Laura Newell: Why my husband isn’t in the dog house despite my anniversary gift going to the groomer

Nine years of wedded bliss have my husband and I shared. For our first anniversary, he gave me earrings featuring Kalgoorlie gold and Broome pearls. They signified, he said, his appreciation that I had followed him out to the red dust so he could edit the Kalgoorlie Miner for a year. Year two, we enjoyed a leisurely lunch at our wedding venue in the Swan Valley, reminiscing about our recent honeymoon on the ski slopes of Switzerland and wandering the streets of Paris. Year three, midway through fertility treatment, he booked us in for massages. Then in the evening we curled up in front of the TV, a glass of champagne in hand and with the poodle between us. Year four, we were parents to a newborn, relishing time spent at home. He produced a three-course feast that we shared as we took turns rocking our perfect daughter in our arms. Fast forward to this year. We only realised the significance of the date when our phones simultaneously beeped with a message from his sister congratulating us and, in a clear sign of the times, the only gift shared was with our dog groomer. As any WA dog owner will know, good groomers are currently like Kalgoorlie golddust amid the post-COVID oodle boom and my husband had accidentally upset ours on Tuesday by turning up late to pick our mad puppy up from her bi-monthly appointment. He decided to make it up to her with a voucher for our favourite cafe. Perhaps shockingly for those not so pragmatic, I’m not mad about it. The old adage needs an urgent update as far as this working mum is concerned: “happy groomer, happy wife”.