When my baby was born, I was caught up with babywearing, and hoarded carriers. My mom bought me an Ergobaby 360 before our daughter was born, and since it was too hot and bulky, we bought the Baby K’Tan for our newborn.

Unfortunately, while the Baby K’Tan is light and convenient, it’s also catered to the body size of the wearer. This means that given that I, my husband and our yaya have different body sizes, we had to get three Baby K’Tans for our family (XS, M, L).

When the Babywearing Philippines Facebook group started talking about the Love & Carry Air carrier, a lighter and cheaper alternative to the Ergobaby 360, I knew I had to get it. At Php 3,950 for a set with two free drool pads, it was for me a steal. So I bought.

Then, there was the Bitybean which was on sale at Php 2,800 at a baby fair. The lightest, safety certified carrier there is, the Bitybean was for “travel” since you can just roll it up and chuck it back in your bag for emergency use.

Yes, I’m a crazy hoarder, I know.

I always tell myself that I’d sell them one day, but so far, I haven’t. My husband knows not to argue with his unreasonable wife.

*In the background, my husband shakes his head in shame*

Now this month, while baby is 15 months old, I saw that the Lillebaby Complete Airflow combined all the features of the Love & Carry mesh and the Ergobaby’s front facing capability. Since it was made out of mesh, it was way lighter and airier than the Ergobaby 360.

I wanted to buy it. It was impractical but I wanted it and checked out the sites for the last two weeks.

“It’s for our next trip,” I told husband. “I know that baby want to front-face and this is the safest carrier there is.”

“How much is it?”

“It’s Php 7499.75.” I answered as husband promptly fell off his chair.

“You don’t need it,” was his curt answer.

I know… I know… after owning almost every single carrier in the book, I didn’t need another one.

Yesterday however, we were going around SM Department store, and as luck might have it, it was their March Wednesday sale. If you have an SM Prestige card, you get an extra 10% off.

I automatically headed over to the Lillebaby counter. Aha, it was on sale! And it was discounted!

I couldn’t help myself, I looked around for my husband but he wasn’t there. He was taking some of our shopping back to the car.

I felt guilty and tried it. I still wanted it but I knew husband didn’t approve. And we have talked about saving money.

So I decided to carry the Lillebaby Complete Airflow box around while I shopped for the item I really needed to buy, a plaid long-sleeve shirt for my daughter for her last day of school.

As I looked around, my husband found and called me, “Hey Bonita!”

I jumped in surprise, feeling a bit guilty for bringing the Lillebaby box around.

“I wanted to buy this carrier but I know you won’t approve,” I said meekly.

He looked at me.

I was expecting to be sermoned, but it never came.

Then he broke to a smile and said, “Okay, if you want it, you can go and pay for it.”

I was floored and over the moon.

I proceeded to pay at the counter, and was very happy.

Then as I carried my precious package out, I remembered that this is what marriage is all about. It’s not fighting about winning or losing, but rather in giving the other person their way sometimes.

At a relatively cheap price of a Lillebaby Air, which by the way was at 10% off, my husband made me a very happy and appreciative wife for a night.

Sometimes, each of us can be very irrational. And as rational human beings, we try to stop our partners when we want something unreasonable.

“No, it’s not practical,” we’ll say. “You don’t need to buy it.”

It happens when my husband buys another Transformer toy (he’s a collector) at Toy Kingdom. “Why do you need another version of the Devastator?” I’d ask. “Transformers value do not appreciate the same way as Lego does.”

It happens when he spends most of the entire night painting his Gundam models.

It happens when he asks for the driver that afternoon to deliver one of his pet projects to a customer, and I’d have to Uber to and fro the pre-school to pick up our daughter.

But who am I to complain?

As the Lillebaby example has shown, I am irrational too.

I am irrational as I buy my nth baby carrier even though we already have too many carriers.

I am irrational as I purchase more books for my baby in Amazon, even though she still can’t read.

I am irrational as I think about enrolling my daughter to her second pre-school, while being enrolled already to one. I was a Montessori child, so I was thinking of having her go to Montessori in the morning, and her playschool in the afternoon. Please note that she is only 15 months old.

A happy marriage is a balance — sometimes, husband gets irrational. Sometimes, wife gets irrational. But regardless on who is irrational, it’s important to acknowledge that marriage is for the both of you. It’s not a zero sum game where one wins and one loses.

It’s about giving way and making each other happy from time to time, as long as your family can still budget and afford it, no matter how irrational it seems.

Have a great week everyone!