How Much Do They Really Notice?

I got new red ruffled pillows, with about 100 tiny bows on them and  put them on the chairs in the family room.  My husband came home from work and said, "Oh. You got new pillows."  "I said, "Yea. Do you like them? They are a perfect!" He cringed his eyebrows and said, "Well, not really. The boys won't like them either. Too girly." I then explained how everyone likes pretty things. These pillow must be very prominent, because as soon as the kids came home, they noticed...and said the same thing in the same flat voice...."Oh. New pillows." Well, I like them. So I asked them if they even notice all the touches I make around the house... fresh flowers in the bathroom, on the kitchen table, and by the Blessed Virgin Mary. Did they notice? They look immediately to where I mentioned and say yea, I notice. Then I started to ask more questions, "What color are my eyes?" Everyone got the right answer. What color are the curtains in the kitchen?  No idea there were curtains in the kitchen. What about the living room? No idea. Family room? No idea. Dinning room? No idea. What!  None of these people pay any attention to my efforts! They quickly said our house is nice. And they like the way it looks.  But they knew I was not happy they did not notice the details, and about what they implied about the pillows. My husband tried to get out of this situation and ask me math questions about the house. How many chairs were AROUND the kitchen table?(one is off to the side, in a corner, so maybe he thought this was a trick question) and then said, "See?  You didn't know the answer to that." They all laughed but then stopped as I explained how I clean the chair everyday so I knew exactly how many chairs were in the kitchen. It was soon dawning on them that all things house were my turf and the best thing they could do was say they like it and then be quiet. At least they knew that much.