Let me start by saying that I Hate surprises. Hate with a capital ‘H’.
I’ll tell you a quick story to prove this statement true:
Close to the Valentine’s Day after Punky was born, I was still working as the Yearbook Advisor at the private Christian Academy I had worked at when I became pregnant. This only required me to go to the school one day a week for a few hours. And, of course, I brought my little man with me.
Well, my darling husband, who never gets the credit he deserves, planned a fancy diner out for just the two of us… yes, just the two of us. He arrived at the school with flowers and a card prepared to whisk me off my feet. However, here is where the Hatred of surprises comes into the story.
I flipped out. I had planned all sorts of homemaking types of tasks for that evening and somehow I couldn’t imagine putting those aside for the night so that my husband could show me how much he loves me. I am terrible at romance. We ended up going to a fast food joint with Punky in tow. How romantic…
Now jump ahead two years.
We had just moved into our new home when my hubby told me that he had to go somewhere with a pick-up truck. I had no idea what was going on, and being the control freak that I am, I was immediately unnerved and on edge, trying to figure out what was going on. Why can’t surprises just surprise me?
He arrived a while later with a washer and a dryer.
But we already had a washer and a dryer. How was this supposed to make me happy? He had spent money on something that we already owned. Great! Once I stopped arguing with him about it, he explained his motives:
Since I truly Hate (with a capital ‘H’) doing laundry, he thought he would buy me a high-capacity washer and dryer so that I wouldn’t have to spend as much time washing and drying the clothes. He found them on Craigslist for a fraction of their retail price… a very small fraction.
And, of course, I felt like a jerk and had ruined any joy in that moment….
BUT
Every day that I throw a dreaded load of laundry into the washer or watch a rainbow of cloth diapers spin round and round, I think about my sweet, patient husband, who puts up with my ridiculous Hatred of surprises and who loves me enough to provide me with wonderful things that I don’t even deserve.
And he has given me the greatest washer and dryer in the world…
probably because he is the greatest husband in the world.
Cute. I enjoyed this post. I think he made out pretty well, too.
I love your ‘afterthoughts’ about your sweet hubby. What a sweet story!
Blessings-
Amanda
I can kind of relate to you on the hatred of surprise thing…I can go either way…I either hate it or I love it
But normally there is a little anxiety even when I love it…because it just takes me a minute to wipe away my previous expectations in order to enjoy the current change of plans/surprise 
But then I normally am fine, and I really do love the surprise – most of the time. I guess it depends on how much I was really looking forward to MY expecations 
Yeah. I can be this way too. God can help us in all things… So glad your husband loves you!!
I have been there before too! I’ve gotten upset about something that Gene meant as a surprise! I always feel awful afterwards too! God’s teaching me though which is good!!
Awww what a sweet hubby you have! I’m glad in the end you could see his reasoning.
Yes, very sweet. I don’t know what to say as a person who has never been surprised. But, couldn’t your husband tell you he was going to get a high capacity washer and dryer he saw on craigslist, be back in an hour? Wouldn’t that have still been a pleasant surprise?
That’s a great post, Michelle! So funny that you hate surprises because Nathaniel is the KING of surprises and he’s so good at them!! Kinda reminds me of my husband- Dan can’t stand surprises and hates secrets too! It’s definitely a personality thing