It's not all laughter and hugs when living with someone you love

Photo Illustration by Kylee Weber

We have all been at a point in our life where we are living with someone we love. It might be  a significant other, best friend, family member or anyone else; whoever it may be, it can be difficult living in a small, confined space with someone you are close to. You begin to find things you absolutely cannot stand about the person, and soon after this, which may lead to  constant argument or discussion about each other’s pet peeves. However, at the end of the day, you wouldn’t change a thing in the world about the person; you just want them to clean up their damn stuff.

We have all lived with a family member at least a couple years of our lives, whether that be a sibling, parents, grandparents or even aunts and uncles. We have surrounded ourselves with people we love and those who we would do anything in the world for. However, living with your family can be one of the most aggravating things to do. Personally, I have an older sister, a brother and a nephew; we have all shared the same bathroom. My absolute biggest pet peeve living with them is that they won’t pick up after themselves. Whether it be my nephew leaving his toys all over the floor, my sister leaving her hair in the shower or my brother leaving his beard trimmings in the sink, they all have made me lose my mind. While they’re best my friends, I just wish they would pick up after themselves. As I begin to rant about my siblings, I am absolutely positive I have been an agitator once or twice in my lifetime while living with them. I have begun to realize that living with siblings and children has prepared me for my future of living with a roommate or a boyfriend.

Right now, I’m living with my best friend as my roommate here in Ottawa; we have known each other for a little over six years and we have been inseparable. Once we got to college, we both quickly realized that living with your best friend, especially one who is in the sport as you, can be tricky. My roommate and I have found that giving each other space is the best solution to everything. We are usually with each other constantly throughout the day: at practice, dinner and whatever activities we have to do that night. We find when we are together so much, the smallest things begin to aggravate us. We lived with each other last year, too, and it has become more difficult, and we actually have to talk about our frustrations. 

Nowadays, my roommate and I barely argue, and if we do, we get over the argument in five minutes, ending up sitting on the couch watching a movie together. Despite having frustrations with each other, little pet peeves about the other and sometimes just want to scream, I would not want to live with anyone else. It is absolutely amazing living with someone who knows everything about you and that you feel comfortable with, even if some days they make you want to pull your hair out. 

Lastly, living with the opposite sex. This can be a boyfriend, girlfriend or best friend. Living with the opposite sex can be extremely difficult and end up with a lot of arguments over the smallest thing, like not knowing how to put the toilet seat down (this is my biggest pet peeve when it comes to my boyfriend). I think I can speak for all the girlfriends around the world and say it takes two seconds to put the damn seat down, and once you do, believe me, you won’t have a pissed off girlfriend walking out of the bathroom.
However, I know that guys hate when we keep our makeup on the desk or around the sink, from my boyfriend stating this to me several times. I am absolutely guilty of this and I am attempting to work on cleaning up my makeup after getting ready for the day. I am sure many of you have had your own personal problem with the opposite sex and have verbally shared your annoyance with them. However, as the quote goes, “can’t live with them, can’t live without them.”

Overall, we can see living with people you love isn’t all laughter and hugs, it can be quite tricky. This can be due to spending so much time with someone, which in turn can cause the little things to bother us. Although we wouldn’t change these people for the world and we love them with all of our hearts, living with someone you are close to can be difficult over time. I wish I could tell you tricks and advice to make this process easier, but quite honestly, it won’t get easier. I still hear my mom complain about my dad’s snoring and I hear my dad complain about my mom’s caffeine addiction. Overtime we just learn to live with it and get used to it for the people we love.