a letter to the one who loves her after me:
she hates being tickled. do it anyway, but only for a second. she’ll yell at you to stop but then she’ll let out a belly laugh that’ll make you laugh, too. tickle her gently. her laugh is contagious.Â
take baths with her. she would rather be in the front so she can lay on you - let her do it. wrap your arms around her and kiss her shoulders. wash her hair and massage her back. let her know that you’re there to take care of her. get her towel for her when you finish your bath, wrap her in it tightly and dry her off. focus on her.Â
she’s the absolute worst at making pancakes. if you mention that you’re craving pancakes one morning, she may offer to make breakfast for you. insist on doing it together, instead. let her make you coffee and cut the fruit - you should cook the pancakes. make the bacon, too.Â
she hates when you touch her feet. touch them every once in a while anyway. play with her. it’ll make her smile.
make it a point to snuggle her on rainy days and watch movies with her. my favorites were always disney princess movies and the hunger games. please don’t pick those.Â
when you sleep over, let her fall asleep in your arms. she snores a little, but generally she’ll stop if you kiss her on her forehead and rub her scalp. she’ll sleep like a baby in your arms. make her feel safe.Â
she’s going to wake up in the morning before you. she will wake you up and then pretend like she’s asleep. don’t be fooled. she is, in fact, awake, and the only reason that you are, too, is because she woke you up. she’ll deny it. pretend to believe her.
suggest pizza and beer for dinner. she isn’t picky when it comes to beer, but michelob ultra, blue moon with orange slices, and modelo with lime are her favorites.Â
dance with her in the kitchen when you make dinner together. she’ll drink wine and you’ll make sure that the food doesn’t burn.
she’s good at gift-giving and she remembers everything. be careful when you mention liking something around her because she will remember and she’ll get it for you.Â
touch her butt. often.Â
she’s the queen of midnight snacks. the way to her heart is through double stuf oreos and fat free milk.Â
her favorite candy is the sweetarts chewy taffy. i could rarely find it in stores, so when you do, stock up and surprise her with it throughout the year.Â
she’s a total nerd for women’s gymnastics. brush up on your terminology. she’ll be impressed by your knowledge.Â
make sure she brushes her teeth at night. even if you’re 99% sure that she did, still ask. she’ll appreciate the sentiment and be glad that you care.
compliment her. compliment her beauty, her intelligence, her work-ethic. make sure she knows you appreciate all that she is.
take her to concerts and don’t be late. when the band or the singer first comes on stage, ditch your snapchat story and watch her face, instead. watch her eyes light up. watch her smile the biggest smile that her face will allow. don’t miss it.Â
don’t make her wait on you. she’ll do it, but it’ll annoy her and she’ll poke fun at you for it for the rest of the night.Â
when you go to the movies, share a coke icee, a medium popcorn, and a few containers of jalapenos. the jalepenos go perfectly with the salty popcorn. she’ll drink most of the icee.
take care of her when she’s sick (or drunk). let her sleep a lot, but be there to take care of her when she wakes up or needs help. remind her which medicines to take and when to take them.
she won’t pass up an opportunity to go to ihop. order two hot swiss mochas. when she takes a sip, notice that she got a little whipped cream on her nose before the gets embarrassed and wipes it off. instead, take a sip of your mocha and let the whipped cream get on your nose, too. pretend not to notice.
she loves to decorate for christmas. she loves it more when you help.
sing with her in the car. she has an awful singing voice - make sure your voice sounds worse. have fun singing badly together. hold her hand in the car while you’re at it.Â
if you’re going somewhere together, get used to driving everywhere. she hates it and will do just about anything to avoid it. Â
surprise her with an impromptu trip or dinner reservations. don’t tell her where you’re going.Â
study with her. grab her hand from across the table every so often. shake your head at her because you can hear her music from across the table, even though the cafe you’re sitting in is kind of noisy. get her refill on her drink.Â
when you take showers together wrap your arms around her and kiss her on the neck while she rinses her hair. be gentle - don’t startle her.
she’ll fall in love with the idea of building a life with you. if you lead her to believe that it’s something that you want, don’t be surprised at how easy it is to picture a future with her. don’t question if she loves you if you get to that point. she does.
watch a movie and cuddle on the couch with her and her dog. it’ll melt her heart, and yours, too.Â
she likes to sleep with the fan on. if you don’t like to sleep with the fan on, get over it. you’re sleeping with the fan on.Â
remind her to reapply sunscreen. she “forgets” sometimes, but really she just wants to be tan.Â
let her be your safe haven. she wants to be the one you run to when everything sucks. you’ll feel safer when you let her in.
let her spend an hour in the makeup section at the store. she’s gonna find a shade of lipstick that is eerily similar to one that she already has. don’t mention the similarities of the colors unless she asks. complement the color and say you love it - she’s gonna get it regardless.
love her. love her every single day in every way.Â
