Let’s all be honest here. The best part of a relationship is always the beginning.
Yes, there are other amazing parts in the lifetime of relationship-hood, don’t get me wrong. The moment you realize you've fallen in love. The moment you realize this other person's happiness is more important than your own. The day he proposes. The day your first child is born. All the other good shit.
And, yeah, I’m totally in awe of your parents who have been married for forty years and still seem to be madly in love; but if you were to ask them when the best part of their long-term romance took place, I’ll bet a billion dollars it wasn’t when they were eyeballs-deep in a pile of your dirty diapers or when they negotiating the price on their first house.
Those things are the natural part of the long-term commitment you make to another person. The beginning? That isn't real life, not just yet. But hot damn, it's great.
It’s that initial period of courtship: the small window of time right before the part when shit gets serious and right after you slip into a little routine together. There is something unique and special about those first few weeks and months that are singular to the “honeymoon phase”.
You are like, really excited to see each other.
Like, Oh Em Gee, really excited. Why? Because it’s fun and new and, well, exciting to be around someone who wants to be around you. So you spend your free time with this person willingly, and not because you feel an obligation to do so. You even do mundane crap together (e.g. trips to the laundromat, dog groomer) because if you do mundane crap together, you get to be together, and Lord knows how excited you are to be together, even if it's doing mundane crap together. It’s cute! And silly! Why shouldn’t it be? Look at how cute you are, being all smitten and shit. Everyone thinks you're totally lame, but you guys don't care because, Holy Cow, you are so precious. And excited.
You’re still shaving your legs on a consistent basis.
In the beginning, we're still trying to impress the other person and hope that they don't catch on to the fact that we're actually humans that poop and fart and sometimes snore. So it's not until you sleep with a person a specific number of times that you are allowed this transgression. So because you're in the beginning stages, you're still shaving. You're still slipping into the bathroom before he wakes up to brush the rat's nest out of your hair. You're still wearing your prettiest underwear and forgoing your nightly wrinkle cream when he sleeps over. You're still putting the toilet seat down and playing with her annoying puppy. Why? Because momma always told you to put your best foot forward and that foot is attached to a shaved leg.
You start eating regular meals again.
There are so many times I've eaten a bag of microwavable popcorn and a side of pickles for dinner because I couldn't be bothered cooking for one.. That shit goes out the window when you couple-up. People love to eat food and it just so happens that when you become a couple, this typically results in a lot of breakfasts, lunches and dinners shared together. And then this typically results in your ass getting bigger. But who cares?! You're in love! I mean... too much too soon?
You have each other all to yourselves.
It's bound to happen, right? Someone, at some point, is going to have something to say about your new love interest. Your mom thinks his job as a professional dog walker is an excuse for not having gone to college. Your best friend thinks she's got you whipped because you suddenly have a new affinity for HBO and Sunday nights. The rest of your family just can't understand how you are attracted to a vegan, because all of your uncles own shot guns. All of that crazy bullshit? You don't have to deal with it right now, because you are still enjoying each other and aren't yet obligated to bring the newbie around your clan. You can use the excuse "it's too early in the relationship for that" for a while, and in the meantime, you can bask in your happiness without your Jewish grandmother giving you shit for dating an Atheist.
You're still learning all sorts of cool shit about each other:
Your favorite color is blue and ohnoway, mine is too!? OMG, you went sky diving!? I'm totally afraid of heights. But oh, no way your dad built your house? You went to NYU and dropped out to help your grandma when she was sick?! I have a grandma AND used to volunteer at a nursing home! You know how to make enchiladas? My grandmother is freakin’ Mexican.... You get the picture. All the silly little things you want to know are cute and sweet and exciting and you gobble them up like a hefty plate on Thanksgiving. Because who doesn't love Thanksgiving AND getting to know someone you're totally into.
Comments
Post a Comment