You love that sweet, sweet girl of yours. You really do.
But, sometimes, you wonder how it is that you’ve made it this far without going off the deep end. Deep down, she’s super-cool and still makes you weak in the knees.
But you just hate it when she comes home with yet another pair of shoes, despite the fact that the other 35 pairs lined up in the closet are in perfectly good shape. And it’s so annoying when she insists on turning up the heat, despite the fact that you’re burning up. And dude. If you have to watch another movie like Mamma Mia!…
Stay strong, guys. Remain calm. You’re not the only one who gets annoyed with the woman you love. Below, men reveal the things their wives do that get on their nerves badly.
Here, 7 married men tell us their wives’ most annoying habits:
1. Insisting upon my undivided attention 24/7
“My wife has a tendency to continue talking even when I try explaining that I’m in the middle of something (like reading, watching TV, or working). She’ll continue to make noise, play videos she finds on the Internet, talk to the cats, and say “OMG, Michael, look at this!” I can’t completely blame her – we do live in VERY tight quarters – but sometimes it’s very hard to deal with. Most of the time, I rely on my ADD to tune her out.”
– Michael, 30, married for almost 3 years
2. Being passive-aggressive about the fact that she’s upset
“My wife will oftentimes just act as though nothing’s wrong when she’s upset with me. She’ll be quiet and go about her business while stewing. Then I’ll see that something is wrong, I’ll ask, and she’ll start the “No… nothing’s wrong… well… there is this ONE thing…” and then we can finally get the issue resolved. It pushes my buttons because a) I’m usually oblivious to my mistakes and b) I’m a “bring it up and deal with it” person.”
– Andrew, 29, married for 3+ years
3. Overriding me in every conversation
“My wife interrupts me in the middle of a conversation in order to say something totally unrelated to someone else in the room. Excuse me! I had the floor. I usually just keep my mouth shut, though sometimes I’ll calmly point out that I was trying to share a story with those in attendance.”
– Ben, 58, married for 31.5 years
4. Letting the clutter build to overwhelming proportions
“My wife has a tendency to put things down, whatever she happens to be holding, on any open horizontal surface that’s convenient. Piles of stuff just start spawning and growing and it drives me nuts. Eventually, I’ll just gather a few of the piles and make a large pile of stuff to clear up some surface space.”
– Dossy, 33, married for 10 years
5. Playing back-seat driver
“When my wife is a passenger in the car and traffic is bad, or a large truck pulls up alongside us, she panics and voices her concern, acting as if the world will soon end. I tend to get frustrated by this and snap at her, telling her that her commentary is distracting and that I have things under control. This usually only starts an argument, so I wouldn’t say that it’s necessarily an effective way to deal.”
– Peter, 58, married for 33 years
6. Trying to control my every move
“My ex-girlfriend didn’t understand the concept of individual identities. Whenever I traveled long-distance to visit my friends or did anything that didn’t involve her, or that she had no control over, she’d get snippy. I’d try to tell her she was being irrational but it would only make her more upset. After a while, I kept my mouth shut but, when things remain bottled up like that, peace can’t be maintained indefinitely. In the end, we didn’t last.”
– Chris, 27, together for almost two years
7. Refusing to believe me when I say everything is okay
“My wife has a knack for asking me if I’m OK, or what’s bothering me, when she thinks that I’m upset about something. In many cases, yes, there might actually have been some little, infinitesimally small thing nagging me, but other times I’m just zoning out for a second.
– Dan, 29, married 1.5 years, together almost 11
Steph Auteri is a freelance writer and editor. She’s been featured in Playgirl, Time Out New York, American Curves, New York Press, Nerve, and other publications.
