely appreciate that in his own way, he was giving me exactly what I wanted and needed. A place to sit while I read to the children and maybe a little humble pie?