Wedding Blog
Mr. Beagle/Clean is pretty obsessive about the cleaning in our home. I’m a fairly tidy person too, so this arrangement works out pretty well that we are both “clean” people. (I have a theory that it might have something to do with the fact that we’re both first borns… anyone else notice this?) Anyway, the good part about this is that I usually end up having to do very little cleaning. 
So, I usually end up pulling my weight by taking care of other chores around the house like laundry and dinner. At this point, we’ve settled into a nice routine of splitting up household duties. However, this wasn’t always so.
Before I moved in with Mr. Beagle almost a year ago (I can’t believe it’s actually been a year!), I briefly roomed with my younger sister and lived alone before that. In both living situations, I took care of all/ a majority of the chores by myself. I noticed that I fell into my own little cycle of getting things done. I’ll admit I was a little anal about how to wash the dishes, vacuum, dust, launder, etc., etc. There was a process I liked to follow, and no other method really sufficed. Okay, maybe I was/am a little OCD about cleaning, too.
So, while living with another tidy person was nice, it took an adjustment on my part to not take over every job Mr. Beagle started because I didn’t like the way he was doing it. I struggled a lot with this when we moved in together. I know I should be grateful that my mister was willing to divide up household duties (and I am), but in the beginning, I wanted to fight about every little nit-picky thing. It caused tension, fighting, and overall unhappiness. I began to wonder why I had moved in with someone else when I loved living alone.
I think part of it was the adjustment to sharing aspects of my living space and life that I had not experienced before. I can be stubborn and I had to learn when to let that go. I’ve learned to walk away from a fight that’s just not worth it. I love Mr. Beagle for putting up with my shenanigans in the beginning, especially when it was his space I was taking over. I probably drove him nuts, but not once did he suggest the move was a mistake or that I should pack my bags and leave. I am horrible at dealing with change, and he tried so hard to make my adjustment as painless as possible. He even let me turn the spare bedroom into my own craft room. How sweet is that?!?!
Now, a year later, I love our living situation… even more than I loved living alone. I’m happy that we’ve been able to smooth all our rough patches out and that we’ve jumped over yet another relationship hurdle.
How has your relationship changed or how do you expect it will change from living together?
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Share this post: Reason No. 1,583 Why I Love Mr. Beagle
oh my gosh, i had this same experience! i wanted to show him ‘how’ to wash the dishes. he even asked if the way he had been doing them wasn’t getting them clean enough. and i said yes(?!?) foolish. anyhow. he let me stay. and he even turned his drum room (the drums are now in the garage) into my office/all-things-girlie room.
lol….such a great post… we recently had our Engaged Couples Conference….it was great becuase topics like this was what we talked about. Things you never thought to discuss such as for Christmas are you going to have a real or fake tree…lol
My husband is really messy and the first born..I am the middle child and a neat freak. This actually has caused some stress in our relationship because I have found his messiness to feel like he is disrespecting me and the house we own. But after a handful of heart and to hearts (and um, screaming matches) he is trying:) I tell myself, if all I have to worry about is his messiness, then I am lucky. But it does still bother..
I am also a first born and the tidiest between me and Sister Frenchie!
My mister and I equally hate cleaning and doing laundry. It tends for a messy house and some arguing over whose going to do what (its so much easier when we buckle down and do things together - we can get so much done when we’re both working towards it!) but we’re hoping that we will be able to afford someone to come in a couple times a month when we get our own place….
Moving in was such an easy, natural transition for us. I think since we’ve been together for so long (6.5 years) we’ve sort of developed our groove. He tries to help with the housework, which I appreciate. (Although, can’t he remember to zap the sponge in the microwave for 30 secs after using it? I end up throwing so many away). I generally do most of the housework though, but that’s b/c I only work 40 hrs/wk and he works 80.
I love these kind of stories! Our relationship has improved too since we moved in together. It was almost weird how smoothly it transitioned… like I was at home immediately. It wasn’t me moving into his place… it was simply ours.
Teehee:
http://questionablecontent.net./view.php?comic=1141
I have the third panel blown up on the back of my wedding binder. (It’s a comic, not porn. Promise.)
Another first born couple here (well he’s a twin, but was born first!) and we are also much more tidy than our younger siblings, nice observation!
We’re both complete slobs, so we had to learn to clean up! One slob can find things in a mess, but two? No way. We’re much tidier now! It was never a source of tension though, just amusing to us!
I’m a first born, too! I moved into his house over a year ago, and it was a rough transition. I took care of my younger siblings so much growing up that I have to remember that I’m not the mother!
We’ve had a lot of arguments because I get overwhelmed. Before, he worked FT and I was PT, but now it’s the opposite and I’m still taking care of the majority of the household chores and bills and stuff. I’ve learned to let go of petty things, and he’s helping more now, but it was really tough to do the role-reversal.
He was not very clean when we first started dating, I had to coax him to start being cleaner. Now he does all of the cleaning around the house (most of it - I’ll help sometimes), I do the laundry (He just throws everything into one load and washes it all cold - YUCK!) and we spilt the dinner duty depending on schedules some nights I do it, others he does.
Oh Boy has it. When we moved in just the two of us, there were lots of cleaning fights. (I am a little OCD about the cleaning) And I would either do it all myself, or nitpick over what he did wrong. I have had to learn to relax my OCD, and he has had to learn that our house can’t be like the drunken party house he lived in before. It is an adjustment 4 years in the making, but we do it, and we love every minute
@IA_Snowflake: What is it about boys and laundry? They all wash it the same: cold or hot and dry it on super hot.
Mr. Spin puts me to shame in the tidiness factor. He has separate baskets for darks, whites and towels so he can wash them separately. My dirty clothes are all over the floor of my apt. He washes the dishes promptly. I…ok, not so much. He puts things away. I have a stack of paid bills and old mail on every surface in my living room.
*sigh*
It’s a good thing we don’t live together yet because I need to get myself in tidiness training so I don’t drive him nuts when we do. 
But knowing you have a problem is half the battle, right? Right?
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Mrs. Beagle, Austin
Age and Occupation: 26, Electrical Engineer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Finance
Engagement Date: July 12, 2008
Wedding Date: October 2009
Venue: Church Ceremony/Reception at The Waterford House
About Me: I am a true, but rare, Austinite---I was born, raised, and continue to live in this great city! Although
I am an engineer by day, I feed my inner creative side through crafting, sewing, and obsessing over Martha Stewart. I love coffee, my mister, NPR, and exploring all the nooks and crannies of Austin.
I can't wait to share my adventures in DIY and wedding planning with all of you!
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