Shopping for my husband is not only impossible but a waste of money. In the past I have bought him gifts that made him give that “meh” expression. You know the one I mean, it’s like a forced smile and it looks like it hurts.
Last Christmas I literally put prayer into what to get him. I had no faith in myself. I mean let’s face it, his mom gets him better presents than I do and she gets him socks and underwear.
So there I sat on a cold morning in the month of November watching Christmas movies and thinking about good ol’ hubs. I thought about the last conversation we had. It was more of a small but loud disagreement than just a conversation. It was about his beard. Yes I know, I’m one of the few none trendy girls that hate the hipster beard. My biggest issue after the scruffy unkept (I have no wife to look decent for) look is that kissing him gave me the creeps.
He went on and on about how much he loves his beard and you could have sworn he was talking about our children. That conversation made me think, perhaps this is all he could possibly want for Christmas.
So I got to work. What idea of a gift could this argument with my husband possibly inspire?… Coupons!
I got on my computer and created coupons giving Jesiah permission to decline every possible chore he hated doing with the addition of a nag free wife. And I know the Lord was pleased because as Proverbs 21:9 goes, “Better to live on the corner of a roof than to share a house with a nagging wife”.
On Christmas Day Jesiah was pleasantly surprised and excited. An example of some coupons I created were as follows:
- Admission to decline changing a diaper.
- Admission to not shave after having been requested to.
- Admission to sleep in undisturbed.
- Admission to not clean the toilet… (this one I regret making).
- Admission to have sex after I’ve declined.
- Admission to go camping with friends for a weekend childfree.
- Admission to purchase one unnecessary item without my approval under $100.
I made about ten of these coupons, two of each type and they all came with the condition of no nagging from me. And of course these coupons all needed expiry dates; December 25th of the upcoming year. I can’t have him storing these up and using them against me for years to come haha. But I am making a new bunch for Jesiah this Christmas and I’ll try to get more creative with them and let you guys know how that goes.
These coupons actually do something in my heart as Jesiah uses them. It causes me to learn self discipline. I honestly did get frustrated through out the year in those moments Jesiah would use a coupon on me. But I had to bite my tongue and take a deep breath. In that moment I had to put my husband’s needs before my own. And that’s truly what I wanted his gift to be. The gift of me putting him first.
