Pastor Ron Edmondson to Wives: 7 Ways to Get Your Man to Shop With You
Pastor Ron Edmondson of Immanuel Baptist Church in Lexington, Kentucky, has a confession to make — he shops with his wife. To that end, he recently decided that in an effort to improve and strengthen marriages, he would write down seven tips for wives to get their husbands to shop with them.
"I shop with my wife," Edmondson writes in his blog. "There. I said it. I'm sorry guys. Do I lose my man card?"
Edmondson states that he often gets criticized by other men who say he's put pressure on them to live up to his standard with their own wives. He apologizes and then explains that "a shopping mall is not necessarily my preferred place to be on a Saturday, but I love my wife and I love spending time with her."
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He adds, "My goal, as always, is to improve and strengthen marriages. Spending time together always helps this occur. At least that's the theory."
Here are Edmondson's seven tips to get your man to shop with you:
Give him a mission. Men love a purpose. We are hunters by nature. Tell us exactly what you are looking for, that you haven't been able to find it anywhere,, and that you need his help finding it. Then get out of his way and let him hunt!
Understand his limit. This is not the day to hit every store. Especially if you're husband is new to shopping, don't make him become a marathoner in the first race. Ease him into the idea. And, when he's hungry, feed him well. Even let him pick the place.
Let him carry packages to the car. He's going to be looking for something to do. He may want to make several trips to the car. He'll show you how strong he is. Let him serve you.
Include a stop for him. If he wants to look at tools for a while, don't complain if he already looked at dresses. And, if he wants to sit in the middle of the mall and people watch — don't complain.
Don't push stores he doesn't like. Save those for the girls trips. (Personally, I don't care for the candle shops or soaps and lotion stores. To me, if you have smell one, you have smelled them all.)
Give him credit for going and don't expect it to be his favorite way to spend a day. Recognize he's doing it out of love for you, not for the activity of it. Don't tell all his friends he "loves to shop with you." And, don't expect him to want to go every time you do.
Give him time to enjoy the things he enjoys doing at other times. And, if he wants you to, do them with him without complaining.
