Steamed

Christmas was very positive, I thought.  The missus went above and beyond, getting me a rather feminine necklace from Pandora.  Kind of a charm necklace.  Very pretty, and decidedly girly to me.

But that's not why I feel compelled to write tonight.

We had a hard day today.  Lots of running around, prep for school that resumes tomorrow.  My daughter's Rose Parade appearance was not covered by television the way we would've liked.  Plus I was shopping for my wife's birthday.

My wife insists that the kids all come along for the shopping, and I see her point.  But our eldest has zero interest in that, and she can be very difficult to manage when agitated.  So I had to deal with that.

We took the kids out to eat.  We wanted the boy to know how much we have appreciated his help looking after his sister when we had to be out, and the middle girl was off in California.  Good meal, Italian.

Come bedtime shortly thereafter, and he has a bellyache.  Too much food, too much sugar earlier in the day, too much caffeine with the meal.  It doesn't matter.  He is nauseated, and can't get to bed, and all my wife wants to do is badger him to do this or that, and figure out the source of the problem.  Even as she is sleeping in the recliner, she is waking and asking for status reports.  And I am handling things in my way as the wakeful parent on duty.  Just the way she always says she wants it to be, except when she doesn't.

I keep biting my tongue and pushing forward with the matter, not wanting to cause any permanent damage.  Just take care of the boy.  Then I finally have a short explosion, telling her to back off, that she is upsetting the boy by badgering him to do things, that she has to control everything.  Not the prettiest soliloquy I ever composed, but basically true.

Oh, I forgot to mention... Earlier, I told her that I wanted to go ahead and give her a gift now.  I thought it was special, and a little private.  She was very leery, and said that she hoped there wasn't a quid pro quo attached to it.  No, I assured her, though I secretly thought the comment a tad insulting.  So I gave her the package from Soma, five pairs of panties and a pretty nightshirt. 

Yes, I went off the grid and got something she didn't ask for, not unlike her Christmas gift to me.  The panties were all cotton, no lace, as was the nightshirt.  She is very particular, I have learned over the last thirty years.  She said that the panties might  be okay.  She thought the nightshirt was a bit shorter than she'd like, and the medium I selected might be too confining for her to sleep in.  You're welcome, I thought.

So, my mind was there before the outburst as well.

I feel certain that she will be expecting an apology, and I am equally certain that one will not be forthcoming. 

And that's how my two week vacation ends.