Laurie shared a list of the things she’s learned over the last year on over on her blog and challenged me to do the same. So, never one to back down to (most) challenges here we go…
- Men and women’s clothes are different (or soft water does a crazy number on clothes). While I can do my laundry for years upon years by throwing it all in the same load of wash on cold water and never have an issue, if you add a red shirt of your wives into the mix, your wives shirt will take over and dye all the other clothes with its red dye. The same applies for red towels you may have received as a wedding gift.
- The house is always dirtier or messier than you realize.
- You always have more money than you think you do.
- If you make the mistake of keeping score for any period of time – you’ll quickly realize you’re loosing the contest.
- There are different unwritten dress codes for weddings – all depending on what time of day the wedding is held and where it is held. Flip flops are very very very rarely OK to wear to weddings and baseball caps are out of the question.
- Women don’t always need things fixed like men think they do. Your wife may come home and complain about 20 things at work. Your mind may instantly go into repair mode and without much trouble at all you’ve found a logical solution to the problem and go into a 12-step program to fix everything in the next 5 minutes. She doesn’t care. She just (most of the time) wants you to listen. If she wanted to know how to fix it, she would have said, “I need you to fix this for me.” This will only be said when there’s a jar that cannot be opened, a computer that’s not working correctly, there’s a problem with the entertainment system, the car is making a funny sound, or when you’ve really messed something up.
- Communication is KEY. When your wife says, “I don’t want you to have to do that” she means “Under no circumstances should you do that” not “I’d prefer you chose to do that differently.”
- “The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” Sometimes when you get a great idea of washing a paint sprayer in the sink, so that you can clean each piece thoroughly and avoid getting soap and oil stain on the fairly new grass, one bad squirt of that spayer can make your idea look like the worst idea to come around these here parts.
- All You Need is Love. Some might argue there’s more to marriage and life – but when you really get down to it – when two people truly love each other – that’s all you really need. Love can overcome any error, any mistake and any challenge. And it’s great to know that when you misunderstand what your wife said or your best laid plan goes awry – you still have a wife who loves you for reasons you’ll never understand and your love for her is the same.
Of course most of these things are said in jest. I can’t think of living my life when anyone other than Laurie. She thrills my heart each and every day.
