War at the home front

My mother-in-law said she was scared that K and I would have a big row at home. I told her we already did, although it was only small scale considering what happened.

My husband, by some sudden inspiration, went off to a shop and bought new curtains and wallpaper for our bedroom. When he got home, he said excitedly, 'Have a look at this!' He obviously expected a pleasant reaction from me but even before I saw what he bought, I was already fuming. My 5-year-old immediately run off to the other room seeing the smoke coming out of my ears. I said, 'No, I'm not bothered.' 'But why? Is it because I didn't let you come with me?' he asked, seemingly perplexed. I said, 'You can't just redecorate this bedroom without consulting me! This is my bedroom too!'

I walked off after throwing some threatening remarks. 'You put those curtains up and I'll move to the other bedroom!'

Later on, he apologised. Apparently, he realised that I would have been glad of the redecoration idea if only I'd been asked for an opinion. Nothing to do with the curtains at all. Or the wallpaper.

That should have been the end of it. Except that when my mother-in-law came in for tea, she noticed the rolls of wallpaper by the entrance door. I ran downstairs to have a look and to my horror, the flower designs were in pink. PINK! Now, baby pink I don't mind, but bright, girly pink? Is he kidding me? I ran back upstairs screaming, 'PINK!' 'Bleeding Pink!' while my mother-in-law escaped into her car and ordered my father-in-law to drive off.

And so the momentary peace deal brokered earlier collapsed and I was ready again for another battle, except that Mr. Pink Husband was out. My mother-in-law phoned in to confirm my ammunition (I have approved her interference as long as she's always on my side).

Anyway, to cut the long story short, the curtains were returned to the shop; my mother-in-law was relieved that there was no big row.

And the husband? He's trying to overcome the embarassment of returning the bleeding pink wallpaper to the shop. He started to say something about not returning them because they didn't cost much anyway, but I stopped him right there. I told him he will be subjected to random verbal attack until the pink wallpaper disappears from my sight.

He rolled his eyes and said, 'Women! Why are you so difficult to deal with?!'