From The Straits Times    |

Image: Blue Jean Images / Corbis

“My standards and expectations of cleanliness and housework have definitely got lower. Whenever he does any housework – which is rare but it does happen – it’s never up to my neat standards. But I’ve learnt to close one eye because it’s still better than having to do everything myself.”  – Jessica, 32

“You find out everything about each other when you live together, even things you wish you never knew! We fought a lot at the start because we weren’t used to it but I think it’s a process most married couples go through. Thankfully, none of the issues were major things so we eventually learnt to get over it and it’s much easier now.” – Penny, 37 

“The one major issue we have is that my husband hates it when I fiddle with his computer cos he thinks I’ll spoil it.”  – Theresa, 33

“I love zoning out to rubbish TV at night but he hates that I watch stuff like that and often tells me to do something more constructive. He doesn’t understand that it’s not about what I’m watching, it’s just that I need to tune out before I go to bed. He used to get worked up about it sometimes when we first got married but I think he’s more tolerant of it now and even watches it with me on some nights.” – Laura, 33

“I’ve learnt that nagging only makes things worse and you should always give a man space – even if you live in a tiny flat!”  – Jane, 38 

“I kid you not but I had no idea my man farts so much until we got married and started living together! He must really have been keeping it in a lot before that!” – Li Yan, 29

“It was hard at first to divide our time between our family and friends. You feel that because you’re married, you have to spend every non-working moment together as you’re living together so it was difficult to communicate that I still wanted to go out with my friends and family – and not always with him in tow. But, after a few months, we got into somewhat of a routine and it’s much easier to divide our time now, between being with each other and seeing our family and friends, both together and by ourselves.” – Melissa, 35

“What I’d like to know is, why can’t men put the toilet seat down? It’s really not that hard!” – Serene, 28

“I’ve learnt to be a lot more patient because men don’t do things when you tell them to and definitely can’t multi-task. Or maybe it’s just my husband. I hope not.” – Shikin, 29

“I think he’s so used to his mum picking up after him that he expects me to do that now but no way am I doing that. As a result, I found him too messy to live with at the start but I had to be patient and not cause a big fuss because I didn’t want to be the naggy wife. He’s better now but he really could do much more.” – Joanna, 39

“There’s definitely a lot of adapting involved and you have to accept that you can’t change him. My advice is to be patient and don’t sweat the small stuff. That cliché really is true.” – Evelyn, 38 

“The biggest problem was deciding on our furniture. I love modern stuff but he prefers the old-school look. It was really tough finding things that we both love and that would go together. It took a lot of time but thankfully we had time to decide this by the time we got our flat.” – Leelin, 36