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3/31/12 Top 5 things that drive men cra

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Top 5 things that drive men crazy
By Laura Schaefer Sha e:

Men love women. They do. But that doesn t mean women don t drive them crazy. Even
after oceans of ink have been spilled about how the two sexes can better understand
and accept each other, women still find ways to annoy men — and vice versa. Here are
the top five ways she s making you crazy right now. Ladies, are you guilty of any of
these irritating behaviors?

1. Game-playing/manufacturing drama. There are lots of ways to create drama and
excitement in a relationship, but men aren t usually fans — unless said excitement
involves clothing removal. “Asking too much too soon about his past relationships” is
one way women drive men nuts and create drama, says Dr. Linda R. Young, Ph.D., a
psychologist and relationship coach who blogs for Psychology Today. Making him late
by taking too long to get ready is another. Getting irrationally jealous over platonic
friends or running hot, then cold with no explanation are just a few more.

Whether the drama is minor or significant, men would rather skip it. “I think these
[behaviors] exist because men and women don t have the skills to live beyond the game-playing they learned as
adolescents, which is perpetuated by the media,” explains Marni Battista, expert dating coach and founder of
DatingWithDignity.com. “It takes an entire toolkit of advanced skills to create truly win-win situations in relationships. A
person who doesn t have these skills will always go to those old default tendencies to fill the void.” And thus, drama is
born.

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Ask yourself: Have I recently thrown either an object or a tantrum? If the answer is “yes,” you might be a drama queen.
Take it down a notch by talking to your partner about why you re feeling so angry and exactly what you need to feel calmer
in the relationship. If you re the one dealing with a drama queen, tell her you re happy to discuss problems like an adult but
you re not interested in entertaining a whole restaurant with her shenanigans. If she doesn t calm down, tell her to audition
for a reality show and leave you alone.

2. Expecting the man to pay for everything. Most men don t mind picking up the check early on in a courtship, but after
a few dates, it s nice for a woman to offer to contribute financially — especially if exclusivity has been established. Men
like to be generous, but they don t like to be taken for suckers, especially if the woman they re seeing has a good job. As a
corollary to this one, “Men are often put off by women trying to get a sense early on about what he does for a living and
how much he earns,” says Dr. Seth Meyers, a Los Angeles-based psychologist and author of Dr. Seth s Love
Prescription. Men are people, too. If they feel they re being sized up for more shallow, resume-type qualities, they ll be
annoyed.
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3/31/12 Top 5 things that drive men cra

3. “Wanting to know where the relationship is going before he s ready to say, or before he knows himself,” is a
big one, according to Dr. Young. Dating is supposed to be a chance to get to know another person. It s not a guarantee of
finding a certain kind of relationship, and women who treat it this way drive men nuts. It s almost as if the woman is selling
herself short — after all, you can t help but ask why a lady would want some kind of commitment from someone she
doesn t really know yet. Why is her “audition process” so short? Likewise, “Men often get bothered with women asking or
talking about their beliefs about marriage and children early in the dating process,” observes Meyers. It puts too much
pressure on what should be the fun part of getting to know someone when the end goal is the only thing a woman wants to
focus on.

If the relationship isn t likely to blossom into something steady and he s upfront about that, a man wants the woman to hear
what he s saying and take him at face value. “Men are frustrated by women who don t really believe them when they say,
I m not in a place to have a relationship, but I really like hanging out with you, ” says Battista. “A man will give this
disclaimer and then be irritated when the woman finds she can t change him, then begins to get angry that he hasn t met
her expectations.” If a woman wants to know how a man really feels and then gets hysterical after an honest response, it s
enough to — you guessed it — drive him crazy.

4. Being controlling. “Correcting him on little details when he s got the big picture right,” adds Dr. Young, is another thing
that drives men bonkers. It s often true that women are better at multitasking, but that doesn t mean they have to run every
detail of the show. A man will get frustrated if a woman asks him to do something then won t give him a chance to do it his
way. The real show-stopper is when she then claims she “has to do everything around here!” If this situation sounds
familiar, how can you improve it?

“If you want to put a stop to people s annoying behavior, you first have to make them aware of it,” says Marc Muchnick,
Ph.D., author of No More Regrets! 30 Ways to Greater Happiness and Meaning in Your Life. “Often, people don t realize
that what they are doing is bugging you, so when you tell them, it may come as a surprise.” So tell your significant other
that she has to trust you if she doesn t want to plan every meal, vacation and weekend you spend together, guys. Then do
a good job with the task — in your own way, of course — and she just might back off.

5. Not getting enough “guy time.” In ancient cultures, men often spent most of their time with other men while the
women socialized with each other. That, as we all know, has changed. And it s hard for some men to accept. They want
their guy time, and it s rough when women don t respect that. As long as “guys night out” isn t a code for regularly losing
thousands of dollars gambling or paying for strippers, men deserve to have time with their male friends. Deciding exactly
how much time is appropriate should be left up to each couple. Remind her that time spent away from each other means
the time you do have together will be that much richer — especially with funny stories about the ridiculous thing your
buddy Paulie did last weekend. The key is, be reasonable. If you want more guy time than gal time, maybe having a wife
or a girlfriend isn t in the cards for you.

Laura Schaefer is the author of The Teashop Girls and The Secret Ingredient, two novels for young readers. She lives in
Madison, Wisconsin, and has never once driven her boyfriend crazy. Not once! For the other side of this story, read
Top 5 things that drive women crazy.

Article courtesy of Happen magazine, www.happenmag.com.

Sha e:

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Top 5 things that drive men crazy

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