Having Doubts About the Person You're With?
In this episode of the Love Life podcast, hosts Matthew Hussey and Stephen Hussey field a listener question from Jessica, who is uncertain about moving in with her boyfriend. He currently lives with his mother, who does all the cooking and cleaning, and Jessica worries she hasn't seen how he would handle household responsibilities on his own. The hosts discuss the underlying issue of differing values around domestic chores and independence, noting that the pandemic has accelerated relationship timelines and limited opportunities for organic testing of cohabitation. They advise Jessica to gather more data before committing to a long‑term lease, suggesting low‑commitment experiments such as renting an Airbnb or short‑term rental for a month, trying a mini‑lease, or gradually increasing time spent in each other's spaces. They emphasize open communication, setting clear expectations, and treating serious steps with lighter conversations to keep options open. Throughout the episode, the hosts engage in light‑hearted banter about clothing and podcast dynamics, but the core advice centers on incremental commitment, trial periods, and aligning expectations around household responsibilities before making a permanent move.
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So, Matthew, I got a question in from Jessica.
Can I just say, Steve, you haven't. I'm wearing a nice. I'm wearing a nice plaid shirt today, which admittedly is more of a full sort of set of colors than leading into summer. But you haven't said a word about it. And I know people listening can't see that, but still, you haven't even, you didn't even acknowledge it before we went live on the podcast. And I try, this is me, this is me, I'm at home right now, this is me making an effort. I didn't, this isn't, I didn't get dressed to go somewhere. I got dressed for you. I was in my pajamas five minutes before, Jeremy will tell you, I was in my pajamas mate, when Jeremy showed up. I was in a baggy pajama shirt, it's got holes in it. I went and got a coffee, Steve. in my pajamas before getting dressed for you. That means that I didn't get dressed for the world. I went out in literally, Steve, it was a baggy shirt, 10 times too big for me, with holes in it. And pajama bottoms. They're not, they couldn't even pass as sweatpants that you'd wear to the gym. They're quite clearly things that you should only wear in and around the bed.
But that's how people dress in LA. That's that's the thing, isn't it? Well, you kind of look like you don't care when you just when you go out to get a coffee, you have to look like celebrity on a day off where it's like there's holes in everything. No, I've got my cat over my eyes and I just want to grab grab a smoothie and a breakfast bunny bowl and head home.
Let me correct you because the people you're seeing going in and out of those coffee shops in LA, I guarantee you there isn't a hole in their clothing that's not bought and paid for. They are meant to be there, those holes.
Fair enough. Well, your little jacket looks, your little, little spring shirt, it is very light for you. Like, you don't usually wear such bright, sun reflective colors, and it looks like you look like a sweet boy someone would take home to mum, like parents, and their parents would think, oh, he's a well turned out, you know, he's well turned out, fine young man. That's the vibe you've gone for.
Well, DDon28 on Instagram is actually saying, can we stay on topic? Which I think is my fault for taking us out of it. So, Steve, sorry, you had a question for me today.
We have a question from Jessica. who says, hi Matt and Steve, I'd like your input on some strange feelings that I've been having that I'm not really sure what to do with. Your shirt, Matthew, makes me feel, no, I'm joking, she didn't say that. I met my boyfriend last year after I moved back home due to COVID. It's pretty clear we're a match and I've been so impressed with him and the way he treats me. Here's the thing, he asked me to move in, which I eventually know will happen, But because of the pandemic, we live home with our parents right now. His mum insists on cooking and cleaning. He takes full advantage of this, even though he may want to cook and clean for himself because she makes it difficult to help her. I feel like I need to see what he'd be like without his mother cooking and cleaning for him because there have been a few times when I cooked for him and he didn't seem appreciative at all and I had to remind him I did something special for him. I don't know how it's possible for me to see this through because in order for us to move in together, he's basically building a house, I think our values in this area may be too different because I was raised without anyone cooking or cleaning for me. So she basically says, I've talked to him about this, he's aware of how I feel, but I'm not exactly sure what to do or what else even needs to be talked about. Any insights you have would be greatly appreciated.
Was this from, did I, who is this from?
This is from Jessica. I think that comes down, it comes down to the crux of someone has different values from you. They treat their home cooking, cleaning in a different way than you do and she feels like it hasn't really been tested to see what he does and is he gonna just let her do all of that like he did his mum.
Well, I see, I agree that on one level this question is about values. But on another level, this question is really about relationships that jump to a stage where two people don't have all the information that they might want or need in order to move to that stage.
Right?
We don't know if they have different values yet. Because as she rightly points out, she hasn't seen him in that environment. You know, he might be far better than she thinks he'll be once he's in that environment. We've all had that experience of, you know, you're sort of, there's an apathy, perhaps a little bit of an ignorance sometimes that comes from A family situation where you take things for granted and then you're quite a different person when you move out on your own. You know, it brings out a different side to you. He might be worse than she thinks he's gonna be. He might be, you know, unentitled, coddled, little nightmare, little Lord Fauntleroy, when she gets him on his own. So we don't know that yet. That's the point. How long have they been seeing each other?
She says she met him last year after she moved back home due to COVID. Right.
So look, obviously there's been a lot of people who met during COVID and then kind of ended up moving in together just because it was either that or don't see each other. And so they were thrown into these situations where it was an unnatural rate of progress for a relationship. to some extent, you might say this is fast, right? They met last year, they've only experienced living at home with his parents, and she doesn't know what he'll be like outside of that. In a normal situation, she would have her own place and he would have his own place, and they would see how it evolved from there, right? You spend a couple of nights at each other's, You see how that person is when they're in your space? Do they pick up after themselves? Do they help you make the bed in the morning? Are they a good teammate in your environment? And what do they expect of you when you're in theirs? And from there you can start to figure out whether living together feels right. You graduate from two nights a week to three nights a week before you know it. They've got a toothbrush at your house. You've got one at theirs. You don't have to pack a bag as much. It starts to graduate in organic ways. What she's really worried about is that this can't progress right now or doesn't seem to be able to progress in an organic way. So one way to look at that is to say, if first you could say, okay, let's have it progressing in a more organic way. I'll get my own place, you get yours, and we'll see how that plays out. Or at least one of us gets our own place and you can still go back to your parents some nights and come stay at mine some other nights. That's more organic. Now it may be that behind this is a kind of financial situation, plus maybe some hurt feelings if they don't decide as the next step to move in together. But there might be some financial reasons why they're talking about moving in together from this place that they're in right now. If you're going to move at a pace that's not organic, then you should at least have some pressure relieving conversations. So, don't sign a two-year lease, maybe don't even sign a one-year lease, sign a six-month lease and be like, look, why don't we just try it? No one's holding anyone to anything right now. You know, it's not that we don't go back to living separately after this. Why don't we just give it a try for a few months and just see how we get on? Like my preference, if finances weren't a problem at all, I would say to them, go rent an Airbnb for a month. Like, don't even, don't even go straight into a lease. Literally rent an Airbnb. Go, go live somewhere for 30 days together and just say, like, you don't have to say, let's do this because I don't know how much of a nightmare you're gonna be just yet. And I want to test you just say, look, We've not done this before. It's exciting, but we also haven't had a chance to have our own space before. So why don't we just like rent a place for 30 days, go rent it for a month and just see, you know, like let's let's have some fun with it. Like, and you can even pitch it as like, let's enjoy the novelty of it a little more. Like, you know, because maybe we want to live here for this month and try somewhere different for another month, somewhere a bit further out of town or whatever. Like, let's not throw our ourselves into this right now. Let's, let's get a space together and have some fun with that and see what we want to do at the end of that period. Or if you want to do it for two months, do it for two months. But I would be a fan of, like, I'm a big fan of the mini experiment. It's the same to me as if you move country. If you, anyone who says, I want to go and live in Italy, go try it for a month. Like, don't the idea of, like, upending. I'm gonna sell my home and go. Go move to Italy because I have some idea in my mind of the fantasy of being in Italy. Go be there for a month. Like, rent a place for a month. Yes, it's going to cost a little more to rent a place for a month, but it's a lot less expensive than going and buying a house or going and signing a 12-month lease for something that two months in you realize was a horrific mistake.
Yeah, you want some ways of pulling the parachute on an idea, especially the bigger the plan, the bigger the change, have more measures in place so that you can pull back if it doesn't. If you roll the dice and it comes up a one or a two, be like, okay, we've got a plan B for this.
Yeah. You can take more serious steps but have lighter conversations about them. I'll repeat that because I think it's very important. Because it's important for anyone listening to this right now at any stage of a relationship, serious steps don't need to come all the time with really heavy conversations. You can say to someone, Hey, look, no one's signing a contract in blood here. We are really having a good time together. this seems to be, like, growing, and it's. It's, you know, like, I think what we have is really great. And if you agree, then I think it would be fun to. To do this next thing. But, you know, no one's doing anything that they can't leave. Like, if. If you decide that it's too much for you or if I decide it's too much for me, that could happen at any time. That's real life.
Right?
If we think, like if one of us feels like it's not right at any time, we can leave. That's the reality of it. By the way, whether you acknowledge that or not, it's the truth. So sometimes by acknowledging it, by talking about it, like it's okay if someone changes their mind, but if we're not like giving it a go, Then what's the point? I'm now into a different conversation because it's really about how to progress a little bit in commitment. But that is kind of the same thing, right? It's both the route to more commitment, sometimes if you want more commitment, but it's also the route to more measured commitment if you're concerned about the next step, if you want to dip your toe in the water. The conversation is useful in both directions because it's a pressure valve. It's a pressure valve. And what she needs right now is not a crystal ball that tells her whether he's gonna be able to evolve away from being the, you know, the adolescent who's taken care of by his mom who doesn't say thank you outside of that situation. Instead of a crystal ball, what she needs is a little, a few reference points.
Yeah, you need more data. It's too much of a you don't know what he'll be like in the environment just with you. If it was a more clear cut pattern where you're like, this guy doesn't have a job, he plays video games all day and has no motivation, should I move in? It's like, he's not gonna change because he moves in with you. But here, you need data of what it's like living with you. If it's just this one area where it's like, how is it gonna be dividing up the responsibilities? Let's like give him some responsibility and see how it goes.
But if you already have doubts, then don't sign a 12-month lease to move in with someone. Go live with someone for a month somewhere. Pay a little extra to live in an Airbnb together. Other ways of renting properties are available. This isn't an advertisement for Airbnb, but go rent a place together for a month. Just do a short term. See how you get on. and get some data. And if that goes well, you'll have evidence for why you might want to try three months or six months and you can build from there in an organic way.
And you know, you've got to show people the behavior you want. But that's conversation for another time. Well, thank you very much, everyone. We will see you On the next wonderful, wicked whipsaw episode of the Love Life podcast, I am Stephen Hussey. He's Matthew Hussey. Go and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Spotify, all those platforms, even Stitcher. Yes, you. And we will see you next time.
People over time have sort of thought, oh, Matt, stop like digging at your brother. I think what they're coming to realize They're coming to a point of increased empathy with me where they're realizing they just hadn't seen the dynamic enough. Like they thought I wore the trousers in everything, but I think they've just seen who wears the trousers. You called the end of that.
Right, that is horse manure, my friend. And you sit in there in your little dad shirt.
Oh, see? Here we go. Now the real high. No, here we go. Yeah, now you're having a go at the shirt. The real Steve comes out.
Oh, my event is I wore a new shirt today. Can I have a prize?
Here we go. You know, I'm sitting here, I'm bringing.
The questions, trying to help you.
No, come on, let's see the real Steve. Because everyone's got this impression that I'm like, oh, I come in all controlling and you're like, Leave your brother alone, Matt. I just, Now you're seeing it.
Oh, Steve, I wore a shirt today for the blog. Well, I bought you some questions, Matt, that I've fielded from social media, and I'm hosting it and recording it, all right?
Okay.
And you're going, oh, I've worn a shirt. Oh, oh, Mr. Magnanimous, here he goes.
