Men are nothing without women, even the difficult ones

“I think the lovely Snapdragon is finally showing signs of recovery,” I told myself on Wednesday evening. And I know it because she’s difficult.

She was difficult in the months after her life-saving surgery at the beginning of the year, but that was a heartbreakingly sad brand of difficult. Now, she is being difficult in a vigorous, fight-fit way.

I planned to treat the children to a fun run at the local church fete on Women’s Day but, at the last moment, I was commandeered to work. The children who live in my house were delighted to exchange jogging for a feast of pancakes and jaffles but my oldest son, a serious runner, did report to the starting line for what he calls a “recovery jog” after a week of hard practice sessions.

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“He won the race easily,” I told Snapdragon that evening after she told me in no uncertain terms that she thought it was unfair that she had to slave away looking at the children at a church fete while I twiddled thumbs at work.

“Of course,” she said. “It was only old ladies walking their dogs who participated.” “I don’t think so,” I said. I had a chat with my son earlier in the afternoon and he gave me the statistics from his running watch. “Look at the stats,” I said and pointed to my phone.

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“He ran the first two kilometres in the leading bunch at just over four minutes a kilometre. Your average pug can’t drag an old lady at that pace.”

“How dare you!” she exclaimed. “I only say what I’ve heard. “I didn’t take part in the race – you know very well I’m not allowed to do hard exercise due to my back operation.”

“Then you should avoid running your husband down,” I replied before I could stop myself. “Or simply jumping to conclusions.”

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Then she showed the signs of her remarkable recovery. I know all men don’t like difficult women. I do – it’s an acquired taste. I love her to bits. Dear readers, I hope you all enjoyed Women’s Day.

I hope you showed appreciation and love for the women in your lives. And made the day unforgettable. Us men are, after all, nothing without them. Even the difficult ones like my own lovely better half.