While traveling, my girlfriend and I developed a little game that we like to call „101 ways to drive your partner absolutely crazy”. It’s fun and the rules are simple:
Think of ways how you can drive your boyfriend, girlfriend, husband or wife to insanity. What can you do that will make them really annoyed?
Be creative. And don’t stop there. Colorfully illustrate your annoying behavior and bring it to the extreme.
This exercise will produce some good laughs but also ask you to think about your partner more deeply. Imagining ways of driving your partner mad forces you to take their perspective, very much like a good author or comedian would. By naming these behaviors you show that you understand their needs. You also bring some awareness to potential areas of conflict, which will help you out in the future.
Here are a few examples we’ve come up with during our session:
For her (from him)
- In light of her recent efforts to learn German correct her on every grammar and pronunciation mistake she makes.
- Accompany her to one of the places she always wanted to visit and grumble during the whole trip. Wear a pained expression on your face for the entire time and later say that you didn’t actually complain.
For him (from her)
- Deprive him of sleep by starting a serious talk about relationship problems in the middle of the night. Choose a day when he has to wake up really early on the next day.
- Complain about a complex problem that can not be solved within ten minutes right before he plans to start playing his favorite video game.
What were the best (and most hilarious) things you could find? Let us know in the comments.
Sharing is much appreciated!