Night Vision Monocular

One night we were in Sam's and while I was looking at the books, Ryan was off scouting other areas. When he finally met back up with me, he had this little boy look on his face and I knew something was up. He showed me some item that he'd found (maybe a pack of Gold Toe dress socks?) and while I was looking at them, he proceeded to sneakily slide another item into the buggy. I noticed it and asked him what it was. He, again, became that little boy (that I really do love) and quickly put his shoulders up and his head down and looked down at the floor, with this sweet little smile on his face. He pulled out the item; a rather large flat piece of cardboard with a bubble wrapped "something" in the middle and handed it to me with a face saying, "Please? Please may I have it?"

And the item? A night vision monocular. Yep. I couldn't help but laugh, and then I saw that he was serious and really did want it...oops. See, I read Wild at Heart and I understand that I can't limit his desires to do those "manly" things...even if I think it's foolish or weird or whatever the case may be. So, I said we'd walk around and see if he still wanted it when we were ready to check out. It was a bit of a pricey item, but we had that nice DINC income at the time, so it wasn't a terrible stretch of a purchase.

We walked around and around and around (I gave him LOTS of time to think about it/back out of it) and when we were ready to go, I asked him if he still wanted it. He did. Of course. While checking out the lady picked it up and asked if he hunted. He told her no. She then asked if he did something else that would require its use (I can't remember what it was). He said no. Then she looked at me and back at him and said, "Wow. Your wife must really love you." I could have kissed that woman. He did that little boy face again (with his head down and shoulders raised) and I just said, "Yep, I sure do."

Ryan doesn't use the monocular a whole lot, but when he does, it's pretty neat. And, I must admit, it's a pretty nifty item for what it is. We usually take it camping since you have more of a chance to actually have something to look at in the dark, whereas the only wildlife we have in the backyard are a few swaying pine trees and "landmines". This is definitely the most "out of the box" Sam's purchase we have on record (maybe that's why I am starting of with it). But...he wanted it and so we got it. And that's okay, it makes for great use in those discussions about who's the better spouse. Think about it, it's hard to beat, "Oh yeah? Well, I bought you night vision."