Living Together Signals a Change in Ways

Most of my adult life, I've only lived with cats. I last lived with another human nearly 20 years ago. Even back then when I was considerably younger, I was accused of being  too set in my ways to tolerate the day to day presence of another person in my home.

I had two roommates in college. College roommates are supposed to help you learn tolerance and compromise. All I learned was that I didn't want roommates.

Nevertheless, after a year of dating, Clyde has moved to my address. There is additional furniture in the house and an unusually full refrigerator.

What's happened to change my mind? For one thing, Clyde spends so much time at my house anyway that he might as well move in. My neighbors already assumed we lived together.

I do have some questions about cohabiting.

Forget about whether the toothpaste is squeezed from the middle or which way the toilet paper is loaded. What I need to know is, how do people who live together share a DVR? Is there room to record both persons' programs? What if one watches something but doesn't know whether the other has watched it - how does the former know whether to delete it?  Erasing Cosmos too soon could actually ruin the relationship.

Another issue which concerns me: step-parents are often resented by the children. I have the opposite problem with my non-human dependents. Far from viewing Clyde as an evil step-daddy, the cats prefer him to me. No, my feelings aren't hurt - just because I  have fed, kitty littered, paid vet bills for, given pills to, worried about, and generally taken care of them most of their lives. When Clyde and I are both sitting on the sofa, whose lap do you suppose they go to first? Not mine.

There are other adjustments to be made when the boyfriend moves in. For example, I can't put the remote on the other side of the bed like I used to. And it's more difficult to secretly watch Steam Room Stories (guys in towels) on YouTube. And even though Clyde is not judgmental, I feel guilty when he sees me eating junk food.

Of course there are advantages to having Clyde around.

I now eat fish occasionally, and it's not always disgusting.

Someone else did the laundry last weekend!

Also, Clyde has reorganized the kitchen closet. I can now locate the double-A batteries. And who knew I had two tape measures? Last time I looked, I couldn't even find one.

Clyde likes my cooking. He makes coffee early in the morning. He folds things that I just wad up. He even has an iron. I haven't had one in decades.

The other day, we went to Safeway instead of King Soopers. Who says I'm set in my ways?

I just have to figure out how to get my cats back.