bachelor vs. the family man

I've heard people comment before about the difference in lifestyle between a bachelor and a family man. From personal experience I would tend to agree with this thought process. A number of my habits have changed since I got married. Some examples include (but are not limited to) the following:

• The height of my laundry basket before washing
• The cleanliness/organization of my room
• The length of time I will go with a hole in a sock
• The length of time in between shaving my face
• The regularity of my eating out
• The regularity of my exercise
• The amount of money that makes it into savings
• The things I deem necessary for purchase

Just to be clear, Polly hasn't forced me to change in all these areas (and others). In many areas, it's my own growth as a man who has grown to understand the responsibility of caring for my household. The truth is that I was a lot more likely to spend money as a bachelor. I had less financial responsibility back then. My decisions don't only affect me any more.

So, where did this post come from anyway? As I said, I've heard people comment on the difference in lifestyle between a bachelor and a family man. This really stood out to me yesterday when my brother (a bachelor) came out to visit my family (Polly, Genevieve and me). Here's what happened...

My brother wanted to go grab something to munch on from the store. He asked me if I wanted to go with him. I asked him if he minded going to the grocery store because I had a couple of things I needed to pick up as well. When we returned to my house and unloaded our bags, it hit me. Looking at our individual purchases, I thought it was quite evident which of us was the bachelor and which was the family man. Don't believe me? Decide for yourself.

I could just tell you what our shopping bags looked like, but I thought it'd be better just to show you. We separated our items on the counter and snapped a quick photo.

Can you guess which side is my brother's purchase (bachelor) and which side is mine (family man)? Thought so.

I'm not claiming that this stereotype always proves true or that this is an absolute rule. But on this particular day and in this particular instance, it certainly did.