May 30, 201208:27 AMCup of Joe
Your weekly dose of strange parenting news, trends, and polls
I've agreed not to jump
Only three days left, and I will be officially married to my wonderful fiancée Kristi. These past five years have been an interesting journey together.
After announcing our decision to get married, I received a barrage of suggestions, advice and grains of wisdom from everyone I talked to.
Some of the advice was conflicting: buying a house would be a good option; renting an apartment would be the best choice; and living at home with our parents a few more years is a great way to save money. Also that I should get more involved in wedding planning or that I should try to avoid getting in the way.
A few of the suggestions were meant to be humorous (I think): that I should run while I can; that Kristi should run while she can.
I’m not sure what to make of the suggestion that I should get a prenuptial agreement, since we’re both young, fresh out of school and have little to start out with.
But most of the suggestions were sage—such as that we shouldn’t go to bed angry, that all couples fight and, perhaps most appropriately, that we should ignore all of the ridiculous advice we are receiving.
While I’ve taken all the suggestions with a grain of salt, one that I’ve adhered to over the past few weeks came from Kristi herself: “Don’t go jumping off stuff or doing something stupid.”
It may sound harsh, but that one came up as we were walking past a stone wall in York City that I knew I could clear with a good leap. I made an idle comment about being able to make the jump, and that was enough to prompt Kristi to suggest that I don’t do something that could potentially sprain my ankles (or worse) before the wedding.
It’s not that she’s trying to mother the 10-year-old boy I used to be. Considering my background, it really is good advice.
The men in my family have a history of throwing a wrench into the works before big events. My dad severely burned both of his hands the night before his wedding in a grease fire. He had to walk down the aisle with both hands wrapped up in two white gauze stumps.
I’ve even managed to already complicate a few events myself. A few days before having a big family picture taken with distant relatives when I was younger, I fell, chipped a tooth and shredded my face on pavement.
With three days remaining until the big day, I feel I’ve done fairly well. I haven’t done anything excessively dangerous and haven’t managed to mar myself in any way. I’ll continue to heed Kristi’s advice though—you won’t find me jumping any fences or walls before the wedding.
Did you receive any ridiculous advice before your wedding? Share it in our comments section below:
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YAY! So excited for you Joe! I agree with your fiancée... Don't go jumping or doing anything that might hurt yourself RIGHT BEFORE the big day! (Don't) break a leg! :)
YAY! So excited for you Joe! I agree with your fiancée... Don't go jumping or doing anything that might hurt yourself RIGHT BEFORE the big day! (Don't) break a leg! :)
So, not any advice that I received, but gave once. For the bridal shower, we were told to write our marriage advice on the back of our favorite recipe card. I meant to write "Always make each other smile", but when the bride-to-be read it, she read " Always make each other happy". Now I don't know if she read it wrong, or if I accidentally wrote that, but either way, I was slightly embarrassed when she read it as that was not what I mean at all! The point of my advice of "always make each other smile" was to impart that no matter how bad things get, if you can make each other smile at the end of it: be it a heartfelt apology, a warm hug, joking about it later, or just finding the humor in everyday situations, will lead to an otherwise happy marriage. It is absolutly impossible to always make each other happy, because if you really believe that, you are just setting yourself up for disappointment, but I truly believe if you can intentionally make your spouse smile even just once a day, you will have a happy marriage. Congratulations on your wedding!