No Peas, Please

If you think your know your spouse, really know who he/she is, think again. Just when you come to believe that you have everything figured out, that’s when a curve ball will, undoubtedly, come your way.

While our kids were still at home I cooked meals every day, and I made sure each meal was balanced according to the way my mom taught me to cook. Each dinner included a protein, a vegetable, a salad, and a starch. Sometimes I even tossed in a dessert. So I was sure I knew the food likes and dislikes of all of my family, including Hubby.

Olives, raisins, green beans, mushrooms, liver, and dry beans of any variety were some of the foods on the “won’t eat that” lists of my kids. One or two kiddos even questioned whether or not some of the food I served actually qualified as human food. But really, are oatmeal cookies without raisins really oatmeal cookies? And chili without beans is what? Well, not Texas chili! Where did I get these kids? Hubby had the shortest “don’t like” list. Leave off the asparagus and all seemed to be well for him in the world of eating.

After our children were all married and had homes of their own where they could include what they liked on their menus, and discover that their kids had a whole list of “don’t likes” of their own, I cooked pretty much what I wanted without fear of anything being rejected.

It was when my dad came to stay with us during the winter months in his later years that I made a shocking discovery. I knew that Dad loved sweets. Cakes, pies, brownies, cookies, even bread pudding or a dish of fresh fruit added the crowning touch to any meal so far as he was concerned, and hubby loved this because I had always been careful not to include too many desserts in our diet. What I didn’t know was if there were foods Dad didn’t like.

One evening when we passed the dishes at the dinner table, I noticed that Dad didn’t take any peas. So, of course, I said, “Dad, don’t you care for peas?” To this question I received a long answer that included imagery from the Great Depression and a time when the family had only canned peas left in the pantry. It seems that after a few days of keeping nourished by eating peas, he developed enough dislike for that particular veggie to last him a lifetime. But learning that Dad did not like peas wasn’t the shocking discovery I made. At the end of Dad’s story about the depression and shortage of food, Hubby, the man I was sure I knew very well, put in his two cents worth. Looking at my dad (not me, please note) he said, “I really don’t like peas either.” Of course my response was shock and chastisement that he had never told me that.

So now I eye Hubby suspiciously while he is eating and wonder what else he might not be telling me.

So you think you know your spouse? Just wait!