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Women are driven to distraction by men who criticise their motoring skills, according to a new survey, and thats not their only bad habit. We reveal mens most annoying habits and how to deal with them without blowing your top.
The saying goes that you cant live with men, cant live without them. But according to recent research women definitely cant drive with them! Male passengers irritate over two thirds of female drivers, according to insurance company Diamonds recent survey.
Women are driven around the bend by partners who criticise their motoring skills, give them useless directions when they already know where theyre going, and flick the stereo to find their favourite
(usually awful) music.
But you dont have to be confined in a car for mens annoying habits to drive a woman crazy. Leaving the toilet seat up, knuckle cracking, nose picking, or burping the alphabet... mens irritating traits can often be a major bugbear in a womans life.
While a guys bad habits alone arent likely to land him in the divorce courts, persistent offenders of yukky behaviour can often be the cause of real tension in a relationship.
If you tolerate their bad habits too much it can quickly turn to seething resentment, explains life coach Carole Ann Rice.
Dont get in the habit of tolerating them too much, and dont infantilise men with an aaahhh... bless attitude. They arent children but they do need boundaries just as you do.
:: MAJOR MEN NIGGLES
Forget him overlooking your birthday or forgetting those landmark anniversaries - squeezing the toothpaste tube from the middle or remote control hogging have become classic examples of him habits that frequently provoke major slanging matches.
Wheres that clean-living, polite gentleman who wooed you when you first met, you ask? Rice believes men can pull off a fantastic cover-up act: Men do hide their habits to begin with, she says. One man I once knew said, All men are great lovers once... at the beginning. But even then there will be clues at the start of the relationship of how they live and respect their environment.
If youve just started seeing someone and he thinks nothing of breaking wind during brunch with your parents, chances are things could get a whole lot worse. Ensure you tackle the terrible habits situation early on before he marks out his bad habit territory.
Rice says: The wrong way to react is to stuff back your anger and think it doesnt matter or I shouldnt be so petty, as it could be the thing that breaks up your relationship one day.
It is serious. Youll wind up more resentful until it becomes the person you dont like and not just their habits. Also dont wrongly assume they are doing it just to get at you. In all likelihood they are completely unaware of how irksome their habits are.
:: CHOP AND CHANGE
Barbra Streisand is quoted as saying: Why does a woman work 10 years to change a mans bad habits and then complain that hes not the man she married?
Can women really turn their partners niggling irritations into angelic behaviour - and should you?
Absolutely not, says Jeff Maysh, senior staff writer at Loaded magazine.
Women get annoyed by the smallest things, like men leaving the toilet seat up. Is that their biggest problem, replacing a seat? Its hardly manual labour is it? We are who we are, and the real beauty is finding a woman who can put up with the Loaded lifestyle, ie us rolling in drunk at 3am.
Maysh recommends turning the tables: Dont nag. Instead, try giving us a taste of our own medicine. If my girlfriend came home, burped loudly, and cracked open a tinny while fiddling with her nether regions like a guy, I may instantly fall in love with her.
But change is important if hes making your blood boil with his bottom burps. Rice has this advice: Try saying, When you leave towels trailing all over the floor it makes me feel angry and fed up and I get
tired clearing up after you. I know you dont mean it but do you think you could...? Try to avoid angry blame. Wherever possible think of solutions that involve mutual benefit and a touch of humour.
Ask him what he thinks your top 10 bad habits are and tell him what his are and both decide to clean up your act in a joint effort.
:: MAN OVERBOARD?
Unless you have the patience of a saint, its natural to let off steam every once in a while to let your beau know hes in the bad books. But if his habits are escalating, you may need to take action.
A healthy man has a learning curve, explains Dr Bethany Marshall, author of Deal Breakers.
If you tell him that you need him to stop doing something that is obnoxious, he will shift his behaviour because he loves you and does not want to lose you. He is willing to learn from his mistakes and modify his actions.
Petty pride, laziness or stubbornness will not keep him from taking the steps that he needs to take to have a full relationship with you.
But if you use his harmless addiction to channel hopping or tackle twiddling as a recurring excuse for an argument, it could be a sign that somethings amiss in your relationship.
Regardless of the problem, its a mans ability and willingness to seek solutions, such as changing his behaviour, that determines whether you should work on it or walk away, Marshall advises.
It is only after a full assessment of the negative impact upon your life that you can determine whether the problem is a minor quarrel or an ongoing crisis.
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