Five Quirky Things We’ve Taught Each Other

In honor of Valentine’s Day, Beth and I are offering five quirky things we have taught each other during our two and a half years of marriage. Though none of these quirks are profound, they are examples of the way we bend and break our own rules and inhibitions as we learn to love and cherish each other.

As a preview to this five part series, our lists are as follows:

Each day this week, we’ll be working through our lists sharing short scenes that typify our “quirk adoption process.” For today’s post, I’ll be sharing how I’ve learned that Wrinkle-Shield is a good thing. While Beth will be sharing about how she’s learned that you shouldn’t be afraid to sing your own song. We hope you have as much fun reading our reflections as we’ve had writing them:

1. Michael’s List: Wrinkle-Shield is a good thing.
When we bought our new clothes dryer, Beth was so excited about its “wrinkle-shield” setting. On the other hand, I was often exclaiming, “Beth, why is the dryer going on-and-off, on-and-off! It’s driving me nuts!”

“That’s wrinkle-shield,” she would say. “It keeps my clothes from getting wrinkled by drying them gradually.”

“Well, we’re having none of that!” I’d say with a gleam in my eye before dashing back to the laundry room.

“Oh no you’re not!” she would say running after me. Begrudgingly, I would relent, but it still drove me crazy.

Then, one day while Beth was at work and I was drying clothes, I thought to myself, “I wonder if this wrinkle-shield will keep my khakis from getting wrinkled?” So, with hesitancy, I switched on the dreaded setting. Sure enough, my pants came out dryer fresh and wrinkle-free. “Wow, this thing really works!” I thought.

Beth found out about my “discovery” a week or two later while we were watching TV and the dryer came on. “You’re using wrinkle-shield!” she said looking over at me with eyes wide.

“Yes, honey,” I said, “you’re right. Winkle-shield is a good thing. I love it.”

1. Beth’s List: Don’t be afraid to sing your own song.
Shortly after we were married, I was getting ready for church one morning when I heard Michael talking out in the living room. We were expecting Elissa to drop by, so I figured she had arrived. I walked out to greet her, but Michael was all alone walking around the room with a shoe in his hand singing:

I killed your mama…
and your daddy…
and your greasy, greasy, greasy granny.

“What are you doing, honey?” I asked.

“I’m hunting a spider,” he said as he continued to stalk his prey.

As it turns out, Michael makes up songs like this quite often. Whether we’re waiting in traffic, cooking in the kitchen or simply being too quiet, he has a song for any circumstance. I think he is funny and a little crazy, but I never thought that I would ever do that. My cheeks would redden just thinking about someone else catching me acting like a nut.

But now I’m finding that his constant symphony of songs has had an effect on me. Just this past week, I caught myself singing the praises of leftovers as we warmed our dinner together in the microwave. And, instead of being embarrassed, I’ve decided to enjoy the freedom that comes with being a little nutty.

Read the next post in this series: Five Quirky Things: Part II