Co-habitation is full of surprises. Some good. Some bad. Many involving hair. Someone recently asked Reddit: "Couples who have moved in together, what surprised you most about living with a male/female?" These 29 people shared their stories and they are proof that while co-habitation may be a wonderful thing, it's also a wild ride full of unexpected ups and downs. Buckle up!
1.) waineofark learned their partner doesn't use a dresser:
After living with him for 4 years, I opened a drawer of "his" dresser... And it was empty. All of it. Apparently he thought it was my extra dresser.
He doesn't use a dresser. Clothes get washed and put into a "clean clothes" hamper. He puts socks and underwear in his bedside table.
Now I'm wondering what other furniture in our house is empty??
2.) math9958 got a lesson in folding.
Learning that there’s a wrong way to fold towels apparently
He peed in the sink. That’s all.
How different our versions of ‘clean’ are.
5.) _banana_panda_ learned something about their cat:
Apparently the cat I raised since she was a kitten and loved more than life itself is more than willing to abandon me and love someone else much more in a blink of an eye.
I was told that we would start arguing and being miserable. It ended up feeling like a super awesome constant sleep over. Don't let people scare you into not moving in with a significant other if that is what you both want.
7.) Kikrokzz123 is being followed:
That your partner may follow you around the house, just because.
8.) becelav moved in with Marie Kondo:
she's good at playing tetris and very organized
I was living with my parents since I traveled for work and only made it home one or two weekends a month. she moved in with me at my parent's house, we had one room to store stuff; my bedroom. we bought things we'd need when we moved out when we saw a deal too good to pass up and she stored them
I realized she was good when we had to make 4 trips to get all our stuff out. 4 trips. this girl had boxes inside boxes inside boxes. she utilized every inch available in our room to stack items.
we just bought a house and still have some boxes left to unpack. I will call her at work and say something like "hey, do you remember that blue paper clip I like to use? I can't find it." she will tell me which room, which box, what container, and what is beside it, just in case I still can't find it.
The hair, man. It gets everywhere.
10.) -eDgAR- learned something about himself:
How much I actually talk to myself.
I never had any roommates, aside from one for like the first two weeks in college before I got moved to a single room, so I was used to just talking to myself out loud like nothing. After we moved in together and she kept asking "Who are you talking to?" and "Did you say something?" I realized that I actually talk to myself quite a bit.
11.) eternalrefuge86 is baffled by bobby pins:
A lot of it’s been mentioned. Bobby pins everywhere. Hair everywhere. She was not a clean person. I did the cleaning.
But one thing that hasn’t been mentioned is just the sheer amount accessories that she had! Tons of makeup and beauty products. A vanity full of of it. Plus more. Lots of clothes. Tons of clothes she didn’t wear.
TBH it was that it worked out so well. My girlfriend and I moved in after about 2 months together due to circumstances of us both moving out of our current apartments and it honestly worked out great. We didn't fight, we both cleaned and kept things tidy and it was just a ton of fun. We moved cities for her grad school to get her doctorate and I moved back in with my parents to help remodel and not pay rent as she moved right next to her Uni, but are getting a place together within a couple months.
After almost 2 years of dating we're both still super excited to be living with one another again soon, I feel as though given the situation and how living together usually goes for couples it should've been a disaster. I had moved out of my old apartment before she was out of hers at first, but she had looked up how 1 bed 1 bath's would be an option and I was hesitant because of how things like that usually go with an S.O., especially after so short of time dating. It was one of the best and happiest decisions of my life :)
How specific I have to be when giving instructions to do something. Like instead of saying “wash the sheets” I have to say “wash and dry the sheets and pillowcases and put new sheets on the bed”
Edit: thanks for the silver, and for all those saying he’s dumb/a child/ I should leave him I have four brothers and all but one would have done the exact same thing he did. (I was hoping he would at least put the sheets in the dryer too, but whatever, wet sheets aren’t the end of the world)
How often I'd be helping her find her car keys.
Eventually, I put up a hook that I was able to get her in the habit of using.
Made me tear up a little at the time, but a couple weeks after we split I remember getting a text from her that said "I miss being able to find my keys."
14.) NoahtheRed learned women wipe. Often.
I always knew women went through TP faster than men, but I never knew how much faster they did. It got to the point, I'd just grab a pack of TP whenever I went to the store for any reason. We may not be out at home, but we will be soon I reckoned, and I was never wrong about that.
15.) Jauxerous had an eye-opening experience:
I always thought of women as tidy and organized. That was until I moved in with one. I swear I spend 20 minutes a day helping SO tidy up the mess she creates in the first hour every morning. Then another 10 minutes every day searching for brushes, hairbands, make-up, clothes etc.
The true shock for me was the sheer amount of time my husband spends in the lavatory.
17.) DrDisastor was not prepared for the hair:
My wife has really long beautiful hair. I was not prepared to find that all in my butt and crotch regions as often as I do. I could never be prepared to have one stuck in my ass and have to pull it out like some mangy dog. I've never felt more violated or unclean than when I FELT those hairs basically floss my lower GI tract. Somehow I swallowed a few and passing them is a really disgusting feeling. She has told me that hasn't happened to her too which makes it weirder.
For me, how subtle the need for alone time crept up on me. I wasn't unhappy in the slightest and moving in was natural. But over time I felt myself becoming irritable and it turned out that I tend to get that way when I don't have time to myself, because I went from being alone in my room after work in my parent's house to being around my SO pretty much every minute I'm not at work or driving, so I found myself with someone almost 24/7, and it took a toll. Thankfully once I recognized that, it was easier to manage
19.) Ganglebot got a pillow-lesson:
Everything has a decorative pillow on it. They are too small to be used for anything, and I'm not allowed to throw them on the floor or pile them all on one chair. The bed has a bunch, and a long tube thing. I'm not allowed to wack her with the tube thing.
Where did these come from? Why do we need them? If they're just in the way, can we put them in storage? No? Ok, babe - whatever you want.
20.) openletter8 learned women can be slobs, too.
My first roommate was a girl. She was the slobbiest person I've ever met. She had been a coworker for ages and was always neat at work. It was stunning. Her bedroom was just piles of clothes. The living room was clothes and jackets everywhere. Half drank cups of water, you name it.
I loved living with her. It was a very comfy mess. My Wife is quite a bit more of a neat freak and has a cute little temper. Sometimes I wanna live like Charlie and Frank. I had that for a year.
I once pulled Chewbacca out of the bathroom sink.
22.) mainelymackenzie1820 learned some things can never be learned:
No matter how long you've been together, or have known each other, you truly don't know the person. I still love my husband dearly, but I wish he knew what the laundry hamper is.
Definitely the food, I’d eat ramen and canned foods all the time when I was living alone. Now I get spoiled with home cooked food. the best part though is she’s been teaching me to cook, I love our cooking school sessions after work.
Edit* thank you for the silver! I’m genuinely happy that I’m able make her home cooked meals now when she really needs me :D
24.) raddlesnake is also plagued by the great bobby pin mystery:
I have never observed my wife put a bobby pin in her hair.
I have found thousands of bobby pins in our house.
25.) ccistheking is confused about getting ready:
Everything went extremely smooth with my girlfriend and I. I attest that to having almost equal levels of cleanliness standards. I see a lot of people commenting on that and I feel very blessed that hasn't been an issue in my life. Don't know how I got so lucky with that.
But what surprises me and what I fail to understand is the vast amount of time she spends getting ready. I try to understand, but I just don't. She looks beautiful all of the time, but spends an hour and a half to two hours before going out making herself look nice. She looks incredible when shes done of course! But the whole process stresses her out and she has quoted it as a reason why she doesn't want to go out sometimes.
Even during little outings with friends she spends the same amount of time getting ready. I'm a numbers type person. That would be just too many of my seconds spent on this Earth looking nice for other people I'm not trying to physically attract. I don't press her about it because she has said its just something she wants/needs to do.
What an absolute master chef he is! I thought I was a great cook until we moved in together and he started making meals. Blew my f*cking mind!
Now I think back to when we first started dating and he would eat my cooking and say it was the best he'd ever had, the little liar. Brings a smile to my face!
The audacity.
No but real answer is how LOUD he needs things to be. Every song/movie/whatever has to be heard from three rooms over.
28.) ElToberino learned sexism is wrong:
I thought if I ever moved in with a girl, I'd have to be way less of a slob. Turns out I'm the neat freak in this relationship.
29.) And wiiya learned they hate Bravo. And want a divorce.
She works from home, but the television never leaves Bravo. I leave for work, Bravo. Come home, Bravo. Go on the elliptical, Bravo. 24 f*cking hours of these catty women (and sometimes men) yelling at each other. Bravo always being on is like the only thing we fight about, which is probably a good thing, but Jesus Christ, always with the Bravo.
Even when I entertain her and say "What show is this?"
"Oh, Southern Charm. I don't really watch that show."
Well guess what, I've seen 50 episodes of Southern Charm passively when I come home and I know you've done 20x that. Goddamn it I hate Bravo, I'm getting a divorce.
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