Everything’s Fine: Confessions from the Wife of an Underreactor

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everything's fine

Everything’s fine. My husband is probably one of the most amazing humans in the world. He’s such a good man and I literally want everyone to know him and his level of awesomeness. Although TBH, he would HATE that because he’s an introvert and wants nothing to do with the spotlight. Yet he married me! 

That being said, it drives me bananas when something major happens and his response to the situation does not correspond to the severity of the event. For example, we recently had ants in the garage and their ant trail went right up to the garage door that leads into the house. Just on the other side of that door, inside the house was a spill of Sticky Substance of Unknown Origin. Those ants could very easily make their way into the house at that point and that, to me is an absolute disaster of epic proportions. My reaction to the ants was to launch a full-blown attack, which included freaking out and yelling at the ants and my husband. His reaction was this, “Oh, hmm… Well, I’ll pick up some diatomaceous earth later tonight and sprinkle it in the garage.”  

Another time, we were backing out of our parking spot at Costco and hubby didn’t see the man loading up his haul behind us and he was about one inch from being flattened. Of course, I freaked out, yelling at my husband for not paying attention. He says, “Well I didn’t run him over so no big deal. Besides, I didn’t even see him.” He’s like, everything is fine so everything is fine. But I’m like, IT’S NOT FINE!  Still, he’s such a good man and his eyes are so blue. I’m just wondering if any others have significant others who make them crazy and if so, should we have a support group? 

This makes me wonder, though, what if I’m the one with the issue?  Maybe I should be the one who needs to find a calmer way to react.  Maybe I’m the one who overreacts!  Does my husband need a support group because I drive him crazy?  

What I think is so special about our marriage is how we balance each other out.  He underreacts and I overreact.  He’s an introvert and I’m an extrovert.  At the end of the day, his calm demeanor keeps me grounded.  He always makes me feel like everything is going to be alright.  I look into his blue eyes and I just know.  But seriously, no ants.   

4 COMMENTS

  1. I too am married to an introverted under-reactor. It is highly frustrating when he seems not to care enough to get excited about a problem, or when his sense of urgency doesn’t match mine!

  2. I am somehow married to an extrovert under reactor, I am the introvert over reactor. He worries about nothing, which somehow makes me worry about everything more. Ugh, good thing I love him.

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