A young couple decided to get married. As the big day approached, they grew apprehensive. Each had a problem they had never shared with anyone, not even each other.
The groom-to-be decided to ask his father for advice, “Father, I’m worried about the success of my marriage. I love my fiancée very much but I have very smelly feet and I’m afraid that my future wife will be put off by them.”
“No problem,” said the father. “All you have to do is wash your feet as often as possible and always wear socks, even to bed.”
Meanwhile, the bride-to-be, overcoming her fear, decided to take up her problem with her mother.
“When I wake up in the morning my breath is truly awful,” she told her mother.
“Honey,” her mother consoled, “everyone has bad breath in the morning.”
“No, you don’t understand. My morning breath is so bad, I’m afraid that my new husband will not want to sleep in the same room with me.”
Her mother said simply, “Try this. In the morning, get straight out of bed and head for the bathroom and brush your teeth. The key is to not to say a word until you’ve brushed your teeth. Not a word.”
The couple were finally married in a beautiful ceremony. Not forgetting the advice each had received, he with his perpetual socks and she with her morning silence, they managed quite well. That is, until about six months later.
Shortly before dawn, the husband woke with a start to find that one of his socks had come off. Fearful of the consequences, he frantically searched the bed. This woke his bride and without thinking, she immediately asked, “What on earth are you doing?”
“Oh, no!” he gasped in shock, “You’ve swallowed my sock!”