Maria said:
Going from living by yourself to cohabiting is quite the adjustment. There are certain things that you are accustomed to when you live solo. Like sleeping with the radio on low volume. I don't hear things at night that way. I was blessed with great hearing... and an even greater imagination. And me and the dark and silence and the noises... do you get the picture?
Tony, however, can't sleep with a radio on. Yet, he can sleep through 8 alarms blaring in his ear every morning.
And the way you fold towels. I like to fold, fold again, flip, fold and flip. Tony has his own routine down pat: fold, fold, flip-fold-fold. We each showed each other how we folded our towels and came to the conclusion that each way was a great way to do it.
Going from living by yourself to cohabiting is quite the adjustment. There are certain things that you are accustomed to when you live solo. Like sleeping with the radio on low volume. I don't hear things at night that way. I was blessed with great hearing... and an even greater imagination. And me and the dark and silence and the noises... do you get the picture?
Tony, however, can't sleep with a radio on. Yet, he can sleep through 8 alarms blaring in his ear every morning.
And the way you fold towels. I like to fold, fold again, flip, fold and flip. Tony has his own routine down pat: fold, fold, flip-fold-fold. We each showed each other how we folded our towels and came to the conclusion that each way was a great way to do it.
Now, let me touch on the perks of cohabiting. The perks to having someone there is never having to take out the garbage. Never having to remember the day of the week... (is it Wednesday morning?) that the garbage truck comes down our road and picks up said garbage.
Never having to mow the lawn is another great one. Call me strange, but sometimes I like to mow the lawn. It's kind of a get out of the house and away from the kids tactic on my part, but nonetheless, I do enjoy cutting a lil grass from time to time. Not the whole yard... I usually am slap wore out after about 3 turns of the mower. But, I know that I am not required to mow the lawn. Huge perk.
So would I trade the towel folding and the alarms blaring for the garbage and the lawn? You betcha I would. I kind of like that comfort of knowing that someone else is there to take care of certain things. It was a little weird at first, leaving it for someone else to take care of instead of me... but I got the hang of it fairly quickly. And I really don't even notice after the 3rd alarm goes off anymore.
Tony said:
It is truly amazing how little inconsequential things can turn into huge arguments for some people. Take for instance the radio issue at night, I believe Maria and I have the same problem, but we have, during our time living alone, come to opposite solutions. We have very active brains, and in her case having the radio on drowns out what the brain is attempting to work on. On the other hand any noise while I am trying to go to sleep becomes a fixation point for my brain. So I will lay there and listen to the voices on the radio or tv and never fall asleep. For Maria's compromise on the issue I can't thank her enough.
And of course there are the perks like dishes. I don't have to worry about getting them done on a daily basis anymore. Of course I feel guilty when I go for a week or longer without helping with them, but in those cases she seems genuinely grateful when I do help out.
But there is the other side of the coin too. For instance: if I want to get completely under Maria's skin I know all I have to do is wash and dry about four loads of clothes, and NOT fold them. I have learned to be very careful about this, saving it for "special" occasions.
Sure it was easy to live as the only "head" of the household. But when someone is so easy to work with, the compromises really become nothing. Any by the way Maria, the grass really needs to be cut. So when you are ready to take those three or four rounds...
Tony said:
It is truly amazing how little inconsequential things can turn into huge arguments for some people. Take for instance the radio issue at night, I believe Maria and I have the same problem, but we have, during our time living alone, come to opposite solutions. We have very active brains, and in her case having the radio on drowns out what the brain is attempting to work on. On the other hand any noise while I am trying to go to sleep becomes a fixation point for my brain. So I will lay there and listen to the voices on the radio or tv and never fall asleep. For Maria's compromise on the issue I can't thank her enough.
And of course there are the perks like dishes. I don't have to worry about getting them done on a daily basis anymore. Of course I feel guilty when I go for a week or longer without helping with them, but in those cases she seems genuinely grateful when I do help out.
But there is the other side of the coin too. For instance: if I want to get completely under Maria's skin I know all I have to do is wash and dry about four loads of clothes, and NOT fold them. I have learned to be very careful about this, saving it for "special" occasions.
Sure it was easy to live as the only "head" of the household. But when someone is so easy to work with, the compromises really become nothing. Any by the way Maria, the grass really needs to be cut. So when you are ready to take those three or four rounds...
