Know your Man: Being a Prize Possession

Prize ~ Brainy Dictionary
1. That which may be won by chance, as in a lottery.

2. To set or estimate the value of; to appraise; to price; to rate.

Men are not our dolls. They are not our puppies. They are not a prize. Let’s not show them off.

It is very difficult for a proud woman not to show off her spouse. Women tend to do this. We do this with our children and we find hard not to do it with our mates. However, most men don’t like to be the center of such attention.

The other day, my son got an award, a prestigious one at that, and I immediately sent an email about this great feat to my entire contact list. He was not too happy about it: why did you do that? He complained. Because mothers do that, was my only excuse. I never thought that he would question my behavior, of proudly showing him off.

Now, with spouses this may be tricky. While some enjoy the limelight, most don’t. I was visiting a new friend the other day and decided to take a look at her husband’s work; Alex is a graphic artist. He was explaining to me how he does his craft, showing me his new project for a newspaper. As I had never seen a graphic artist at work, I found it fascinating.

After a while, Cathy enters the room with a portfolio in her hands. This was one of the collections he had created earlier. She showed it to me. I was even more impressed by the caliber of his work. However, her husband didn’t appreciate her gesture. He didn’t like to be the center of attention, I guess. Whatever his reasons were, it was clear that he was upset with his wife. He didn’t like her behavior a bit, even though her reasons were all flattering. It was not difficult to see that he was utterly embarrassed.

That is to say, that even though he deserved praise, he was not ready to accept any. She failed to respect his wishes.

A Word of Advice:

Ladies and Gents: Have an agreement with each other regarding this issue before it comes up, or, if too late, before another occasion arises. If you don’t like to be the center of attention for such things, express it very clearly; you spouse will comply, I am sure.