People Online Share The Wholesome Secrets They Keep From Their Partners

Kasia Mikolajczak
couple hands holding each other
Unsplash | Dương Hữu

Truth be told, most people keep at least a few secrets even from the people they love. Be it a small detail from your past or a deep dark secret you never want to speak of again — secrets are part of who we are as human beings.

So it's no surprise that many of us have some unshared truths that we don't even let our romantic partners know about, huh? That's exactly the topic of a recent Reddit post where somebody asked, "What’s one thing your partner doesn’t know?" And the answers may surprise you after all.

This Sweet Gesture

Couple hugging
Unsplash | NeONBRAND

"That most of the times I ask my wife for a hug are when she's feeling down or upset because she doesn't like to be 'clingy or needy' so she internalizes and goes quiet. I tell her I need a hug because of one thing or another so I can comfort her without making her feel like she's inconveniencing me."

Aww!

This Birthday Reminder

birthday cake
Unsplash | Storiès

"My husband's birthday is Christmas Eve. Unfortunately, his birthday gets forgotten a lot. The first year we were married almost no one remembered, and although he claimed it didn't bother him, I could see that it really did. So now I send out a text first thing on the morning on Christmas Eve, to everyone to take a moment to wish him a happy birthday, and explicitly stated that no one is to let him know that I've sent out the text. Almost 12 years in, and he hasn't found out."

That's a class act.

This Clever Distraction

woman lying in bed with hands on her head
Unsplash | Jan Zhukov

"She suffers from depression, and when she hits a slump she feels like laying in bed and doing nothing, even though 99.9% of the time just getting out of bed and doing something, ANYTHING will make a dramatic difference in her day. So usually when she hits a slump I'll manufacture some fake emergency that only she can help me solve, like 'Hey babe I think one of the cats has a scratch on his face but he won't hold still for me to look.' Of course, the cat is fine, but I just tricked her into getting out of bed and doing something, and that's always the hardest part."

That's absolutely brilliant.

This Humorous Act

Women's shoes on a window ledge
Unsplash | Marcus Lewis

"That I have a folder of photos on my computer called 'Places I have found my wife’s shoes' that is legitimately filled with thousands of pictures of my wife’s shoes that are neither in the closet or shoe rack. I started it years ago as a joke and it has gotten out of hand."

LOL, that's so funny, huh?

This Sneaky One

UFO ship
Unsplash | ruddy.media

"My wife doesn’t know her Kindle is connected to my Amazon account and I can see the many alien sex novels she’s read."

Ha, ha. Way to keep a secret. You have to read some of those and tell her about this weird dream you had. I would love to see her reaction to that.

This Life-Long Secret

woman being tickled
Giphy | PBS Digital Studios

"When we were dating she tickled my feet, and I acted as if I wasn't ticklish. 13 years later, she will tickle them and be amazed I am not ticklish, every time it tickles. I have to hide this forever."

Oh, wow! Imagine that? That poor man has some willpower, huh? I can't believe he hasn't broken yet.

This Sweet Lie

bird's nest
Unsplash | Laura Ockel

"My wife is the biggest softie for animals, and we have birds that nest right in a column on our porch. One day a baby bird fell out and she saw. Well, it ended up dying, but I buried it and told her that I saw the momma bird come down and get it. It made her day so much better that I haven't had the heart to tell her it died and probably never will. I also distract her whenever I see roadkill coming up, or tell her it was just a plastic bag or something."

That is one sweet lie.

This Nice Gesture

flowers in a vase
Unsplash | Nasam Thaufeeq

"I bought the flowers his workplace sent him when his mother died. Everyone else in his family was sent flowers by their work except him and I was utterly furious. He’s a teacher and both of us have made a lot of personal sacrifices for his job but when I contacted them I was told they couldn’t send him anything because it would 'set a precedent' or some bollocks. So I told them I’d pay and I bought a huge bouquet and sent it to him. It really meant a lot which makes me even sadder."

That's so sweet and sad.

This Snack Habit

couple watching a movie
Unsplash | Phillip Goldsberry

"When we watch movies together we always snack. One of our favorites to munch on during the movie are the Sour Punch Bites. She takes all the blue ones because I don't like them and they are her favorite — always says how lucky she is that worked out like that.

The blue ones are also my favorite, but she can have them."

What a sweet sacrifice, huh?

This Fries Secret

French Fries in a bag
Pexels | Pexels

"Whenever we get fast food to go, she enjoys eating the extra fries which have fallen out of their carriage and into the bag. I'm not really sure why she enjoys them so much but whenever there aren't any, I drop a few down when grabbing my fries secretly and then give her the bag. It's been eight years ha, ha. I always grab my fries last and she's never noticed."

Oh, I love those crumbs too, ha, ha.

This Pure Excitement

dog waiting at the dooor
Pexels | Pexels

"He doesn’t know just how excited I get when he gets home. I just love being around him. The dogs can hear the garage door open better than I can, so I use them as a sort of notification that 'He’s here!'”

I bet he's happy to see her, too.

This Feral Move

Woman snacking on pizza and winking
Pexels | Pexels

"If he’s out of town, I go completely feral for the first one or two days. Candy for breakfast, falling asleep on the couch, beer with dinner on a weekday, clothes on the floor, recycling bag overflowing. Then I shape up. When he comes back everything’s back to normal. But man does it feel good to be a sloppy pig sometimes."

OMG, I'm dying here. I'm kind of the same way, hehe.

This Awesome Human Being

cookies in a basket
Unsplash | Mae Mu

"I always give him the bigger towel, leave him the bigger slice of pizza, make sure there’s a few bites of food in the pan because he likes to sneak extra when he puts the dishes in the sink after dinner, hang the covers a little longer on his side of the bed, leave the last three cookies so he has at least two and can leave the last one for me like he likes to do. The list goes on and on, but he will never know how much joy he brings me and how he saves my life everyday. Okay, sap is over, back to regular, un-wholesome internet-ing."

I love that!

This Sweet Back Rub

woman lying in bed
Unsplash | Kinga Cichewicz

"I rub her back when she's asleep because she makes happy noises and I like to think it makes her have better dreams... I do also do this to the dog, though."

Awe, that's super cute. I bet both the wife and the dog enjoy it tremendously, hee-hee.

This Childhood Crush

boy and girl lying down
Unsplash | Daniil Onischenko

"He does not know that he was my teenage crush since I was 12 and I wrote so many beautiful poems on him. We have been married for six years and have a child together. I don’t know if I will ever have the courage to tell him that I have always loved him."

Awe, so happy this lady's dreams came true and now she gets to keep that secret forever.

This Deep Secret

Mother and daughter in the kitchen
Pexels | Pexels

"That her mom called for her the moment before she died. When her mom was dying she was in the room with her for almost 24 hours straight and left for 30 seconds and I was there and in those 30 seconds, her mother died but not before calling for my wife. I don't know if it will haunt her or not, but I just don't think it's something she needs to know."

I have no words. What a good man.

This Comforting Act

woman sleeping in bed
Unsplash | Lux Graves

"My wife is prone to nightmares and often whimpers or screams in her sleep when she has one. I can reassure her without waking her and get her to feel safe enough that she makes happy little cooing noises while she’s still sound asleep. I’ve been doing this for her for over 30 years."

What a man, huh?

This Sweetest Thing

Hand holding a pizza slice
Pexels | Pexels

"I try to give her the 'better half of life'. If there are two pieces of pizza left and one piece is burnt, I’ll take the burnt one. She gets the good piece. If I’m going to shower and there’s one normal towel left, I will use a hand rag or something to dry off — she gets the towel. If there’s that unwanted end of the bread loaf, I’ll make myself a sandwich using that sad end piece. I’ll then make her sandwich with the good pieces. I do this all the time for the smallest things. She never knows. I try to make her life better in those small ways."

OMG, swoon!

Wow, are you as surprised by these answers as I am?

woman being touched by an act of kindness
Giphy

Here I thought they would all be dirty little secrets, and in turn, most of them turned out to be so sweet and wholesome. It's amazing what we do for our partners and what they do for us that we aren't aware of, huh? That's exactly what makes being with someone so special. It's what I love about being in a good relationship. Is there anything you do for your partner in secret?