The little lights aren’t twinkling…

Well….I think my hormone supplements have kicked in. I cried non-stop yesterday over an AT&T commercial (why did the grandma have to live so far away) and I cried over a picture of a goofy looking dog (he’s still someone’s child). My doctor informed me that I might have a rush of emotions. I guess I should have warned my husband.

My poor husband, he has become used to hearing words like perimenopausal and hormone imbalance. My hot flashes are nothing new to him: he doesn’t blink when I throw the covers off the bed and start ripping my shirt off while screaming “WHY DON’T THEY MAKE BACON FLAVORED TATER TOTS!” He just turns on the air conditioner, throws me a cold cloth, and goes back to sleep.

He is used to my emotional roller coaster of feelings. He can console me while I cry, he can talk me down when I enter my “”Thelma and Louise” mode, he can throw me a piece of dark chocolate when I start questioning my existence, and he no longer screams when he wakes up at 3AM to see me sitting up in bed just staring at him (ok…and I am muttering something about tater tots).

And through it all, he tells me I am beautiful and strong. I can pull all the hair out of my brush and wad it in to a nasty little fur ball and throw it at him while I complain that I am losing my hair. He calmly tells me my hair is still thick as he wrestles the fur ball out of the dog’s mouth and trashes it. He never says anything negative about me – whether out of love or fear. He is a constantly encouraging.

And yet, he never asks anything from me. I always feel like Clark Griswold’s father-in-law in Christmas Vacation when I talk to my husband…”the little lights aren’t twinkling”. I need to be more supportive. I mean, isn’t there a male menopause? Will there come a time when he is crying and telling me his legs are too fat? Will he knock the grill over in a fit of anger and yell that we don’t appreciate his cooking?

Well, if that time comes – I will be prepared. I will have chocolates, cold compresses and encouraging little stories.

And if the little lights aren’t twinkling..well, I won’t say a word!