My husband is picky. From his steak to his socks, he is uncompromisingly particular. When I call him on it, he says, "That's why I married you." Then I usually walk away, shaking my head and muttering my frustrations over how much extra money the little-used but much-desired feature on Model X will cost us over Model Y. Of course, at the end of the day, his response does give me warm fuzzies.
There are certain things I wouldn't think my husband - and as stereotyping would have us believe, any husband - would care much about. Like today's topic: Bedding. Aside from having soft, high-thread-count sheets, I wouldn't think he'd fret too much over what they looked like. I was incorrect. When I started shopping online for a new bedding set, I showed him the ones I liked. We had actually agreed on a set...and then realized it was dry clean only. Dry cleaning is a process wherein people without children get their fabrics laundered by professional cleaners at some off-site location where they take a day or two to get your stuff back to you, since people without children have this kind of time and money (and probably extra bedding to use while they wait). Hence, dry cleaning is not for us.
When I went shopping at the store, I sent pictures for his review. "Too dark, too flowery, too ornate." The process had quickly been drained of its fun. In frustration, I picked 3 that I thought would be alright by him. "Choose!" I demanded. His simple yet effective response was, "I choose...Buzz Lightyear!" Instead, he decided to go to the store with me. Finally! Naturally, being at the store didn't make the decision easier. We had selected a couple of different duvet covers, only to put them back because of one flaw (wrong color) or another (too expensive). I stared at the displays. "If I could pick any of these," I sighed, pointing to a dark and flowery comforter, "it'd be that one."
"Okay," said Husband.
I sighed again, "But, you know, we can keep look- Okay?! You're okay with that one?"
"Yeah, it's not so bad."
"It's so pretty! And it matches our sheets! And our bedroom is plenty bright, so I'm sure it won't look too dark in there! And..." I was excited by my victory. And you know what? It is pretty. I like it. A professional homemaker probably makes these types of decisions him- or herself, but knowing Husband doesn't hate it makes me like it even more.
