Walmart.

Sometimes I wonder what kind of person I am. I mean, I guess I know what kind of person I am, I think anyways, but sometimes I wonder about those other little personality traits that sneak up on me now and then. Sounds deep, doesn't it? I'd like to assume that there would be only good things to say about me but I'll admit, sometimes I catch myself in the act and think, 'Am I really that...(fill in the blank).'  Yesterday was one of these days...

It was a beautiful Easter Sunday and we had a lovely day celebrating with our family. A fun filled morning at home and then to my sister in law's, for brunch. As the day winded down we were home finishing naps and enjoying a lazy Sunday when I realized Eric had promised Owen he could go to the store to spend his Easter money from Gramma and Grampa. Finally it dawned it me it was a holiday and most stores wouldn't be open. After calling in store hours, we came to find out that Walmart was open all day. Great! A perfect little outing to break up our day. I figured we'd all get ready and head off to go walk around the store just to get out for a while. While we started to gather shoes and coats, Mason decided he'd like to stay home and relax so I planned to stay back with him. Eric continued to gather the other two munchkins to head out the door. At the last minute Mason decided to go again, leaving everyone in a bit of a frenzy. We hurried to grab his things and Eric mentioned how he'd take the boys to leave me some time alone. Perfect. Only I didn't want to stay home alone. I was getting a bit stir crazy too and was looking forward to helping little Gavin pick a prize with his money. I started to get my own shoes and purse when Eric stopped in his tracks, "What are you doing?"..."I'm just gonna go too", I replied. I could tell by the look on his face that he was less than thrilled. "Is that a problem?" I asked. After a few back and forths we both seemed to be on the defense and butting heads a little. Or a lot. Silly, right? Over a trip to Walmart...Duh! To sum it all up, he explained that his whole goal was to get the kids out so that I could take a shower, watch tv, whatever - and there I was tagging along for no good reason ruining the grand plan. And then there was me, huffing and puffing about why the heck he cared whether or not I went to the store with them! Needless to say, we were both being a real pain in the...foot. Pain in the foot, of course. We were getting no where. Finally, I decided to back down and said I would stay home, at which point Eric let down his guard and invited me to come along. ...Round 2... We both went back and forth again, trying to convince the other to just 'come on!' Eventually, I won. I mean...we stopped arguing. Eric went on his way with the boys and I used my bitter alone time to clean the house. Hi, my name is Lynden and I'm stubborn. BUT, clearly so is my husband. What a disaster, huh?

Once they came back from their glorious trip to the store, they all barged through the door to show off their new goods while Eric and I just looked at each other and began to laugh. "I'm sorry", he said. And I laughed and hugged him back. Sometimes we just get in the way of ourselves and turn nothing into something. But at the end of the day I'll always hug him back. So although I know that while there might be a million little things that I could insert into that blank above, I wont. Because we all have our 'things' that we carry...apparently mine is sometimes stubborn. But it doesn't define me and my husband doesn't hold it against me as I don't towards him. We're not perfect. We have flaws. A lot of them. But at the end of the day, being stubborn isn't who I am. It's not my everyday 'me' and silly, little things that this remind us to keep ourselves in check. So the next time my husband insists I stay home and relax, I fully intend on it. Unless of course I want to go out, in which case I'll probably just plant my butt in the car and spare us all the delay. And if all else fails, just say no to Walmart.

Bub, I love being stubborn with you. And making up with our 'look and laugh' routine always reminds why we're so good together. xo