My boyfriend hates making the bed.
I once made an attempt at compromise by only making my half of the bed ... because, sometimes, I am a jerk.
I fought him on this for awhile. My high school vespers speaker said that if there was one thing we should do every day, it was make our beds. Crawling under untangled blankets at the end of the day would make the five minute chore each morning well worth it.
The boyfriend pointed out the futility of my efforts. He oftentimes gets home from works just a few hours after I arrange all the throw pillows. And he certainly wasn’t putting back the bedding masterpiece I had created before I got home at the end of the day.
Ultimately, his afternoon naps trumped my morning routine of tucking sheets and fluffing pillows.
He’s happy because I let him win this argument. And I’m happy because I spend my extra five minutes each morning scanning newspaper headlines over coffee. And I usually do a quick untangling before getting into bed at night. Yes, essentially, I make the bed before getting into it, but he pretends not to notice that my OCD habits die hard.
Living together is all about compromise. It’s combining your individual possessions to make one apartment you call home. It’s buying groceries that you really might not want to eat. It’s being considerate of another person’s sleeping habits.
But, someday, you won’t mind the extra couch and ’80s-style TV stand in your bedroom. You’ll learn to like his recipes that involve way more meat than veggies. You’ll eventually drown out the sounds of Tony Soprano curb stomping someone before you fall asleep.
And maybe, just maybe, you’ll wake up next to your best friend … and be OK with not making the bed.
Before moving in with my boyfriend, one of my good friends warned me to prepare for the worst few months of my life until we found our groove. Though she was overly dramatic, living with a boy for the first time did take some getting used to. What was the hardest adjustment you had to make when you first shacked up with your significant other? Any tips for making the transition? Leave a note in the comments section below.
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