Today, I feel like speaking on behalf of the men in our lives in regards to being appreciated by their women.
As fate would have it, women get the attention during most of the days celebrated in relation to family matters and relationships. As a woman, I have had the chance to be celebrated even on days clearly meant for men.
Sometimes there’s really nothing much we can do about it but sit and enjoy the moment. For instance, I was once taken out for dinner on Fathers’ Day all because I am a single parent to my daughter. There’s no way I was going to say ‘no’ to the offer because of my love for food. But that got me thinking, do we really celebrate our men as much as they celebrate us?
Some men go out of their way to make some of these days as memorable as possible for their women. I have witnessed women being taken on vacations across oceans, I have seen men go out of their way to gift cars and even title deeds to these women.
Some men equally surprise their women with random gifts like a phone, a nice treat at the spa, a home makeover or a beautiful dress. Their gifts just cut across.
But if we flip the coin, how far do we women go when celebrating our men? It’s almost obvious to men what’s in store for them on such days. For instance, if a woman is celebrating any day in her life, she will be spoilt for choice on what to expect as a gift. Women cannot really come up with the top three things that they are sure they will get as gifts. In many cases, a woman with a thoughtful man might never guess right what’s in store for her even if she were given 10 chances to do so.
When it comes to men though, just three guesses is all it might take. If it’s not a pair of socks, it will be a tie or a pair of shoes. At least when I was dating, I tried and went the extra mile and gifted my man a coat -- something he said he totally never expected.
I still insist that we can do better than the above named gifts. We should just one day wake up and surprise these sons of Pharaoh. The way they go out of their way to make our days deserves a similar deed towards them. Don’t get me wrong though, I am not saying we all should aim for big gifts with hefty financial implications. What I am trying to suggest is, can we at least make it a bit unpredictable for them like they do for us?
The other month, I was celebrating my birthday and I just couldn’t figure out what a male friend of mine would buy me as he had promised me a gift. On the D-day, he surprised me with a cake. Honestly speaking, that was a real surprise. Nowhere in my wildest dream had I imagined that the surprise would be a cake. I would mention the stuff I had in mind for the gift but I know you will accuse me of being materialistic. Anyway, just know that I appreciated my gift and ate the cake to the last piece.
The other day, I was talking to a male friend celebrating his wedding anniversary and he was almost sure about what his wife was going to get him that evening. He had on his side bought his wife a nice big painting of herself. For a moment, I wished I was the wife.
But then I remembered how many times I have fallen in love with the wrong people. When this man got home that evening, he got a well wrapped gift on the dining table next to their candle lit anniversary dinner. Your guess is as good as mine. As we speak, he has 14 new pairs of “happy socks.”
Dear women, Christmas is around the corner. I know our men don’t expect anything on this day because they were not born in a manger. Let’s surprise them with that one thing they least expect from us. Trust me, a good surprise goes a long way.
itindiberyl@gmail.com