Did I ever tell you about the time (last year) where I had literally ZERO presents under the Christmas tree?
Meaning - zero presents addressed to me. Like, not one. I had opened up ones from my parents a few days earlier - but Christmas morning, even Santa forgot about me.
I sat there on the couch, in my jammies, legs crossed and head tilted. Confused. Thought for sure a big surprise for me must be coming.
But do you wanna know Blaine’s response to me, after he opened up the big a** ping pong table I bought him?
“Oh, uh, I thought we weren’t getting each other anything.”
Me: ?!?!?!😟😟😭😭😭😭 **as sad violins played in the background**
I mean, Where he got that thought, I have no idea.
So he feels all bad, right. Realizes that the ping pong table I got him was pretty much awesome and the nothing he got me was pretty much not awesome.
So what does he do?
He shows up to the house after a couple of hours, walks into the living room where I was sitting.
“Merry Christmas, babe!” he said, with a massive smile on his face. In his hand - my Christmas gift. Wrapped so lovingly in a gray plastic Walmart grocery bag.
I looked at him blankly. Slowly took the bag from him. And as I peered inside, what do I find?
A pancake spatula.
Because “you like pancakes, babe.”
And a clip-on lamp for a college kid’s desk.
Because “you like good lighting for videos, babe.”
Best part? Both had “under $3” clearance stickers.
I sat there completely frozen. My eyeballs were the only thing that moved, just so I could look up at his face to see his reaction. And y’all, he was legitimately proud of himself. Smiling. Like, he wasn’t joking. At all.
He was like “What, babe?! I spent two hours trying to find something you’d like!”
Me: ?!?!?!😡🤬😡🤬😡🤬😭😭😭😭 **as I chunked the pancake spatula from across the room towards his head**
At that point, he slowly started to realize that he’d committed the biggest Christmas gift fail of all time. And he started uncontrollably laughing.
“It’s NOT FUNNY!!!” I wailed. “Do I mean THAT LITTLE TO YOU?! Waaaahhhhhh”
But I’ll tell you what - now that I look back on that story, one year later, it’s so hilarious to me.
He truly tried. And he truly failed.
And you know what? Since that debacle, Blaine and I have had our best year of marriage yet. We’ve used that situation, and many others, to continue to learn how to make each other happy. Which love languages we operate in, and which ones we need to work on.
I tell you this story not to make me look like a spoiled brat and not to make him look like an insensitive jerk, because we both are truly not either of those things - at all.
But I tell you this to share - that there is always - ALWAYS - something sweet that can come from something frustrating. Something to learn from that can come from something upsetting. Something to laugh about that can come from something annoying.
I pray your Christmas was full of joy. And if it wasn’t, look for the joy anyway.
You’ll find it.
My husband gave me ZERO Christmas presents one year. And his response was priceless.
