To be fair, Sam has really changed the way he lives a great deal since we first met five years ago. He has developed many good habits to replace bad ones. Those things really do far outweigh the issue of the stuff on the floor. In fact, if it weren’t for the fact that there have been so many other changes, that would just have blended in with “the old ways.”
He’s much more conscious of how things are in general, now. He pays more attention. He’s come to like living in a clean place, and he does help to keep it that way by doing things like cleaning the kitchen in the mornings if it wasn’t done the night before.
Yes, he still leaves his shoes out—but they’re usually at the edge of a room, rather than in the middle of the floor.
We’ve never had the “toilet seat conflict” that’s so common with other couples, because he never, ever leaves it up.
With most matters around the house, however, I want to do things is fine by him. If I’m happy, he’s happy. He’s particular about his kitchen, which is only fair since he’s the cook.
He’s never fussed at me about how I hang up his shirts, as two other husbands did—in fact, he’s always tickled to find that the laundry fairy visited and left clean clothes for him.
He pampers me constantly. Today he wouldn’t let me get up to refill my water glass, because “you just look so good sitting there.”
Right now he’s installing a ceiling fan. He’s gained so many skills in the last five years, especially in the last year! I don’t know how to do that, but I can certainly clean up around his chair.
So all in all, I have to say that I am very thankful for my man. And I really did want to know if my expectations were unreasonable or not—sometimes I need a reality check about such things. I know that I have OCD, even if it’s a pretty mild case of it in most ways. I don’t always know what is OCD and what is normal cleanliness.
