One of our favorite family pastimes is to snuggle in our king-size bed and wrestle with The Hurricane. For her, snuggling is equal unto a day without Grandma. She hates anything that is a restriction from her path of destruction.
So the other night while we were torturing her with snuggles, Jamie blurted out he was working on a surprise.
“A surprise?”
“Yep!”
“So, what is it?”
“Not telling.”
This went on for a few minutes until I decided to clam up and pretend I could not care less. The problem is, I was intrigued. And I did care. More. Especially if I was the one to benefit. I finally exploded.
“OK, what is it? Give me a hint?”
Now relishing that he was in control, he teased back: “What do I get out of it?”
“Love.”
“I get love every day.”
“Even more love.”
He persisted, trying to exploit my innate sense of curiosity. I finally caved.
“OK, fine. You’ll get a back rub.”
Defeated, I listened as he divulged his secret–a 5-day trip to Crested Butte for our anniversary next month. ‘Twas a stellar reward for my trouncing but it was only the battle that was won. After all, shouldn’t love be the best payback of all?
He whipped off his shirt and assumed the back-rub position, languishing in his victory. And his reward? Hurricane Hadley covertly came up behind him and administered his prize: a 9 second back rub/horsey ride/back breaker.
The war was won.
I'm a Canadian-born mom of two, former Denver Post columnist, family travel writer, editor of MileHighMamas.com and 9News contributor. Expert on all things Utah, Denver, family and travel. Lover of laughter and life. Happily married to a man obsessed with growing The Great Pumpkin. 