Hers, Mine or Ours

During our twenty-nine years of marriage I have noticed that my wife likes to claim ownership of certain things whilst rejecting others.

Whilst not wanting to step into the murky waters of sexism, I am assured by many of my male friends that she is not alone in this regard.

Just a few days ago she used the word 'my' when describing 'our' bedroom.

Granted there have been a number of nights over the last three decades when I have been banished to the sofa for some snoring related offence. Even so, I am sure that I should have equal share in its occupancy.

Now I think about it my presence in our bedroom is limited to a small proportion of it. I have just worked out that with the 18 inches square of my bedside cabinet and the hook behind the door I can only claim around four percent of the room.

Once our youngest daughter left for university my bride suggested I store my clothes in her old wardrobe; to be honest it is useful having my clothes available when I have to leave early for work. Fortunately I still have occupancy of an eighteen strip of our king size bed.

As far as the bathroom is concerned I do have half a shelf in the cabinet but where I do have the most space is on the shelf that contains reading materials. And, although my wife likes to purge the contents every now and then, I have a favourite sports book, a comedian's biography, and an electronics catalogue.

Even with this attempted take over bid Mrs M still calls it her bathroom. I need to work harder.

Over the years I have come to terms with my dessert being known as 'ours' when we are at a restaurant but this reshaping of our world is a little too much.

As I type I am reminded that my bride has made claim to two thirds of our sofa as she reclines next to me; she is trying to convince me that I can type and tickle her feet at the same time.

When I ask Mrs M why she feels the need to call so many things hers rather than ours she responds she tells me that it is a trade off. She gets the pretty things and I get the functional items. Apparently, because I love to cook I have ownership of two cupboards in the kitchen.

At this point she announce to me 'From now on you shall be known as lord of the pans'. I think I deserve more than mockery.

I responded by saying that I was just off to the pub to spend some money from 'my' joint bank account.