A friend recently sent me a clip from a show that ran from the 1950’s through the 1970’s called the Honeymooners.  It starred Jackie Gleason and Sheila MacRae who played the characters of Ralph and Alice Kramden, a couple living in Brooklyn, NewYork in a small apartment, trying to make ends meet.

I watched an episode on YouTube the other night, and laughed out loud at the interaction of this couple.  Whenever Ralph would become extremely frustrated with Alice, he would say, “To the moon, Alice, to the moon!”  Classic comedy, but a very interesting and raw truthful picture of what marriage can be like at times.

I’ve had moments in my marriage where I wished I could send my husband straight to the moon with a one-way ticket.  I could wave at him on very clear nights through a telescope in my backyard.  When I reflected on my desire to send him on a moonwalk, often it was due to sheer frustration when he wasn’t seeing things my way, or when I refused to look at things from his perspective.

One of the silliest disagreements we ever had was over the correct way to clean a toilet.  My husband calls it, ‘the bucket method’.  One simply gets a small bucket filled with water, dumps it in the toilet, and the water miraculously disappears.  By using this cleaning method, the toilet is completely cleaned below the water line.  I looked at my husband and said, “Are you serious?”  He said, “Of course, this is the ONLY way to clean a toilet.”  My reply was, “Since you do such a wonderful job honey, I’m sure you would be happy to make this your weekly chore.”  He hired a housekeeper two months later.

To-the-moon moments in marriage usually are the result of a spouse who doesn’t agree with your way of doing things.  After all, your way is the right way.  How can you possibly be wrong?  There might be alternative solutions to completing a household task or making a major decision.  However, we become focused on only one possible outcome - ours.

Before a decision is made to build a lunar landing module in the backyard for your spouse, a few moments of self-reflection might be beneficial.  Your spouse may have some great ideas, if you’re willing to listen.