Rosie Green Will this be the winter of our discontent - YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Sign in Welcome!Log into your account Forgot your password? Password recovery Recover your password Search Sign in Welcome! Log into your account Forgot your password? Get help Password recovery Recover your password A password will be e-mailed to you. YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Home Life Relationships Rosie Green Will this be the winter of our discontent By Rosie Green - October 9, 2022 ‘You,’ says the boyfriend, ‘are a total ice queen.’ It’s true. As soon as the temperature dips, my feet become blocks of ice, my fingers glacial. By October, I’m an unabashed heat-seeking missile, sneaking my hands under his T-shirt at every given opportunity and always volunteering to unload the dishwasher (ahhh, the steam). I keep my daughter’s guinea pig on my lap while watching TV (think of it as ethical fur), and I’ll countenance items of clothing that I would normally reject out of hand (ie, fleeces). My bathwater is so hot, I emerge broiled. This time last year it was still early days in our relationship and we were on our best behaviour. Keen to please, above all else. Back then, I reckon he would have stoked his boiler with fivers. I certainly weathered outdoor terraces in November to appease his Covid fears with zero complaints. (NB I found a ‘wine jacket’ helped greatly here.) However, this year we know each other better; we’re able to say what we want – and this is making me anxious because heat (or the lack of it) was a friction point in my marriage. My ex and I were thermally incompatible. As we’ve established, I run cold. He ran hot. Actually, he was a human furnace, always opening windows and pulling at his collar. On planes I would be swaddled in blankets and he would be in a T-shirt, directing the blowy thing at his face. This meant our thermostat was a point of conflict. When I objected to him turning it down to Baltic, he would say ‘put on another layer’. I would plead my case, show him my chilblains and say I could see my breath – but he maintained his stance. I would tell him that there is proper research that says women feel the cold more than men and that they function more effectively, physically and cognitively, at higher temperatures. That their perfect ambient temperature is 2.5 degrees higher than men’s. (Although, I honestly think mine might be about plus-15.) One of the positives to have emerged from my divorce is that I have gained control of the thermostat: become energy independent. I cannot help but reflect that the fuel crisis, combined with the eco argument, would have added extra righteousness to his no-heating case. Plus, I reckon he would have felt that toughing it out in sub-zero degrees was somehow like giving two fingers to Putin. The boyfriend and I don’t live together, so – theoretically – we can both enjoy inhabiting our optimum environments. But what happens at each other’s houses? What if his place is Siberian? I can tell you now that in such an event, there will be no slinky nightwear, no nakedness or tantalising glimpses of flesh. There will be no flinging anyone on to the bed – because he’ll need to get in first and warm it up. Once in the kingsize, I will be sporting multiple layers and, very possibly, a hat. But maybe I’m worrying needlessly. Perhaps he’ll be sensitive to my temperature needs and I will decamp round his and turn off my heating. (I remember my grandmother telling me her book club always went round to Maureen’s, because she was so lavish with the gas. Maureen, bless her, just thought she was popular.) If all else fails, we can sit in his car, as it has – joy of joys! – heated seats. 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