The Rules of Love, 3rd Edition

RULE 52

Trust the other one to do the job

If you’re sharing the workload equally according to the last Rule, the next thing you need to do is trust the other one to do their half of the work properly. Whether it’s housework or childcare, earning money or cooking, don’t try to take over or interfere or check up on your partner. It’s demoralizing, untrusting and frankly downright rude.

This means that you need to bite your tongue if you think they should dust before they vacuum – it’s their job and they’ll do it their way. Never mind that you would never have cooked roast potatoes with fish – you weren’t doing the cooking. Maybe you think they should be pushing harder for promotion at work, or need to find a better paid job – but it’s down to ...