Going WWE On My Wife

I was told that marriage was a series of ups and downs. Well, 2 days ago would be considered a "down." Now, I wouldn’t necessarily label myself as a hot tempered sort of dude, however, my actions the other night may have spoken otherwise.

Let me provide some context to this crazy episode I'm referring to as "going WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) on my wife." We've had company for about a month straight, I've been traveling a bit with work, spending a ton of time on "curricular activities" (I’ll share later) and at the same time trying to be a dad and husband.

Tell-tell signs of my growing fatigue and over exertion were showing up everywhere this past week, from sailor-like cursing spells in the car (by myself, oh course) to the barrage of annoyances that seemed to keep surfacing throughout the week. I should have heeded these warnings and slowed down. Needless to say, I kept the peddle to the medal and I crashed and burned...BIG TIME!

For all those who may want to learn from my mistakes, LISTEN UP. Yelling obscenities at your wife while smashing her cherished antique chair on the living room floor isn't exactly the way to show your pregnant (5 months), tired (no, exhausted) wife how much you love her. In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s the WORSE thing you could ever do.

And I’m ashamed to say, I WAS THAT GUY.

I've heard that we should learn from our mistakes, well, I’m learning alright. After a brief moment of unbelief, my wife reacted about how I expected. With a mixture of fear, shock and anger, she lashed out with tears and then an emotive onslaught of colorful words. Knowing immediately how completely out of line I was, I rushed to apologize but understandably, a simple sorry and apology hug weren't enough this time. This time, I’d gone beyond the unthinkable.

Fortunately for me, my wife is a Saint, quick to forgive and willing to move beyond my immaturity. Equally as fortunate, is that she’s committed to me; committed to work through the ups and the downs. After 30 minutes, we were able to engage in a reconciliation process.

We're going on year 7 of our marriage. This was definitely an experience (if I can call it that) that will both disturb and encourage me for years to come. It's disturbing to think that I could let things get so bad that I explode in such a way but it’s encouraging to see how my wife was able to respond in such a dire situation.

In the end, I suppose that a broken chair is better than a broken marriage. But I'd wager that too many broken chairs could lead to the latter. I’d like to encourage you to join me in slowing down. Trust me, the alternative isn't pretty.
-brian

PS. If anyone has tips for fixing broken chairs...I’m all ears.