What odd-but-lovely habits / rituals do you and your DP have?

[whatsinmypockets]

Inspired by a chat I had with a friend last night – she mentioned that she and her DP turn on 80s power ballads whenever they have to do house chores they don't enjoy, so they can play air guitar / sing into the antibac spray / throw armfuls of laundry in the air dramatically / hold the bathroom bin above their heads triumphantly while they get things done. Makes the job more fun and they get to feel connected.

It made me smile so much – and made me think of how DP and I, whenever we do something very mundane but do it well (like unpack the online shop delivery quickly or get eyedrops into the dog successfully) will put on overenthusiastic American accents and compliment one another like sports commentators: "Did you see the SPEED of that?" "This man is a true CHAMPION" "Ladies and gentlemen, I think we just witnessed history being made" "I've never seen talent like it"...

I love how couples often develop these weird little rituals that are totally unique to that specific relationship...

Given there's (understandably) so much "something's wrong with my relationship" on MN, I'd love to read some more examples of things like this - what do you and your DP do that's a quirk of your relationship?

Doesn't have to be as 'significant' as my friend and her power ballads – might just be a sweet how-we-make-coffee-in-the-morning routine or a specific way you hold hands...

We sing at each other what we are doing to random musical tunes for example narrating cooking dinner to les miserables.

Also randomly break into song if someone says a line from a song in general conversation, the kids also do this with great comic timing.

Ha always this and especially on holiday out of the hotel room, have you got the key?? but have you got the secret?? lol

my other half smoked when we first got together and would go outside the patio doors in the kitchen to do it. I’d often knock on the window and randomly flash my boobs at him and he would return it by lifting his top to flash his stomach.
He then started doing this everywhere. I’ll be waiting to meet him in a cafe or pub etc and he will walk up to the window and do it. In the supermarket if he’s gone down another aisle as he walks towards me etc I’ve said if he doesn’t do it when we get married as I walk down the aisle I shall be most disappointed and no I don’t flash my boobs in public back lol

we also use 🐽 a lot which started as a pig snort if we had a joke about sex or something. Now he will put it as a comment on fb there’s a picture of me but a few people have messaged me asking if I’m ok and why is he saying I’m a pig on a picture but I know he means he thinks I look sexy

we were in a random pub in Glasgow when we went up there for a gig and there was a toothless woman drunk who after singing Dionne Warwick that’s what friends are for kept constantly singing “keep smiling” so we often do that line to each other with our lips covering our teeth.

he’s from the country with a bit of a tractor man accent as I call it and I’m from London and he calls me a lary violent cockney. We often do like an eastenders style “I’m telling you now” to each other and if one is cheeky we will say do you want one of them with a clenched fist action…only it’s gone where we might be in public but apart and make eyes at each other and we will randomly do a little punch action and a few times I’ve had people look at me like he’s genuinely threatening me…bless him he’s the most placid man ever

Love this! We dance to theme tunes too - SWAT, Death in Paradise (my dad used to join in with this particular dance too), Magnum, etc. Also I cannot leave the house or enter the house without giving my husband a kiss and vice-versa.

Me and my husband love old school dance tunes - for some reason and I have no idea why or when it started, we do this thing where one of us goes 'HEY' and the other person goes 'What's wrong with YooOoOouUuUuuu'

Sometimes we shout it to each other from different parts of the house and the other always finishes the words, or if I ever say 'hey' just as a greeting, he will burst into song.

It's something so small but it really makes me smile.

Ditto ❤️

We do this too and for some unknown reason we find it absolutely hilarious. Our (adult) kids just roll their eyes at each other 😂.

Father Ted quotes are probably one of the few us isms me and himself have. Particularly saying 'fkinell' at really inappropriate times and places. Apart from winter when we fire up the log burner in the kitchen which heats the whole house and hot water, he's tall with a bad back so can't bend down, so he has a cushion which he kneels on to get the fire going, I can't help myself and just have to dry hump him like a randy dog, I do it nearly every time, and he is surprised everytime

😊

You need to watch the series League of gentlemen. Really dark humour, one controlling dad character always said "in THIS house" your DP will either love it (and start more new rituals) or get seriously triggered.

😂😂

Another one...

If one of us notices the other doing something lovely, either very supportive or just very them, they will make some sort of appreciative "aw, you're great" mime.

The thanked one then has to make an exaggerated "no, you're great" mime, which is countered with "no no no you" and so on back and forth, with various improvements and variations like "well yes me, but also you" and suchlike. All done silently with mouthed words and mimes.

Imagine a pair of very luvvy performers taking curtain calls and each making exaggerated gestures to direct the applause to the other - it's that sort of style.

Accepting without deferring loses, up until it's at its funniest, then whoever seizes the moment and accepts the praise wins.

You'd think this word wouldn't come up that often, but we're both scientists so it comes to more often than you'd think. Phenomenon /Phenomena, each time something very juvenile comes over us and we break into the muppets theme... Phenomenon d d di d d... and we both crease up!! Together 35 yrs! Also hello and goodbye kisses..(not full on snogs iykwim) always kiss on the lips followed by the middle of the forehead.

When DDs were little they used to squeal with excitement when DH got home because he would invariably thunder upstairs roaring 'Fee Fi Fo Fum, Daddy's gonna bite you on the bum.'

DDs have now flown the nest, but when they come home to stay DH still does it otherwise they're really disappointed.

Omg the baby thing has me sniggering!

When we compliment each other, the other pretends to be all shy, looking away, batting eyelashes and asking, me, are you proud?? hug & kiss then back to acting normal.

Not my DH but in our office one of us will casually say "what is love?" and the rest of us will sing "baby don't hurt me". No idea why and we barely acknowledge it's happened.

When we burp we wiggle our fingers under our chins to emulate Barney Gumble

Oh God yes, we sing the phenomenon song every time too. Being science fiction geeks it is quite common 😃 phenomenons all the time in Star Trek

Whenever I cook something chinese with a wok, if Dh is in the kitchen we sing "walk (wok) on by"

We kiss a lot but there are certain times we ALWAYS have a quick peck, and I'm not sure why! Leaving the room to go to the toilet, in the car after putting seatbelts on, getting into bed after brushing teeth, and first thing in the morning on waking up. Sometimes he pretends to forget the car or toilet ones and I have to do an exaggerated huff until he "remembers".

We have lots of TV/film/music quotes thrown in to every day conversation. "Bullshit" in text is usually accompanied by a gif of Nancy from Stranger Things saying "Bullshit", and when we want to say it but can't in company or whatever we'll say Nancy instead. He also often tells me I have a "super vagina" like Alan Statham from Green Wing. We say "fiiiiish" in the Cat voice from Red Dwarf, and also "no it's a chicken" as Lister.

We call one another "Bean" which is another one that I don't know how it started, it just happened and we've gone with it.

There are some family ones from when I was little too. My dad always did the same three note whistle when he came in from work, and carried it on when we left home. I can't abide the sound of whistling usually, it sets my teeth on edge, but this little one always made me smile. We reference a lot of things from when my siblings and I were young, like my brother doing the Hank Scorpio voice from the Simpsons (nobody can do it as well as he can but we always try) and my sister playing a game where she was having a baby and shouting "nurse, I'm having a baby, I need Strepsils!"

Being silly together is vital for bonding in my opinion, I literally couldn't have a relationship without a shared sense of humour.

My ex husband wasn't known for his humour. The film "Dancing with wolves" was on the telly and he asked me what it was about.
I said "well there's this man who asked the wolf are you dancing? The wolf said, you asking? The man says I'm asking, so the wolf says I'm dancing!" I thought it was really funny, but he just said if I don't know what I'm talking about then don't say anything at all (misery!)
I told my now dh about it and he thinks it is really funny, so every time the film is on the TV he always asks what the film is about, and we laugh and laugh and laugh. Sometimes he'll ask what something is about, and all I have to say is "well," and we laugh again.

Me and my husband have various games and characters for different situations.
At Christmas we have an entire month of things we do together such as going for a lights walk where we pick winners from our made up categories- we also do this with garden centres and Christmas adverts where we literally devote an entire night to watching and rating them 😅
He’s a chef and we sometimes play a game called “Where in the World” where we click a country randomiser and we make a meal that’s from that country. It’s how we found out we love Feijoda (apologies if I’ve misspelt it).

For some reason my DP occasionally adopts the persona of a bridge troll. I have to pay a kiss tax to be allowed through a door. And she will say “Under troll law you, it is your turn to make coffee,” or other domestic nonsense.

Sometimes I will faint on the sofa and she will have to tend to me.