Calibrations Required?

My wife and I have been together almost forty-one years and have lived together about thirty-nine. In a recent conversation with a friend, I casually mentioned how we shifted responsibility several years ago regarding which of us would take charge of tracking our financial situation.

As that same conversation continued I found myself reflecting on how many of these shifts my wife and I have made during our time together in order to keep things humming along. I remarked to my friend that these shifts remind me of the frequent calibration those analog household scales used to require in order to show your accurate weight. Thinking back on your longstanding relationships, what are some tweaks you recall making to keep things purring? Which of those tweaks were hardest for you? Straight guys: I won't accept "learning to put the toilet seat down".

I can also think of shifts I've made with my brother and sisters to keep those relationships (mostly) humming for sixty-five or more years, though I only lived with the three of them for the first twenty. And, we had our parents to act as referees if things got out of hand. So I suspect a great deal more tweaking is needed when it's just two people in a (theoretically) equal partnership. Your thoughts? Now as far as the shifts/tweaks needed to keep a relationship with a parent purring? Major calibrations are often required there for many of us and I've got my list. But I'm saving those for a professional; blogs need boundaries, don't you think?