It’s another Valentine’s Day. I’m not sure what Jonathan and I are going to do this year; last year I wrote about how we’ve rarely, if ever, celebrated the holiday. He doesn’t even need to find me any candy hearts, because the box he bought me last year was so big I still have some left over.
This year, I do kind of feel inspired to do something special for him. However, I’m not sure if I actually want to do it on Valentine’s Day. I’m still not sure that I like the idea of one day set aside for romance; I know it’s just me, but to me it implies that every other day isn’t supposed to be that romantic. Lately I just really want to do sweet things for Jonathan, because he’s been doing many sweet things for me. If I take some inspiration from Valentine’s, so be it, but my real inspiration is my husband.
Of course, I’m facing a tricky battle. I’ve said before how it’s hard to do special things for Jon. He’s just so laid back. One thing I did over the weekend was as simple as order a pizza. It doesn’t seem like something that should be special, but it was. He’d spent the entire afternoon working on putting hardwood floor on the stairs. He was tired and stressed out by the end of it, because it hadn’t gone as well as he’d hoped.
Jonathan loves homemade pizza; he grew up eating it every Friday. One thing he rarely gets is what I call “real pizza,” because due to dairy problems the ones I make use cheddar instead of mozzarella. So for him to get “real pizza,” is a special treat, one he gets even more rarely at home (he does get it at work sometimes), because if I can’t eat it, I don’t want to watch him eat it, either. So I ordered delivery of whatever kind of pizza he wanted.
If I’m going to continue to do special things for Jonathan, they’re going to have to be along these lines. Maybe I can keep drawing inspiration from Valentine’s: in this case, from its confectionary aspects. It’s been a while since I baked anything, so maybe I could make Jon something special. His favorite cake, or a choice of whatever other baked good he wants. I could do some of his chores for him, as he’s been doing for me. I could write him a note telling him how I feel about him, but I usually tell him to his face, and do so frequently, so I’m not sure how special that is.
One of the best things I can do for Jonathan is to take some of the decisions away from him. That seems counterintuitive, but it’s how he is. He doesn’t often like having to decide what we’re having for dinner, or what he wants. Maybe I should just bake or make something special for him, and give it to him as a surprise. I ask him what he wants so often, that just might be one of the most special things I could do for him.
Do you use Valentine’s as inspiration to spoil your spouse?
*(The above image by piyato is from freedigitalphotos.net).