To Be 6 Again...

To Be 6 Again...

A man was sitting on the edge of the bed, observing his wife, looking at herself in the mirror. Since her birthday was not far off he asked what she'd like to have for her Birthday.

'I'd like to be six again', she replied, still looking in the mirror.

On the morning of her Birthday, he arose early, made her a nice big bowl of Lucky Charms, and then took her to Six Flags theme park. What a day!

He put her on every ride in the park; the Death Slide, the Wall of Fear, the screaming Monster Roller Coaster, everything there was.

Five hours later they staggered out of the theme park.

Her head was reeling and her stomach felt upside down.

He then took her to a McDonald's where he ordered her a Happy Meal with extra fries and a chocolate shake.

Then it was off to a movie, popcorn, a soda pop, and her favorite candy, M&M's. What a fabulous adventure! Finally she wobbled home with her husband and collapsed into bed exhausted. He leaned over his wife with a big smile and lovingly asked, 'Well Dear, what was it like being six again?'

Her eyes slowly opened and her expression suddenly changed. 'I meant my dress size, you retard!!!!'

The moral of the story:
Even when a man is listening, he is gonna get it wrong.

This particular item, received by email, got me thinking more than chuckling this morning. While it's "cute" in it's own way, it speaks volumes about what we should be aware of and how we communicate with each other.

Communication is important in any relationship, no matter how casual or temporary. It is the tool we use to judge our satisfaction with the relationship. Typically, even we things are a little rocky, we feel good about the relationships with those we take the time and energy to clearly talk about our thoughts, desires and needs. Even the shortest of experiences with other people can be classified as "good" when we think the other person understands us and is reacting the way we feel is appropriate to the moment. Ever had a waitress who seemed to anticipate your every need without smothering you with attention?

Then, of course, there are going to be those relationships in which no matter what you do the communication is going to be lacking or misinterpreted. We women like to give men a hard time about not understanding us, but in truth the communication issues are not because of gender differences. Instead these issues arise because we aren't taking the time to ask questions and we make assumptions. We all know what happens when you assume, right?

One might read this blog and start assuming that it's being written about them. One would probably be wrong, however, I bet it would impact the quality of our communication. So let's repeat the disclaimer as it's been stated before in comments sections, etc. that this blog is about all of my relationships but sometimes it's about putting a voice to those who feel they have none based on my own experiences - "Dear Cappy" is one example of the conglomerate blog entry: the "my ex" or "my daughter/child/children" could be anyone in a co-parenting situation. Did you think it was about you?? Awkward, eh? All I can say is that if you thought I was writing to you that perhaps it's worth examining the quality of your communication with the other parties in your life to see where you can improve the communication. Definitely it takes more than one person to make communication happen (otherwise it's just noise), but every little effort you make will help you get one step further from the assumption that "6 again" refers to age.

How about a group effort to commit to asking clarifying questions this week, instead of assuming, so that we are one step closer to understanding each other? I'm in. How about you? At least tell me how you enjoyed the theme park.