Celebrating Wife Appreciation Day!
Hey folks, it’s that time of the year again. It’s Wife Appreciation Day today. Yippee! Yes, they actually felt the need to have such a day to remind husbands to appreciate their wives – at least once a year – for all that they do for them and the family. Of course there’s that rare breed of husbands who’ll say: Oh, for me, every day is Wife Appreciation Day. God bless these good souls, and may their tribe increase.
Wives cook, dust, clean, nurse, babysit, teach, counsel, comfort, offer moral support; some even work full time to keep the home fires burning, and yet tackle a zillion chores to manage the household. So surely, a teensy-weensy bit of appreciation, even a warm hug, now and then is not asking for too much, is it? Ask any wife and she’ll tell you it’s the small things, the little gestures of affection, that matter most in a marriage. Not the shimmering gold jewellery or an evening out at a fancy restaurant.
It’s true, wives in general could do with a lot more appreciation than they get. Yes, there are some husbands who may go to extreme lengths to shower praises on their wife. And other husbands could sneer that these guys know life would be hell for them if they didn’t pay lavish tributes to their wives, specially in public. But most wives are not such aggressive hellcats.
And what’s wrong with expecting a little appreciation from those closest to us? The need to be appreciated is a basic human craving. No, I didn’t make that up. That’s what the American philosopher and psychologist William James had said.
The sad part is that though husbands may love their wives, they often don’t feel it’s important to show their wives they love them. Believe me, feeling unappreciated by their husbands must be the worst feeling a wife can ever experience.
Ladies, remember that appreciation is a two-way street
So guys, go ahead and wear your heart on your sleeve, at least once in a while. It won’t kill you to do this, but it will make a huge difference to the woman in your life. I agree, appreciation is a two-way street. Therefore, wives shouldn’t be taking their husbands for granted either. Also, we need to stop taking ourselves too seriously, stop taking every little argument to heart.
Sometimes my husband, like all husbands tend to, says or does something annoying, and then I imagine I’m a burly WWF female wrestler and grab and slam things around in the kitchen to vent my anger. But then my son looks at the ugly frown on my face and says, “Mum, you need to lighten up. Where’s your sense of humour?” I calm down instantly, stop flexing those imaginary muscles, give him a quick hug, and say, “I know that son.”
I’m sure I’m not alone in experiencing moments like this. As we grow older, we tend to forget how to enjoy the moment like we did when we were younger. That’s why we need to give ourselves an occasional wake-up call to go with the flow, and stop being offended by anything and everything. Who knows, we may not get another chance to reach out in love to our near and dear ones.
A refreshing dash of husband-wife humour
Laughter is a wonderful tension buster. And being able to laugh at ourselves now and then is a great way of puncturing our ego and dragging us back to reality. Of cleansing our minds of resentment and other negative emotions.
So no matter who’s not generous when it comes to words or gestures of appreciation, don’t forget to laugh together. For the couple that doesn’t laugh together could find it very difficult to stay together. Not just that, for those who are trying to cope within a difficult marriage, laughter could be the lifeline they need to keep their relationship going, maybe to even strengthen it.
So have you laughed lately? No? As they say, laughter is the best medicine. For a happy life, and a successful marriage. So here’s some husband-wife humour to lift your spirits, to give you an opportunity to laugh at yourself, to let you enjoy the lighter side of marriage:
“Getting married is a lot like getting into a tub of hot water. After you get used to it, it ain’t so hot.” -Minnie Pearl
“If you want to sacrifice the admiration of many men for the criticism of one, go ahead, get married.” – Katharine Hepburn
“Love is blind – marriage is the eye-opener.” – Pauline Thomason
“By all means marry. If you get a good wife, you’ll be happy. If you get a bad one, you’ll become a philosopher.” Socrates
“Never laugh at your wife’s choices. You’re one of them!” – Anonymous
Now some marriage-related humour in pictures:
And one that packs a whole lot of ‘marriage’ wisdom, especially for the inflexible types! 
And since, being a woman, naturally, I can’t resist letting women have the last word:
A professor of English asked the students to punctuate these words correctly: “woman without her man is nothing”
The men wrote: “Woman, without her man, is nothing.”
But the women wrote: “Woman! Without her, man is nothing.”
Finally, in celebration of Wife Appreciation Day, and to honour wives throughout the world, here’s Elvis singing a beautiful tribute to his special lady. Here’s what you have to do. Wives, imagine your real life hero is crooning this to you. And husbands… no, no, no excuses. Just do it. Just imagine you’re singing this to your wife, OK?
Now how about spreading a little laughter on Wife Appreciation Day by sharing this with your friends?
Cheers!
