Congratulations! You and your bae have celebrated your first anniversary, and that’s a cause for celebration. The honeymoon period has passed, and you’re still together – that’s a pretty good sign that your feelings for each other are more than just infatuation.
Over the past 52 weeks, you guys have gotten to know each other better, figured out what makes each other tick, and grown as a couple. Things between you two have changed, and definitely for the better. Stuff that was such a big deal early in the relationship, like planning impressive dates and giving elaborate gifts, don’t even register on your radars anymore.
If you and your better half have been together for a long time, here are 10 things that happen when your relationship crosses the 1-year mark.
When you first get into a relationship, every moment is important. You celebrate monthsaries with near-religious fervour – every month together is a major milestone and a sign of your enduring relationship.
And then your first anniversary arrives, and monthsaries suddenly aren’t all that big a deal anymore. Instead of being huge celebrations, they become small reminders of how far you’ve come as a couple, if you even remember them at all – as well as convenient excuses to justify expenses like eating dinner at Swensen’s instead of McDonald’s.
One of the top pieces of advice about first dates is to order food that isn’t messy or difficult to eat, in order to maintain a certain degree of ‘glamness’ around your partner.
By the time you cross your first anniversary, all that has gone out the window. Slurp your laksa without a care. Eat the messiest, sloppiest burger in the restaurant. There ain’t no need to maintain your glamorous looks when you’re with the person who’ll be with you through thick and thin, and this extends to more than just mealtimes.
Your boyfriend has seen you without makeup, and you’ve seen him with his hair resembling a bird’s nest set on fire. You’ve seen each other in t-shirts and slippers, and are totally comfortable farting, burping, and discussing your constipation issues with each other. Comfort level: maxed out.
By the time you cross the 1-year mark, dates become so much simpler. Forget about fancy restaurants and cafe-hopping, or movie dates and romantic strolls along the Singapore River. You guys are just as happy eating prawn mee at the coffeeshop and walking through Bishan Park, before going back home and watching excessive amounts of YouTube. Napping together sounds like the best date ever.
When you’ve been in a relationship for so long, it’s less about what you do and more about the time you spend together.
You guys are one mind. After a year together, you guys know each other like the back of your hands, no matter what the situation. From being able to accurately predict what he’s gonna order at the kopitiam, to him knowing what your exact reaction to the latest development in your K-drama will be, you guys are basically two peas in a pod.
Flowers and chocolates are a nice gesture, but they’re not exactly the most practical (or thoughtful) presents to get. When you’ve been a couple for more than a year, the gifts start becoming more useful, even if they aren’t the most romantic. I got a power bank from my boyfriend on my last birthday to replace one that I broke, and I appreciated it a lot more than a bouquet of roses.
The fact that your gifts become practical is a sure sign of your ever-growing bond: you know what your other half likes, and what they’ll find useful. Whether it’s a watch your boyfriend has been eyeing for months or a new book from your favourite author, these thoughtful gifts prove that you really do know each other well.
Ain’t nobody got time for 999 roses.
Forget giant bouquets of roses and spontaneous moonlit serenades. While they make for good plot points in romantic movies, they’re also something wholly unnecessary after you and your bae have been a thing for over 365 days.
While grand displays of everlasting love have their own charm, it’s the little things that matter most in the long run, like buying him his favourite candy out of the blue, or him tapauing porridge when you’re ill.
Your affection for each other doesn’t need to be broadcast to the world in neon lights – these small gestures of love say more about how close you guys are than anything else.
Your boyfriend may not care at all about Taylor Swift, but he’ll listen to you wax lyrical about her latest MV anytime. Likewise, you probably don’t know anything about his favourite soccer team, but you’ll let him rant about the game they just lost whenever he needs to.
And with time, you’ll become interested in the stuff each other loves. He’ll know all the lyrics to Tay-Tay’s songs, even if he’ll deny it to the grave, and you’ll know more about hat tricks and BPL rankings than you ever cared to. Even if you don’t get each other’s near-fanatical obsession, you accept, understand, and support them. Yup, the best boyfriend/girlfriend award is yours.
After a year together, you feel like you know your other half better than you know yourself. Seriously. You know what upsets them, and what cheers them up. You know all their idiosyncrasies and weird habits. You know their favourite food, and their kopi order, even if it’s something complicated like kopi o gao kosong siew dai.
You’re basically The Ultimate Guide to your significant other, and rightly so.
This is a gradual process that probably started from the first date, but it’s something worth celebrating. Remember when you fretted over him not replying to your texts for hours, or worried that he’d think you clingy if you replied too soon?
That is now a thing of the past.
All the various “dating rules” you were taught are totally irrelevant. You can text as often (or as little) as you like, and you guys understand if the other can’t reply ASAP. You’re so at ease, all the funny dating mind games are 100% nonsense.
After a year together, it’s clear that you’re in it for the long haul. And when that happens, you’ll also start thinking about the future. You’ll start to consider marriage, moving in with each other, applying for BTO, starting a family… all the possibilities you and your other half can have.
Is he your soulmate? Is this how your happily-ever-after starts? It’s hard to say for sure, but after a year, it’s definitely something both of you think about.
You’ve made it through an entire year, but your relationship has only just begun! You’ll get to know each other even better, and your romance will grow into something enduring and wondrous with time.
The road ahead may not be 100% smooth, and while disagreements and arguments are inevitable, it’ll only serve to strengthen your bond and bring you closer as a couple.
This is only the beginning – the beginning of something wonderful.
Stay rad, you two.
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