When a child knows he wants to get something from his parents, he will put up his behavior and do as he is told. He is even willing to go the extra mile to do additional chores that he ordinarily would grumble about.
Women, they say, do not behave any different from the kids if they have something they want to get from their spouse and even sons.
Mr. Abel Agie now knows his wife’s tricks any time she wants a favour from him. “When my wife starts calling me darling, honey, sweetheart and all those sweet names, it is one or two things. She has done something wrong and wants to tell me about it or she wants something from me. I used to fall prey for these fancy words until I started paying attention to them when she gets in this mood and what she is like after I have satisfied her. It was then I discovered her trick. But being the woman she is, once she found out I had discovered it, she created other means. I would not want to let out through which she can get me to give her what she wants and if she tries hard enough, she also gets it when she wants.
Confirming what her husband said, Mrs. Nkiruka Agie said “you have to device the means to get what you want from these men otherwise you will sit there day in day out and what should come to you ordinarily without stress will go somewhere. It doesn’t cost anything to be nice to and call them sweet names or do any ‘special favours’ for the period you are waiting for your request to be granted.” With a mischievous smile, she said, “you can return to ‘normal’ when you have got what you want.” This normal could be their normal nagging behavior.
Malam Hassan Halilu said, “since our children became teenagers, my wife stopped cooking except on occasions when we have serious guests. One regular day, she went into the kitchen to cook hardly calling for any help. When she finished she came straight to me with food in new dishes on a new tray with drinking glasses to match. When I saw it, I teased her saying ‘is this an opportunity you are giving me to launch your new dinner ware?’
All she did was smile and made a sound as if to say, ‘just enjoy yourself and hear what the cost of this service is’. I ate and licked my fingers and smacked my lips. I also remembered to say ‘thank you’ and her response was ‘don’t mention’. Later that day after making sure I had rested and was feeling very refreshed like a new groom, she unleashed her request. It was like a ton of bricks came on me. I immediately knew why she had treated me so extra nicely. I felt trapped and obliged to do what she wanted. Now when I see her go into the kitchen and she is cooking by herself, I immediately ask her to tell me what the request is and save herself all the hassle. Women are smart I must agree.”
“Once I hear my mum say ‘Isah darling’ or ‘Isah my child’, I know she wants me to do something for her,” said Isah Ahmed Yesufu. “Her usual pattern is ‘Isah’ come or just ‘Isah’. She never adds any of those her tricky suffixes that we have all discovered. Now she knows we know it is her way of getting us to do things for her, so she starts laughing when she addresses us like that. The thing is whether or not she addresses us as such; we’ll still run errands for her.”
Angel Rekwot said, “there is nothing wrong with being sweet and extra nice to get what you want. After all, you are using what you have to get what you want. It is just being able to plan yourself, study the mood and knowing when to approach him.”
Confessing that he likes to be treated especially no matter what it costs him afterward, Mr. Yinka Illiasu said, “I feel very good and special when I get this kind of treatment from my wife and what comes after is nothing at all compared to it.”
Marriage counsellor and psychologist Dr. Abraham Abe, said, “I don’t at all blame the women for strategizing before they approach their men for what they want. You have to study your aprtner and understand his weak points to strike him when the need arises. We men do it as well. It is not only the women who like to pamper and go through the extra hassle of satisfying their spouses to get what they want. Men have their tricks as well. But that’s not for me to let out.”
