Laundry Chronicles: The Untucker

That's right. It's about time I got you another episode of the Laundry Chronicles up...

It’s common in a marriage to find that you have some extreme differences. Some of these are due to upbringing, some personality types, and some I believe are designed by God for the sole purpose of pushing you to your limits for the purpose of growth.

I am a typical first born personality. I like order and organization. I enjoy having things neat and tidy. I need to be in control. This shows in many areas of my life from the way that my kitchen drawers look when you open them, all the way down to the apparently “neat” way that I spread the peanut butter on my bread (as stated recently by my best friend). Now, don’t get a messed up image in your head thinking that my house is spick and span. It’s often a pit. You see, I am one of those neat and tidy people that has to have it done fully and completely the right way, no halfway jobs at our house. If it can’t be done properly right now, then it will just have to wait.

My husband is not this way, in fact, he is the opposite in many ways. He is the epitomy of an efficient person. His goal is always to get it done quickly and in the most efficient way possible. I am often surprised at how quickly he can get cleaning done around the house- why can’t I do that! It’s just that when I go to open the knife drawer, the knives aren’t in the exact place that I would have them be and the toys are piled in the kid’s bins with no rhyme or reason.

Well, early in our marriage…very early, we figured out that this difference can be a very big deal sometimes. You see, we have to share a bed. We have to share sheets! You can imagine the disaster that can be. I, being the sound-minded individual that I am, use my sheets properly. I tuck them in when I make the bed and I pull them out just enough to get into them. I then proceed to pull the covers up one at a time until I am snugly settled into bed. When he is away and I am sleeping on my own, the bed looks like it was never entered at all with just a quick lift of the blankets. It’s just the way it is meant to be done. HE on the other hand, will climb into bed by ripping the covers up in a roaring motion and once laying down throws his feet up into the air for the exact reason of UNTUCKING. He lives to be unrestricted in his sleep.

You think that I am making this sound like a big deal for entertainment, but I will assure you that I have actually cried a time or two over these cover issues. Serious tears, I am for real. So, how do we deal with this? For the sake of our marriage we had to figure something out. We had to compromise. The deal is, on the day that I make the bed and wash the sheets, he has to wait for me to climb into bed first. (Don’t call me a tyrant, it was a gift to me that he decided to do.) The rest of the time, I just have to deal with the feeling that I sleep with a tornado each night. It’s something I am still learning to live with…

This is something I found while looking for images that I thought I should share. They have a split-sheet design for this very issue! He can be sloppy, while she is neatly tucked. I am not sure that it would work for me, but I thought I would share it if only for the purpose of letting you know that I am not the only one with this issue.

OBVIOUSLY.

See you tomorrow evening with a Meet the Family post!