Surprise!!!

In our never-ending quest for a better relationship, my date and I try to practice good communication.

It is not always successful but attempts are made anyway.

One of my pet peeves was that he would take something I had in a glass to drink and without asking, take a drink. Or if he poured it for me, he would drink part of it before handing it to me and say, "Drink tax". I found this profoundly irritating.

If he had asked first, I would never have denied him a drink. It was the presumptuousness that bothered me, and the sense that he felt entitled to take whatever he wanted, a la Helen Keller.

So we had a painful discussion about how I felt about this and he has been very, very good about not doing it as of late. But then something happened, and I was really hoping he did not have a relapse into his old habits.

Here is the background. I recently had surgery and have had some narcotic pain medication to take. As you may know, this kind of medication slows down the intestinal tract and can lead to unpleasant "traffic jams" if one is not careful to stay hydrated and take the appropriate actions to prevent said traffic jams.

So I had been mixing a full dose of Miralax into a glass of juice every morning and drinking it. Miralax is tasteless, dissolves completely without causing a nauseating thickening of the liquid and is quite effective for those taking opiates. For those not taking opiates, it is INCREDIBLY effective if you catch my drift.

I had been using juice that he drinks with breakfast (meanly nicknamed "Infant Juice" by me).

Yesterday I mixed the magic potion up but did not drink it right away. I left it on the counter. I remembered it later and thankfully it was still there, all intact. I sought out my date and asked him if he had been tempted to partake of the glass of "Infant Juice" left on the counter. He said that he had, but had refrained due to our prior conversation.

I was so proud of him. Then I told him what was in it. He expressed a great deal of relief at his restraint.

What a surprise that would have been! But it would have reinforced the learning, kind of like a shock collar. I bet he is cured forever now.