5 Games We All Play in Marriage

5 Games We All Play in Marriage

I have always heard people say that dating is not fun because it’s all about playing games: “is he going to call?”, “is he purposely not responding to my text message?”, “I see he is on social media, but not answering my call!”. Ladies, I hate to break it to ya, but there are games in marriage, too.

Yes, when dating, the games that are played are outlined in the book He is just not that into you, but with marriage, the games are not as deep as that.  They are innocent and sweet. They may seem passive-aggressive, but they help – trust me, I know. Because I have done all of these successful tactics.

  1. Putting the dishes in the dishwasher incorrectly: I have gotten so good at that. Not intentionally, I just hate loading the dishwasher. My husband always goes behind me and fixes the way I put them in. Therefore, minimal effort on my part and the job gets done.
  2. Let the trash overflow: Let it flooooow. Let it flooooow. Men can not always remember what day the trash goes out, so on Tuesdays and Fridays (my assigned Jefferson Parish days), I do some purging so that the trash overflows. My hubby will say “I am bringing out the trash, does it go to the curb tonight?” my response, said with a grin: “Oh yes, honey, you are right, it does”.
  3. Hang a picture with a screw: Let’s face it. We have different household decorating priorities than our husbands. That’s ok and that’s a good thing. If you like a specific placement for a picture and ask for months to have it hung, hang it up yourself, by hammering a screw. It sounds violent…but it’s not. After your hubby sees it, he will make sure he hangs everything up from now on to avoid more holes in the wall. Hammer + wife = watch out.
  4. Always make them think it’s their idea: As Nelson Mandella said: “It is wise to persuade people to do things and make them think it was their own idea.”. In order to succeed in a marriage, it’s a team effort. A team leader effort. Husbands and wives are both leaders of their homes and both must take turns making the decisions or making them think they are making the decisions.
  5. Know the right time to ask: I work remotely at home and a good amount of my time is spent in a quiet house. So I have realized after 6 years of marriage when your husband works in construction and is hearing loud noises and loud people all day, he wants silence. And yes, it did take me 6 years to finally figure it out. So here is what you need to remember:
    • Don’t ask for anything within 1 hour after work.
    • Don’t ask until they have eaten. I get hangry too, so I understand.
    • Don’t ask while they are “busy” – busy meaning working out, playing on their phones, spending QT time with the kids.

I am sure there are many more and trust that this list will keep growing. I hope this helps and I will leave this advice to the husbands: Your wife is less likely to argue with you if you are cleaning!

P.S. If my hubby is reading this, I am totally just kidding…I don’t do these things. I love you. You are so pretty.

Erika Lockhart
My name is Erika Lockhart and I am married to my husband, Chris. We have two children - Zane (7) and Finnley (2). We also have one 4 – legged child - Nelson a mixed breed rescue and a tarantula named Twitch. I was born and raised in Harvey, LA but now live in Metairie. I am a full time employee for a healthcare consulting company where I lead the Primary Care Provider engagement efforts from my home office here in NOLA. My husband is the owner and director of Clockwork Performance - A strength and performance gym in Kenner, LA. Odd facts about me - I love watching Judge Judy, I want to be on jury duty as much as possible, I have an obsession with mayonnaise and my dream job is to be a private investigator!

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