Relationships Tip Tuesdays

It has been another long day – dealing with work and kid demands, and you are tired. Fortunately, your husband said that tonight nobody is going to cook – you’re going out for dinner. As you are about ready to head out, he asks, “Where would you like to go to dinner?” It is a simple of enough question, and may even be considerate on his part, but with that innocent inquiry, you completely lose your composure. But why?

Most of us make hundreds of decisions a day. They range from what am I going to wear to what am I going to eat; from who do I give a particular assignment to at work to what vendor should we order staples from. Some of our decisions are about matters that are inconsequential, while others may affect where we live and perhaps even the long-term trajectory of our family’s life.

We often take decision making for granted. However, it is easy to fatigue and get to a point of “No more decisions today!” So, while deciding where to go to eat is one of the simpler decisions, it may be the one that puts us over the top – and we snap.

If we can learn to recognize when we are nearing our limit, we can more readily enlist our mate’s help. Saying something like, “Honey, while I really appreciate your consideration by asking me where I would prefer to eat, I have been overloaded with making decisions today. So, I would like to defer to you and have you decide where we eat tonight.”

While I realize this may seem like a silly topic, I can’t tell you how many couples wind up in heated arguments about things just like this. But when they learn to read the signs of decision fatigue, they are better equipped to relieve and support each other. So – where would you like to eat?