On Display
I am just trying to get the house in order, and box up the obsessive things G "collected" so that I can have them sent back to his house, and I am running through some memories that were extremely stressful at the time, but are actually hilarious now that I am no longer a part of the equation.
Sometimes I wonder how I put up with it for so long...
At any rate, I thought I'd share, and see if anyone else had a similar experience.
G wanted a hand towel in the bathroom. I had one he could use, but it didn't match (the bathroom has a seashore/Wildwood colors theme), so we went out looking for one that did. I found a pack of eight white towels with embroidered beach items across them, sold tied together in a pretty looking package. G loved them immediately, and insisted we got them. Next thing I know, he has declared they are "too pretty to use" so they are now on display on the bathroom counter. Hand towels are now back on the list.
We got a nice festive orange one, which G immediately put up on the other "display towel rack" with our nice towels and the ones he had embroidered, so that one wasn't for use either. Hand towels are still on the shopping list.
Then there was the cheap bright pink ones at a different store, so we purchased a pair. He wanted them to go on a nice rack, so we found one that holds two towels (one on each side) and put them up. I was happy, until he declared that these towels were for display as well. So, towels go back on the list.
Then there was a white one with an embroidered shell. I thought this one would surely fit the bill, and sure enough, G loved it. We had run out of places to put towels, though, so G installed a towel ring on the far side of the counter, and he actually used the towel once. Then he decided the towel was too far away from the sink, and too nice to use, so we needed a different one. Hand towels go back on the shopping list.
Finally we got a cheap, ratty, thick, heavy, scratchy dull pink thing. Finally, this one is junky enough that we can use it. It's jammed over the edge of the laundry basket, underneath the counter, on the far side, and is the most inconvenient of all the towels to use, but it was the only one we were allowed to use because the other ones were all "too nice".
Now I am realizing, everything had to be on display because I was "on display." It was never about being comfortable and happy, it was all about other people playing to G's ego.