So, genuinely curious about this. For you gents that are married, did you find that shit changed a lot after you got married? Like did the wife start making a lot less effort in terms of their physical appearance, doing shit around the house, being reasonable to get along with? Did they suddenly start expecting you to do a lot of shit differently? No more going out for beers with the dudes, playing hockey/baseball/whatever? Feel free to add details about how long you dated before marriage, for example.
Reason I ask is that in reading through this thread, it seems like the majority of the guys who got married end up in a relationship that's significantly worse than what it was before marriage. Or at least that's the impression I get. I get the same thing from many of the guys I play hockey with. I can't really go by the honest opinions of my truly close friends, as only two of them are married. One says nothing's changed and everything's awesome. The other is a broken man that I've seen about twice since we were kicked out of the Fairmont Chateau Whistler a couple years ago right before his first child was born (sent him off in style).
17 months in to my relationship with my special lady friend, and 5 months after she's moved in with me, everything's still really fucking awesome. Like this discussion you guys are having about being asked to do shit? I'm never asked to do shit. Like, ever. Since she's moved in, she's completely taken over cooking, cleaning (she occasionally has a service come in, but maybe once a month), laundry, grocery shopping, etc. Basically everything domestic. I mean I pay every single bill since she's back in school and only working part time, but other than groceries going up because she likes to spend $100 at the goddamn farmer's market on overpriced produce, it's not like it's costing me any more to live with her than it did when I was single. And I never have to ask her to do shit, because she just does it. Hell if I run out of beer in the fridge, she fills it back up again.
I don't know if she's hankering to get married, the subject never really comes up. I'm not in any particular rush, personally, either for marriage or kids. I don't even know if I want kids, and every indication from her is that she's not interested in the next 3-5 years as she just started a 3 year master's program. So I guess I don't really know what direction to go in. I'd be fine continuing with the way things have been going indefinitely, but I guess I have to check with her if she's cool with that as well, or looking for more.
The easy solution would be to get her a puppy, because that's all she wants that she ever brings up with me, but fuck. that.
