Tabitha Studer has a list for her husband. But will it end at eight?
I was folding clothes last night cursing under my breath after having to flip the third of my husband’s t-shirts right side out. There are certainly bigger and worse qualities that my husband could have than being incapable of putting dirty laundry in the hamper in a courteous fashion—and yet, it is still annoying as hell. So then I got to thinking about the old adage with the chicken and the egg. Am I just inherently a nag? Or do I nag because he does annoying things? Clearly, in the moment, underneath a mountain of unfolded inside-out t-shirts, I believed the latter to be the case.
So then I jotted down the top 8 ways he could be less annoying on a daily basis:
- Turn your t-shirts right side out before putting them in the hamper.
- Pay attention to things that belong in another room or upstairs—then take them there with you on your next trip.
- Wipe out the sink after you shave.
- Leave wet towels off the bed.
- Put the toilet seat down.
- Ask if I need anything when you go to the kitchen.
- Make the bed if you’re the last one up.
- Call me during the day.
I showed him this list and he adamantly stood by the fact that he is ‘a professional’ at numbers 3, 5, and 6. And then we got in a little half-hearted disagreement because he definitely does not always do #3, as he was basically the example I was using to build this list in the first place. And then he shrugged and laughed and said, “Babe, if I did start doing all of these things, in a couple weeks you’d just come up with a list of 8 new ways I could be less annoying.” Which then sort of shut me up because that’s true, I probably would.
So then maybe he’s not so annoying. And maybe I’m not so much of a nag, but rather really awesome at making lists.
Read more awesome Lists on The Good Life. Here’s one: a list of domestic chores that aren’t included in studies on housework and gender—These Chores Don’t Count?
Image credit: Bilal Kamoon/Flickr