How To Make A Man Feel Special
The SO and I had our first date on August 2. We went to a Def Leppard concert, which is really another story for another day, but I will say that it was memorable. Believe it or not, when you don’t know someone very well, it’s uncomfortable to sit through “Pour Some Sugar on Me” sober.
“It’s kind of awkward that this song is so dirty, isn’t it?” he said.
“Yeah.”
I’m also not sure whether or not this means our song has to be “Rock of Ages,” but I try not to worry about it too much.
Later, when I realized that we might make it past the first three weeks of hanging out, I thought I would do him a huge favor and move our anniversary to August 1. Men are infamously bad at remembering dates, right? So, if I turned our anniversary into the first of the month, how much easier would that be on him? Plus, I kind of passed my romantic phase at the age of 23, so the 24 hours didn’t really bother me.
(Maybe it’s not that my romantic phase went out the window, I just decided that remembering umbrellas, putting dishes in the dishwasher and letting me watch chick flicks on occasion was more important than flowers, chocolates or limos. My love languages are quality time and acts of service. It turns out that gifts are way down the list. I also have no problem using gift cards and coupons on dates. I consider that smart, not cheap.)
Fast-forward a few months. When I happened to mention that I was looking forward to our August 1 anniversary, the SO looked at me funny.
“Our first date was on August 2nd. What’s with this August 1 stuff?”
“I didn’t really expect you to remember the day,” I said and then explained my reasoning behind the little shift.
“Are you saying we have a real anniversary and an observed anniversary?” he said. “Is this like what happens when the 4th of July falls in the middle of the week but your boss wants to make sure you have a long weekend?”
At first, I think the SO thought it was a way for me to get more gifts – that he might have to honor the two anniversary nights instead of the one. Or, maybe, he’s just a good guy.
Either way, every year I hear about whether I’d like to celebrate our real anniversary or our observed anniversary. I usually go for real – unless it’s easier to get reservations on the observed one or something like that.
I’m totally normal.