Unrealistic Expectations

 

Have you ever heard the line, Romantic Comedies have given Women Unrealistic Expectations about Romance? I hear this all the time, from my own husband even.

 

I have to admit, I am a sucker for Romantic Comedies. Who wouldn't want John Cusack standing outside of your window holding a Boom Box over his head, blasting a love song? Or for the Man of your dreams to come kiss you while standing on a baseball mound, in front of Hundreds of people? I want Gerard Butler, from P.S. I Love you, reminding me to live life if you aren't here with me, and of course Channing Tatum in The Vow, reliving our first moments so I could remember our lives together. Who can forget when Heath Ledger serenaded Julia Stiles in front of the whole Soccer team or that Kiss from the Notebook.

 

Have these movies honestly given me an unrealistic outlook on Love?

Sitting on my couch, forcing Bill to watch another one of these movies, where I laugh and cry, and think to myself, "Wouldn't that be wonderful". But seriously, is it really that Unrealistic?

 

Over the past two years with Bill, I've probably complained that he hasn't wooed me in these Hallmark ways. No Flowers on Valentines day and no grand gestures on random days of the week. Where is all the Romance? However, every time we get into the car, and I turn on the radio, Bill hears this; "I love this song, it reminds me of you". I say this all too often, and the more I look at my life, the more I realize I'm not living a Romantic Comedy, I'm living a Romantic Country song....if you don't like mushy stories, I suggest you stop reading.

 

Day after day, song after song, I am moved to tears, and laughter, thinking how much these songs remind me of the Man I am so in love with, and how much he does for me everyday.

 

An' it's the way that she looks with the rice in her hair.
"Eatin' burnt suppers the whole first year
"An' askin' for seconds to keep her from tearin' up.
"Yeah, man, that's the good stuff."

-Kenny Chesney

 

I can't even begin to list how many horrible meals I have made. Undercooked, overcooked, flavorless, bizarre, etc. He has sat down at dinner, and told me that Dinner was good. I have someone willing to lie rather than crushing my feelings.

 

" I could tell that got her attention, So I said, "Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I wouldn't trade a single day  For 100 years the other way."She just smiled and rolled her eyes, Cause she's heard all of my lines, I said, "C'mon on girl, seriouslyIf I hadn't been so lucky
I'd be shootin' pool in my bachelor pad.Playing bass in my cover band.Restocking up cold Bud Light, For poker every Tuesday night, yeah I'd have a dirtbike in the shed,And not one throw pillow on the bed,I'd keep my cash in a coffee can, But if I was a single man, Alone and out there on the loose Well I'd be looking for a woman like you."

-Lee Brice

 

This is one of my absolute favorite songs. And it's probably the 3rd or 4th song that I've named, "Bill and I's song", but for right now this is the official. I laugh at the lyrics, he does too, because it is beyond true. I've completely ruined his status as a "football fan", he has a child friendly vehicle, and we have about 10 throw pillows on our bed and every couch in the house. But he sucks it up, because he loves me.

 

"There's dirty shirts to wash
Dishes in the sink to do
And there's how many times
Does 17 go into 52
There's bedtime prayers to pray
Sleep tights and I love you's
And then there's a pair of eyes
I get to lose myself into .What keeps me keepin the faith
What makes me believe I can
Family man .They're a world my world revolves around
My sacred piece of solid ground
The flesh and bone that gives me strength to stand
They are a fire in my drivin on
The drive behind my comin home
The livin, breathin, reason that I am
A family man "

-Craig Campbell

 

And this is the song that brings me to tears. It's the simple things that makes him The man of my Dreams. He wakes up with the kids so I can sleep in, he spontaneously does the dishes when I just feel like sitting on the couch, and he selflessly agrees to take family photos, play board games on Saturdays, and sings "I'm a little teapot" 1,800 times a day.

 

He is the world my world revolves around, and I'd rather have Ordinary everyday, than a Grand Gesture, once in a lifetime.