Do you annoy your spouse with those quirks of yours that you really just can't help?
Do you feel like you drive your spouse crazy sometimes?
I know I do.
It's not uncommon that I...
Leave several lights on in the house, even when I'm not in those rooms.
Insist a fan blow on me every time I sit down.
Toss a freezer-burnt chicken in the outside trashcan, only to let it sizzle and cook in the summer heat giving the illusion to our entire street (yes, ENTIRE, because the smell was just that bad) that we were having a BBQ cookout, rotten-style...and leaving Bill to clean up the nasty trash can.
Toss an unbagged poopy diaper (because I forgot to bag it) in the outside trash can in the hot summer heat, drawing forth flies and every kind of parasitic creature you can name....and leaving Bill to clean up the nasty trash can, again.
I did this again with watermelon...juice leakage...
Leaving the kitchen cupboards open, Sixth Sense style.
Leaving the house while forgetting to blow out the burning scented candles.
Leaving the car door unlocked sometimes.
Leaving the door of our house unlocked sometimes when I go places.
Etc, etc...
It's amazing that Bill has not yet bought double homeowner's insurance for our house (or maybe he has and just doesn't want to tell me?).
Hopefully, assuming you're still looking for the best in me after knowing these idiotic things, you've realized that I don't do this on purpose. This is an inherited trait from my father (sorry dad, I'm putting the blame on you). This defect is called "absent-mindedness"...or at least that's what Bill and my mom have termed it.
So, do you do certain things that drive your spouse nuts?
Well, have no fear! I have the perfect solution.
We all know what the saints did: They offered those unpleasant/annoying things that inconvenienced them as penances. No matter what situation cropped up, they sought to see God's Divine hand in it and learned to embrace those crosses that came their way.
Maybe you are a cross to your spouse.
What to do?
Here's what I lovingly and sweetly say to Bill sometimes after I do something stupid such as listed above (if he's in a mood to hear it...if not, I'll wait until later after the storm cloud has passed):
"Bill, I'm just trying to make you a saint."
"It's a good penance, isn't it?"
"Carry your cross."
Remember, one of the reasons the Lord gave us our spouses and placed us with them is so that we can help one another get to heaven.
That's all your doing, really...
So, as you continue to work on your quirks and defects, instead of your spouse perceiving something you do as being annoying, you can offer them another perspective: "I'm just trying to make you a saint."
....or maybe that's just my excuse...
Jessica Fahy: Driving hubby crazy one stupid/corny thing at a time