In the early years of our marriage, we had a conversation that went something like this:
Spouse #1: Honey, why do you always put your work clothes on that chair in our room? It’s only few more steps to the hamper. Can’t you get them to the hamper?
Spouse #2: Ummmm, ummmmm, I don’t know, I guess so.
This conversation isn’t unusual, I know. It plays out all over the world on a weekly basis. The twist here is that I’m the guilty party. My husband, the neat freak, is Spouse #1. It’s sad, but true. I’m the one who leaves socks on the bedroom floor, stacks piles of papers on her desk, and has to try really, really hard to remember to make the bed. (I’m usually the last one out.)
So you can imagine that if left to my own devices we might put the ornaments away around the 4th of July, along with the plastic Easter eggs. Naturally, since I am married to a neat freak, this isn’t how it happens.
This year—as you may remember—we drove long and far to visit our families for the holidays. We left our house in the wee hours of December 26, which means that we left a decorated tree and all of the Christmas loot at home, along with a few cookies on the counter for a science experiment. We’re always thinking about our kids’ educations, you know? When we returned from our lengthy trip with bags full of dirty laundry and a trunk full of new toys, the only thing I really wanted was a long, hot shower. Alas, it wasn’t to be. My neat and tidy husband had other ideas.
“Let’s get everything into the house,” he said, “and then get the ornaments and decorations put away, so we can take down the tree.”
“Huh?” I said, startled by his ambition. “Huh,” I repeated, still thinking “hot shower, hot shower, hot shower.”
And so we begin. And most years, even if we stay home, it’s the same. Choose the day and get it done: Ornaments off the tree and into the big box. Lights down, wrapped around some wire thing my husband rigged up to keep them neat, and into the light box. Tree out the door to the park that recycles them (this is his job). Decorations off of the mantle and into the decoration boxes (this is mine). And on it goes. While the decoration day is a festive affair with music and snacks and holiday joy, the take-it-all-down day is just business. Get it done.
And I must admit that I’m glad my husband is wired this way. Because, in the end, I love being neat and tidy, too. I just wouldn’t get there by myself.
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