Sometimes, it seems, the more two people get to know each other, the more they learn about the another’s annoying habits. Maybe she audibly scrapes her tongue across the spoon with each bite of her morning cereal or maybe you consistently drive an aggravating 3mph below the speed limit. Although it may be the case that, the more you get to know your girl, the more you will end up annoying one another, we believe that this cynical view deserves some reproach. You can’t change the way she acts, but you can be mindful of your own annoying habits.

1. Sex While Wearing Sox
You might be really good in bed. You might have all the right moves, and you might even know how to please a woman. You could very well be well versed in erotic massage techniques. Even if you represent all of these elements of sexual know-how, however, you are still (in all likelihood) not a porn star. Leave the sock-wearing to professionals, and consider that the naked male body looks generally ridiculous anyway. Further, when the naked male body is accompanied only by a lowly pair of socks, the effect is usually not just ridiculous-it can be downright disastrous. If the heat of the moment precludes your sock-removal on occasion, this is probably okay. But if you feel ‘naked’ without your socks in bed, you might need to take it to the judge: Ask her if she minds your bedroom apparel, making sure to read her body language as well as her spoken response to get the true answer (she may be too polite to say “You look gross” naked).

2. Sex WITHOUT Wearing Sox
If you have offensive smelling feet, you can entirely rethink the above consideration. If the aroma of your tootsies overshadows an otherwise enjoyable time in the bedroom, you are definitely permitted to cover the source of the offense. More globally, however, you should consider that one of your annoying habits might be your hygiene regime. If your hygiene is somehow lacking, she definitely notices, and this is definitely a huge source of annoyance. Consider the following areas to see whether you are up to par: toenails/fingernails; facial hair maintenance; showering habits; do you have dandruff?; do you wear enough deodorant (consistently)?; do you always have fresh breath?; is your clothing always clean? (This may seem like a lot to consider, but it’s really just the basics.)

3. Playing the Devil’s Advocate
Any woman can find a man who is willing to not support her needs, emotionally, go against everything she says, and, generally, treat her like her feelings don’t count. Of course, this is exactly what she does not want or need. 9 times out of 10 when a woman shares with you some harrowing tale from her day, she is not looking for you to play the devil’s advocate; rather, she is looking for support. A simple, “Gosh, that sounds awful!” will do to acknowledge her situation. She does not want you to say “Hmm, but I can kind of see your boss’ point…” This will only earn you the title of “insensitive.” As a general rule, keep your devil’s advocacy for your friend’s or for specific circumstances when she requests your opinion. And when she does say “What do you think?” always remember that diplomacy is at a premium; you can attract a lot more bees with honey than you can with vinegar, after all.

4. Passive-Aggressive Nonsense
Has your girlfriend ever accused you of being passive-aggressive? In all likelihood, the answer is “Yes!” Women love this phrase. They use it because men don’t know what it means, and this lends them an advantage. Allow us to explain: Passive-aggression is when you act like you are not trying to annoy her and you don’t care, but you secretly want to annoy her (because you do care). Here is a classic example: She says “Hey, boyfriend, it really annoyed me today when you…” which is quickly countered with your “Girlfriend! I don’t want to fight with you!” Oops! It looks like you just enraged her. How? By not acknowledging what she was going to say. By acting righteous, i.e., you don’t want to fight, only she does. By being passive-aggressive. In the future, never utilize the above phrase; always listen to her; and ask her for a definition of ‘passive-aggressive’ if you still don’t get it (because she probably has a full definition ready to share, with examples that you have probably provided).

5. Forgetting Important Dates
Years and years of sitcoms-from all generations-each have numerous episodes based on this classic truth: Men forget important dates. Be smart: take notes! Write down important dates (and it is recommended that you keep this somewhere that she won’t find it!). Further, if you are truly, truly terrible with dates: Set an alarm in your cell phone (most cell phones have this feature available) that alerts you of the important date. Thus, you can be prepared on the anniversary, birthday, etc., with flowers, candies, or whatever other token of affection the occasion requires.

6. Breaking Dates

One possible explanation as to why forgetting important dates is so important is that women romanticize more than men. Women idealize that on their next birthday/holiday/anniversary, their man is going to do…whatever fabulous and memorable thing they have imagined. Similarly, women look forward to dates a lot. They build up the Friday-night movie date with a great deal of anticipation: What are they going to wear? How are they going to do their hair? Thus, when this dream date (as it were) does not come into fruition because someone breaks the date, there is more that is at stake than simply not seeing a movie. Therefore, when you do break dates (which ideally should never happen), make sure that you apologize, give her plenty of time to make other plans (do not break a date the night of), tell her that you were really looking forward to seeing her, and that you know she would have looked gorgeous. Next, make another date and keep it! If you consistently break dates with her, maybe you should consider that this sort of behavior is not just annoying, but disrespectful. Would you reschedule with your boss over and over again? Not if you wanted to keep your job.

7. Unfriendly Joking

Girls like to be teased. Sure. And it’s fun and relaxing to be at the stage in your relationship where you both engage in mutual friendly teasing. But there is one important difference that needs to be pointed out: Girls are not boys; they are girls. This may seem obvious, but sometimes when guys have been in a relationship for a while with a girl, they forget this rather glaringly obvious distinction. That is, while girls like to be teased, generally girls are (deep down) sensitive and require a bit more attention than do guys. So if you have caught her on an off day, maybe your teasing won’t be taken for that today-maybe it will be taken as an insult. Also, watch your teasing to make sure that it isn’t insulting; sometimes guys are careless with their remarks with their fellow guys and believe that women can handle the same level of joking (which will ultimately be interpreted as “You’re an insensitive jerk!”). If you do blur the line between friendly joking and unfriendly joking, apologize. Immediately.

While it may be that the more two people get to know each other, the more they learn about the another’s annoying habits; it may also be true that we must be able to see past the annoying habits in order to have a successful relationship. Perhaps the beauty (as well as the difficulty) of a relationship is that another person’s annoying habits force you to take a look at your own shortcomings.