Dear Queenie,
My husband never remembers anything I tell him. If I ask him to pick up something on his way home from work he will forget about it, even if I call him and remind him around the time he is getting ready to come home. It’s a wonder to me he even remembers where he lives!
But he never forgets to meet his friends for a ball game or when it’s time to turn on the TV to watch some kind of sports.
Queenie, what’s going on here – and what can I do about it?—Fed up
Dear Fed up,
This is the information age and there is so much of it that it is easy to lose track of a lot of it. People tend to remember what is important to them, sometimes at the expense of what does not really interest them.
However, if your husband “forgets” in spite of your timely reminders, it may be that he just doesn’t listen to you carefully. Have you talked to him about this? If not, do so.
And if he still forgets to pick things up when you ask him to, let him suffer the consequences – for example, if you ask him to pick up the dry cleaning and he forgets, let him do without clean clothes, or if he forgets to pick up something you need to prepare his supper, let him go hungry or order (and pay for) a fast-food delivery.
When forgetting “hurts” he will learn to remember.
