Gotta love him

I love my husband!!  There's very rarely a dull moment.  And he brings out the craziness in me :)  Exhibit A:

The hubby tends to leave things wherever he drops them...even after I ask him to put it up.  For example, since the hubby can't seem to walk to the bathroom to put his dirty clothes in the hamper...I have strategically placed dirty clothes hampers where he tends to pull socks and shirts off throughout the house.  The hubz is really only expected to have a semi-accurate toss from wherever he's sitting to get the clothes in the bin.

I know what you're thinking...man, she's a great wife!!  The only thing that I ask is that he not put his belts in the bins...because I'd like to just pour the clothes out of the bin into the washing machine...life is simple for everyone :)

But guess what??

You got it!! I still find belts in the bins.  I didn't even know he had this many belts...he has one for each day.  So, not only are they in the bin, but they are spread throughout the layers of the clothes...  This makes me completely see red...and when I bring it up to the hubz, you know what he does??

He laughs because it makes me so angry...

Apparently, I'm not doing something right.  I've tried to make it convenient for him.  I've also tried behavior modification tactics that I've studied to work with children...no dice.

So...when I find a belt in the bin...I stick it in the microwave...

Not the working one...I'm not that crazy!! We have an extra microwave...long story...got a counter top microwave for a wedding present and bought a house that uses an over-the-stove microwave.  So, we have a microwave in storage.  Anyways, I stick the belt in the extra microwave in the utility room.  Not forever, just long enough to make it a pain for him to find.  So, when he realizes what an inconvenience it is to find an item that he didn't put up...he'll take the time to put it up the next time.  See the rationality there?

It's not just belts and the microwave, it's anything that I've just been fed up with...and anywhere I think of at that moment.

Oddly, this doesn't work either...he just finds other belts, or pens, or cups, or socks, or mice...  Yes, our house is filled with mice.  Not the rodent variety, the clickable variety...corded, USB, wireless, miniature, colored, LED...

At least it makes me feel better...or it did...until today...

Paul was looking for something.  He opens a drawer in the bathroom that is rarely opened.  'What's that?? My MP3 player??  I've been looking for that for months, I thought I was going to have to buy another one.'  WOW...

I don't even remember sticking that in there.  When the hubz found it, we both knew exactly how it got there.  And looking at it...I know exactly why it was there.  The MP3 was still attached to the arm band.  Paul came home from a run and {more than likely} slung it onto the key bowl* (key bowl* = bowl that I put on the table in the foyer by the door for the purpose of placing keys).  As any reasonable person can see...they key bowl is obviously not for MP3 players.  And that's how the MP3 player ended up in the obscure drawer in the hall bathroom.

Maybe it's time I re-evaluate my thinking process...just typing this makes me sound kinda certifiable.  Plus, I've realized that I can't even remember all the victims of my little form of home management.  And at some point, I decided that it was a better idea to hide an expensive MP3 player rather than just put it up...

There's gotta be a more constructive way...  We just went on a marriage retreat and learned all kinds of positive ways to interact with each other.  Surely, I can pull something out of my new skills tool box.

Maybe I'll try a sticker chart :)