On Husbands and their Caves

There are two peculiarities I learned about men the week after I married my boyfriend.

1. He hibernates in his “cave” when he is moody and wants to be alone and

2. He has a hunter instinct. After a hard’s day work, he gazes at the far horizon such as the television .

I couldn’t find the right words for this quirky behavior until I read the book of Dr. Gray, Men Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus, the number one best-selling relationship book of the last decade.

–A man often wants solitude when he is thinking about a problem.
A woman should be careful not to bother a man with questions at such a time.

Dr. Gray believes that many men withdraw until they find a solution to the problem. He refers to this as “retreating into their cave.” In some cases they may literally retreat, for example, to the garage or craft room.

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen my husband retreat in his “cave”. In our old home in Makati, his cave was the guest room. When he is in that “cave” mode, I just leave him alone. I know when he is already out of his cave when he drops a kiss on my forehead and murmurs “sorry…I just wanted to be alone”. After he arrives from home, I know when he is tired and in thinking mode when he watches the sports channel. I plant a kiss on his cheeks and tease him lovingly ” I know your day must have been hard so you need to , relax, sit on your perch and watch the horizon, dear”. Then I retreat to my own peaceful nook doing my own thing.

Now that we moved to our new home, the only vacant room is labeled “Luijoe’s Den” where I store his toys, books and other memories. It also stores photos of my family, Butch’s family and other photos of family members. My concept of Luijoe’s den is a meditation/prayer room . It is a peaceful room, where one can have their quiet time , do yoga, sprawl down on the floor, read inspiring books or the Holy Bible. Furnishing this room is almost 80% done. I’m no interior decorator so it’s taking me time to find the right accesories.

Anyway, one day, I came home almost midnight only to find my husband was not in our room. I thought maybe he got lonely and went to Luijoe’s den to read some meditation books.

Not thinking he was in “cave” mode, I knocked at Luijoe’s den. Oh dear, I might as well call it the Lion’s Den. Literally, he roared…angry and unreasonable. While we were discussing his angry issues, he even had the temerity to add “You might even want to blog about it!!”

Whaaat!?!?! Why bring my blogging in our discussion?

(so yeah I did blog about it)

Things quieted down only when he stomped out of the den , paced around the living room and found himself locked out of the den due to a defective doorknob. Unfortunately, the keys of the room were inside so he was forced out of his den. I spent the whole night looking for the circuit breaker to shut off the airconditioner in the den.

I let him be as it was futile to talk to a lion.

The aftermath

Things settled nicely as always. Given time and space, he left his cave mode. I chastised him for using Luijoe’s den as an angry haven. It should be used for peaceful means, I told him. He agreed with me and gave me that puppy dog look.

Of course, I should also learn my lesson.

Never disturb your man while he is growling in his cave.