For Christmas this year, my husband and I decided to give my nearly 80-year old parents an iPad. Our thought process was since the local newspapers and so many magazines have gone digital, an iPad was the simplest way for them to continue to enjoy getting the news. Plus, with all the cool features of the camera, video and FaceTime, it seemed like a good idea.
Not so much, so far… My mom’s attitude is willing but her skills, well, they are lacking. We believed the iPad to be indestructible and something she couldn’t alter. Not exactly. Hence the flirting.
Yesterday, I overheard my husband speaking on the phone in a very patient, extremely tolerant tone. He deliberately paced himself to remain calm, and that’s when it hit me – he was giving my Mom instructions on how to set up an iTunes account!
He proceeded to walk her through downloading an app in the same patient tone. I have to tell you that my heart melted. At the moment, to see him be so patient with her – which is not easy – I fell in love with him all over again.
Flirting comes in many forms. It’s the language of showing someone how much you care, how interested you are in their lives and what they mean to you. And it doesn’t have to be sexual – it’s just letting someone close know that they matter. When’s the last time you flirted this way?
Last spring, I called home from the road to discover my husband cleaning the screens on our downstairs porch. I was stunned – normally that’s a chore I have to borderline nag him to do. He just laughed and told me he was flirting… So I returned the favor not long ago and picked up a special dinner that he’d been pining for but deemed it too difficult to get. I wanted him to know that I think what he wants, too.
So maybe it’s time to see some of our relationships in a new vein and “flirt” a little. Just let the other person know that you are thinking of them. Who knows what the outcome may be? Maybe it’s a little easier to be together, maybe the other person responds in kind. In any event, it makes life a lot more fun when you find creative ways to “flirt.”
Allison Blankenship, http://www.allisonspeaks.com, http://www.UpsideTheBook.com
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