Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Preparing to be Spontaneous

Has this ever happened to you?  You feel particularly grateful to your sweetie and what to do something extra special to show how much you appreciate your sweetheart.   You think up something, but of course you don't have that around the house.  Then you run to the store only to find that they don't have what you are looking for.  You end up spending a lot of time and not being able to do what you wanted to do anyway.  So now, instead of feeling grateful, you're feeling frustrated. 

What you need is a "spontaneity kit".  This kit is a collection of simple things that will allow you to do something special for your sweetie on a moment's notice.  My kit includes:
   * "I Love You" stickers.  These are little round stickers in lots of colors
   * Candles - both scented and otherwise
   * CDs with romantic music
   * DVDs we both appreciate
   * Heart shaped box - think the box that Valentines chocolates come in
   * Index cards with various romantic thoughts on them - hand written by me
   * Massage Oil
   * Blank greeting cards with romantic, friendship and appreciation themes
   * Chocolate Kisses and Hugs - OK I don't really have any of these on hand, but I should.

Of course, my kit isn't all hidden.  The DVDs and CDs are just part of our collection.  The candles are some she bought that she likes.  Other things I keep hidden to surprise my sweetie every now and again.

I use things out of my kit fairly regularly.  For example, my sweetie had misplaced a small item and couldn't find it.  While she was gone, I happened across it.  Rather than just give it to her when she returned, I placed it in the heart-shaped box with a small love letter and left it on her pillow.  She wondered what was in the box and was pleasantly surprised when it was the misplaced item with a note. 

A simple example: My sweetie has medication she takes daily.  I stuck 2 of the I Love You stickers on the lid so she would remember each day that she is loved.

This last example of using the kit even surprised me.  The other day I got home and my "I Love You" stickers were out.  My kids are curious and I often include them in my little romantic gestures.  Therefore, I wasn't too surprised that one of the kids had been looking at them.  After all, they are fun and there are quite a number of them in the package, so I could spare a few.  Well, it turns out that my sweetie was having a bad day and my youngest had gotten a sticker and given it to her to help her have a better day.  Sometimes a sticker says it better, I guess.

Some of these things are only available at Valentine's.  So the idea is to keep your eyes open for things to add to your spontaneity kit throughout the year.  A collection of items allows you to take better advantage of the opportunities that come your way.

In the future, I'll post other things I add to my kit and different ways they come in useful.

No comments: