Secret to a Happy Marriage

Ever wonder what makes for a happy marriage?

Want to know some secret formula, recipe, or enlightning advice?

Sorry, I don't have any of that.

But I do have a perfect example of what has worked for us.

~

I was blow drying my hair this morning ~ a long process which usually takes at least 15 boring minutes! Being the multitasker that I am, I used my non-hair drying hand to tidy up the bathroom. I noticed that both of our toothpaste tubes needed to be replaced.

Yes.

I said BOTH.

We have separate tubes of toothpaste.

Anyway, as I was looking at these two pitiful empty tubes, I almost started laughing out loud remembering WHY we have separate tubes. You see, although Brian and I see eye to eye on virtually all the important stuff like religious beliefs, child rearing, money management, etc... We have very different beliefs on how you should dispense toothpaste.

Don't believe me?

See for yourself...

Brian's is the neatly flatened out tube on the bottom.

Mine is the one on top that looks like it has been strangled to death.

I am not too proud to admit it.

I am a toothpaste slob.

I have no excuses.

It just is what it is.

When we first married, we shared toothpaste. I mean, I thought married couples were supposed to share everything, right? Everyday I would grab and squeeze the toothpaste not giving it a second thought. Brian would meticulously run the toothpaste from back to front along the edge of the bathroom counter carefully dispensing the correct amount of paste. I kind of thought it was funny watching him do this time and time again until one day I realized how annoying it must be for him to have to share his toothpaste with a slob. What's even more pitiful is that I do not have the desire to change my habit because, quite frankly, I just do not care enough about toothpaste tubes. But I do care about him, and since I knew it would be a difficult habit for me to break after having brushed my teeth this way thousands of times over the years, the easiest solution was to go for separate tubes. I know it may sound silly, but at the end of the day, the lesson is "don't split hairs about the small stuff." I realize that probably no one's marriage has crumbled to pieces solely because of toothpaste squeezing issues, but the little things do add up. And if there are ways to avoid such problems ~ by all means, go for it!

So there you have it.

The 'secret' to our happy union.