Sometimes, boyfriends are far from perfect. They're lazy. They refuse to grow up. They push their problems onto their girlfriends and expect them to take care of them. It's a habit many guys have developed strongly within their personality. Ladies, this is something we should NOT be doing. Contrary to popular belief, we did not birth our own child by joining this relationship. Your boyfriend is a fully-grown man, well equipped to take on some responsibility.

It starts out as picking up after your boyfriend. For some reason, it's too difficult for ole Brandon over here to throw away his Mountain Dew cans. You shrug it off and think it's no big deal. Soon, however, picking up some trash every now and then turns into literally cleaning EVERY inch of his apartment. Whether you live together or not, this isn't your responsibility. He can throw away his paper plates. He can change the trash. He can sweep and mop. These are responsibilities that come with being a man, and if good ole Brandon wants the independence and freedom that comes with being an adult, he can clean up after himself.

Manchildren are immature in nature, which adds more flames to the fire. They joke off and never take things seriously. This means that you usually can't have a serious conversation without him turning it into a joke. Sure, it's a great thing to be able to laugh and be goofy with your partner, but if they can't sit down and have a serious conversation with you that boy deserves to be thrown to the curb. Life isn't always something you can use your sense of humor to get through. Sometimes, it's much more difficult.

Typically, when a girlfriend begins to realize her boyfriend is a manchild, she doesn't take it as seriously as she should. I know this from personal experience. My ex-boyfriend is the word-for-word definition of a manchild. He's lazy and would much rather spend his days off sleeping than doing something productive with his life. He struggles with cleaning. He is the most immature person in the world, which I used to find funny. Now I find it annoying. His immaturity caused our relationship to go up in flames because I was sick of wanting to have a serious conversation and it always being brushed off as unimportant.

For a while, I thought I could "fix" my boyfriend. I thought if I kept working hard myself, he'd catch on. I thought if I told him how his constant joking was bugging me he'd stop. It didn't. Here we are, nearly three years after I met my ex, and he's still just as immature.

If you think it's your job to fix your manchild, you need a wake-up call.

Trying to fix your boyfriend will do nothing but waste your time. He has to see within himself that these habits are bad. You need to let him know that acting like he's 12-years-old when he's 22 isn't acceptable. Whether you realize it or not, his immaturity is slowly tearing apart your relationship and it ISN'T your fault at all. This is something he needs to change, not something you need to fix. You're not on mommy duty.