She told me once. She told me twice. But I didn’t listen. Because, in the wisdom of my experience, I knew she was miscalculating. However, it was my miscalculation that almost cost us $5,000.

See-what-had-happened-was…a few weeks before Christmas, I smelled gas leaking throughout the house. It was coming from the furnace. So I called a HVAC guy. He found the problem and fixed it before my family came up for the Christmas holiday.

While the family was here…no problem. But my wife noticed that the lid that covers our exterior propane tank had been moved. That meant that the gas company had recently come and filled up the propane tank. She asked me to check it. I figured there was no need. Besides I didn’t want to walk out in the cold to check a tank I already knew was filled up. She asked me two more times. I brushed her off.

I should have listened to my wife.

My family leaves after the New Years. A few days later, I start smelling gas again. So I call the HVAC guy back. He tinkers around with it and leaves. But I still smell gas. Now my wife is like…”You need to fix this – head of household!” “Head of household” are code-words my wife uses when she wants to remind me that it’s my responsibility to fix something. And she’s right. It’s my responsibility to come up with a solution.

I turn off the heat on the thermostat. It’s 13⁰ outside. But I’d rather be cold than have our house blowup – which she kept reminding me might happen. Now I’m thinking I have to buy a new furnace that’s going to cost about $5,000.

The next morning, we’re in the shower…and the water starts turning cold. I mean…no hot water at all. I’m like…”What the heck!!!” Then it dawned on me…the only time this ever happened before was when we first bought the house and we ran out of propane. So I jump out the freezing cold shower…throw on some clothes, and ran outside to check the propane tank. It was completely empty!

I should have listened to my wife

That explained everything. See, once the propane tank gets below 20%, it’s basically pushing out fumes. That’s why we were spelling gas throughout the house. I called the propane company and they came out in about an hour to fill the tank.

I later admitted to her that she was right and I should have listened to her. For, if I did, I wouldn’t have had to pay the HVAC guy $159, and I wouldn’t have almost bought a $5,000 furnace.

Here’s the 3-lessons I learned from not listening to my wife.

1. Don’t rely on my wisdom alone. She’s can see things I miss…or overlook. She’s got my back.
2. Don’t dismiss her intuition. Her intuition that ‘something ain’t right’ is just as valid as mine. Trust her gut too.
3. Be Accountable. Hold yourself to the Household’s standards…not just your own. Take the ‘L’ like a man and admit when you’re wrong. This affirms her good judgment and validates you as a fair and just leader — able to take the blame when necessary and give credit where it’s due — lest my silence demonstrate prideful arrogance. And that ain’t sexy.

Next time, I’ll listen to my wife.

What were some of your lessons learned from not listening to your spouse? And don’t front like you ain’t got none either!

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