Mommy Blog

Lock and Key

in Must Be Nice on April 30, 2016

So, my mother has been in town for the past week.  All in all it has been a disappointing week—content wise.  My mother has behaved uncharacteristically well.  Turns out, I am a good wife, a good mother, and a decent house-keeper. Who knew?

Yesterday we went to the movies to see, Mother’s Day, the new ensemble cast movie that centers around, you guessed it, Mother’s Day.  Some of the biggest critic sites and professional movie reviewers gave this movie abysmal reviews.

Do not believe them.

This was a fantastic movie, but that is not what I want to talk to y’all about today.  During the previews another movie was showcased, Now You See Me 2.  My mother had not seen the original, so naturally we came home and had a movie day.  During the first Now You See Me, there is a scene on the Lock & Key bridge in Paris, France.

THAT is our subject.

It’s almost scary how loopy my brain works, isn’t it?  In Paris, there was a bridge over the Seine River where people from all over would place padlocks into the chain link.  They seal up their wishes, their hopes, their sorrows, and their memories; then lock up the lock and toss the key into the Seine.  The bridge safely holds onto their secrets.

…Because a lock without a key is useless.

I have stood on that bridge.

But, yesterday, during a flurry of text messages and phone calls between a newly married friend of mine who is struggling with newly-wedded issues, my mind began to think about a lock and key.

My hubby and I have been married for over sixteen years.  He is my lock, I am his key, and vice-versa.  We are a perfect fit for each other.  Now, that is not to say that during our first few years of marriage we didn’t struggle a bit.  Have you ever had a lock re-keyed?  Sometimes the new key does not fit exactly right into its lock.  Its edges are a bit too rough.  However, over time and use, the key molds to fit perfectly within the nooks and crannies of the lock it was made for.

That is how marriage works.

We do not always fit together exactly perfectly in the beginning.

We each have some rough edges that need to be smoothed out.  There are safety and trust issues that need to be hammered out and talked through.  Husbands, especially new husbands, want to be the provider and the Hero for their new bride.  He stands at the ready to defend her, protect her, and help her in any and every situation.  Husbands, be patient with your wives.  Resist the urge to charge full steam ahead, and remember the gentle flowing waters of the Seine.

Wives, especially new wives, who go from their parents’ house to their husband’s house forget that the man in her life is no longer her Daddy, but rather her husband.  For all of us Daddy’s girls out there, that is a hard concept to grasp.  Our Daddy has saved us from monsters under the bed, sheltered us from mean kids at school, and supported us–both emotionally and financially through our entire life.  Making the switch from Daddy to Husband takes time.  With any big transition, this requires mass quantities of patience and an extra amount of grace from all parties involved.

So, for any and all of my newly married readers, or my readers who will soon be married, remember this: not only will you exchange rings, but also (symbolically) you exchange keys.  New keys.  And new keys require usage before they work exactly like clockwork.  Y’all are each other’s key.  Just like the padlocks on the bridge over the Seine, only one key opens each lock…and it is the key that was made for that specific lock.

Be each other’s key.

Here’s hoping you unlock each other’s secrets today!

-Dallas