The ostrich is an animal, but it pretends to be a bird. It has the gift of wings, but it does not bear the fruit of flying. In times of danger, this “bird”, which can run 130 kilometers in an hour digs the earth and pins its entire head in the soil. It assumes that the danger will disappear by pinning its head in the soil. In How To Beat Your Husband II, we noted that “your problems will not disappear by hiding your head in the sand. What you fail to confront today will confront you tomorrow.”
Most husbands do not respond to the needs of the family identified by their wives. They take too long to deal with some of the simplest problems. Their wives become impatient with them and tend to nag as a result. A bed may be broken down, but a man finds it difficult to fix it. The bulb may be dead, but he’d rather light a candle for two days than go out and buy a bulb to replace the dead one. A wife wants a new gas cooker, because the oven of the old one is bad, but the man is thinking about repairing the old one so he does not have to spend money buying an entirely new cooker. The curtains are as old as the ones Moses used for the tabernacle in the wilderness, but the man insists that there’s nothing wrong with the old blinds. The list can go on and on.
Many women get frustrated by the ostrich mentality of their husbands. A woman wants the problems at home addressed, promptly, painstakingly and purposefully. She is offended and frustrated when she notices how prompt you are in meeting the needs of outsiders and those in your office. This is why she tends to talk too much. She hopes that her much talking will get you to pull out your ostrich-like head from the ground of inaction to address her needs. She wants you to stop pretending as if you don’t know what is at stake.
Women get offended when they tell you what they need and you just sit on the couch and say, “Ehe! Ehe!” Some husbands may be thinking about the most rational way of addressing their wives’ needs, but they never tell their wives what they are thinking. Your wife did not go to school to learn how to read your mind. Sit down and tell her, “Honey, I’ve heard you. I don’t have the money to buy you a new cooker now, but I’ll get you one next month ending.” Every sensible woman will wait till next month ending. Some women, however, get frustrated when the month has ended and they don’t see the gas cooker you promised them. Herein lies the problem. Husbands just make promises they don’t keep. These promises are sometimes made under pressure. They just want to dismiss their wives so they can continue to watch the football game on T.V.
Please stop playing the fool like an insincere politician. You are no more a bridegroom looking for a potential bride whom you will promise Heaven if she marries you when you have no intention to fulfill your promises. Someone once said that “bridegrooms are like politicians. They forget their campaign promises after the election has been won.” You are no more a bridegroom. You are now a husband. Behave like a faithful husband. Keep to your promises, else you will be courting the verbal missiles of your wife. And don’t forget: “Your problem will not disappear when you hide your head in the sand. What you fail to confront today will confront you tomorrow.” So cut out the ostrich mentality. Stop pretending that you cannot see the problems identified by your wife. Pull up your head from the ground, look squarely at your problems and solve them. That’s the way a real man should behave.
