A tisket, a tasket, a surprise in a basket. People have been telling me to read Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project about as long as they’ve been telling me to try a Milky Bun, but I didn’t heed their advice until last night circa 10pm. I’m a bit of a neat freak, so it was old news that Feng Shui inspires serenity (first chapter), but my interest peaked when I read how nagging destroys romance (second chapter).
Despite the whole ‘a clean home is a happy home’ mantra that lives in my bones, I’m known to… ahem.. throw wrappers behind my bed. Eeww, right? Can you believe I just admitted that on the Internet? Thing is, I like ending the day with a book and a delicious snack while I’m tucked under a pile of covers. Once the snack is done and my eyes are tired, well, it’s too much work to get up and throw away the snack, so I just tosssss it over the side.
I’m honestly trying to break the habit, but I slip and slide and have my faults. The sweetest thing, however, is that while Jon thinks my bad habit is gross and unclean, he’s never said so. He goes ‘ewww’ when he finds something, but he never takes it any further than that. I’m a lucky girl.
Jon’s kryptonite is crumbly food. Whenever he makes a sandwich, I cringe as bread and jelly and cheese goes here and there and everywhere. It’s a mess. But you know what? I never say a word about it. Once he finishes and leaves the room, I get a cloth and and sweep like Cinderella. The thing is, the mess bothers me – not him, and so I make do.
My pictures reveal my intention to write about summer sports and baseball, but my midnight reading changed my plans. Can I relate my Jon t-shirt to this anti-nagging post? I suppose, in a way, it’s like the opposite of nagging, right? Cheering someone on? Let’s say yes.
Is there anything that makes you nag, or have you got that under control? Have you read Gretchen’s book?
apartmentwife
apartmentwife 
LOL this was so cute! i, too, hate crumbly messes!
xo, Brikena
So sweet! I love your T-shirt, the perfect counter-nagging solution!
never heard of that book!!! Love your willingness to share your habits 😉
Cute post…I sometimes nag, even though I try hard to not do so! Your picture of Minnehaha falls are so much greener than my picture that I just posted…there was still some ice when I visited MN this spring 🙂
Love it! Marriage is all about placing another before yourself. Even if that means sweeping up his crumbs! So sweet! And that shirt is rockin. 🙂
This is probably not going to make a lot of sense, but the thing that makes me nag the most is others nagging. For the most part, I like to roll with whatever comes my way. For the most part. Trust me, I have my moments 😉 I have found that nagging consumes so much energy that could or should be used for other more productive purposes. And yet, I still find myself doing it from time to time.
I’ve flipped through the book, consuming a chapter here or there while in the bookstore. But, I have yet to read it cover to cover. But, I love your idea of cheering others on. Too many times we see others talking negatively about others, or perhaps worse, not saying anything at all when positive and uplifting thoughts are running through our heads.
Yep, let’s all say yes to cheering others on, thank you 😉
So fun, I need to check that book out. Cheering one another on is always much better at nagging at each other—as hard as that can be sometimes! 🙂
And candy wrappers isn’t that gross…I throw my dirty kleenex on the floor next to our bed when I’m sick because I am too tired to pick them up. Now THAT’S gross!!!!!
I guess it’s a good thing we weren’t ever roommates- we would make a messy duo!
I want to read that book too! That’s funny about the wrappers on the floor. I get annoyed about cleaning stuff way more than I should, but I like to think I’m not too much of a nag. 🙂
“The thing is, the mess bothers me – not him, and so I make do.” <—-THIS! This sentence right here is the key to SO much!! I used to get so worked up when dishes weren't washed, or things got dirty in my house (dirty to me is literally anything, I'm a clean freak) and then one day I switched my mindset and decided if this bothers me, I will do something about it. I now have somewhat of a routine where every morning as I make my coffee, I clean the kitchen up, empty the cat litter, sweep what needs to be swept and my peace of mind has been restored!!
Love the pics & prints. And I am so on board with rationalizing of both habits!
I try not to nag. And overall I think I’m pretty good about keeping it in check. But I lived alone for long enough to develop very particular opinions on how things should be around the house. And Kevin is the same – except he never nags. I’m lucky!
PS – love the pictures! Baseball = summer. Yay! And the line about how the mess bothers you, but not him, so you make do — perfect. So so true. I’m going to remember that.
I might do a little too much nagging, BUT I just discovered that Will wipes his crumbs from the counter onto THE FLOOR every time he makes something. That makes sense since I’d been wondering why I was having to sweep so much. He wears shoes inside and I don’t, so the crumbs were never sticking to his feet… I’d like to say that you’ve made me change my mind about it, but I’m still going to try to change his habit first lol!
hahaha! I love that you shared that! My bad habit is probably letting my laundry pile up for a bit too long….sigh! You can’t be on top of everything- that’s what I tell myself, at least!
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Love that shirt 🙂
Oh man, you crack me up! But I mean, when you’re in the middle of a good part in a book, who wants to get up and through a wrapper away? I totally get it! I’ve read the book and her second (Happier at Home) and I remember feeling like I needed to clean and organize my whole house, which I did. It’s amazing how happy that made me feel 🙂
I’m pretty sure reading The Happiness Project was life changing. Of course, I don’t know that I’ve *actually* changed anything, but it certainly felt life changing when I read it. This is a useless comment.
It can be hard not to nag when someone you live with has a habit that really annoys you, but I try very hard not to. I’m the kind of person who really likes the dishes to be done that night so the kitchen is nice and clean when I wake up in the morning, my husband does not care nearly as much. We make it work though because we trade days of cooking and dishes. I try to not let dishes bother me so much, and he tries to clean them before he would otherwise. It’s always nice when you can meet in the middle. 🙂
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Ha! Ryan has the same problem with crumblies! I shame him about it a little bit, but I try not to be a nag 😉 Looks like I have a new book I need to read! It sounds wonderful! Also, I think your nighttime routine sounds like cozy perfection.
I think nagging is a huge-romance killer and I definitely try to be aware enough of that not to nag. I had a college prof tell me once, “If, when you’re married, you find that some little habit of your spouse annoys you, it’s not their problem, it’s yours. The answer isn’t to make them stop, it’s to learn not to be annoyed by your spouse.” Angel and I really live by that and that’s why it doesn’t kill me that he always bites his nails although in general I detest such a habit–it’s Angel, and I love him, so I choose not to be bothered by him biting his nails. (Although, while watching tv in the evening when I know he’s prone to bite his nails I very well might offer to give him a hand massage with lotion because I know that will prevent nail biting for the moment….)
Too funny! I used to do the same thing (but with face wipes- too lazy to get out of bed to wash my face) so my hubby got me a basket to sit beside my nightstand 🙂
Nagging is something I work so hard to avoid- I watched my parents do it for years… great post!
That book is SO good! I loved that everything is really practical & easy to put into practice. It is stuff that sounds simple but MAN does it make a difference! I think the nagging one is a great one to remember and I love the MVP shirt 🙂
Haha! I love that you shared this. We all have our habits that would probably gross other people out if they were a fly on the wall in our lives for a day. 😉 Lovin’ the MVP shirt!