My [36M] wife [34F] keeps tying my boots after I've told her to keep her hands off of them. I tried to teach her a lesson and really hurt her feelings.

Yes, you read that right. My wife has this horrible habit where after I'm done with my boots for the day, she will unlace them, tie them, and then come and sit them next to me on the couch or put them in my closet. I've always found it to be one of the weirdest things ever, and have always made it very clear to her that it bothers me.<br><br>Some context: I only wear boots in the winter, or if I'm going on some sort of outdoor excursion. I wear them quite a bit for the job I have, though, so it's not like they get dusty. I only own two pairs; one is a rain boot, the other is what I call a "hiking boot" but really they're just for walking around in the snow. Both boots have to be properly broken in, so my method of keeping them is to have them untied at the top (but laced throughout the rest of the boot), with the boot sitting upright. I always put them away after a long day of work, and I expect them to stay that way until I'm ready to use them.<br><br>I'd ask her about it, and she'd always tell me that she thought I was being unorganized by leaving the boots sitting around (I have a large rubber mat that sits on the garage floor that all my boots sit on. The mat is large enough to accommodate both pairs of boots and there's enough room to walk around that mat to get to the car and the door that goes into the house). I'd always explain my method to her, and tell her to stay away from the boots. Recently, she's been laying them on their sides or even standing them upside down in the closet (which I absolutely hate because I don't want any water to drip into the boot). I've been begging her for a long time to please stop messing with the boots. I think I've even gone so far as to say, "Please, for the love of Christ, stay away from my boots."<br><br>Well, she did it again last night. I came home from work, threw my work bag on the floor (something I always do when I walk in the door because I'm exhausted), and she immediately picked it up. I always tell her that she doesn't have to do that. I'm very capable of putting that bag away, it's not like I'm breaking my back carrying it around. But she's always telling me that she's trying to be considerate because we have a small house and she knows that I'm tired when I get home. Then I went to put my boots away and of course she had fucked with them again. I was fed up. I got so fucking irratated that I decided to teach her a lesson.<br><br>I went to the kitchen and got a large plastic container, filled it with water, and put it on the floor next to one of the boots. I untied the boot, and stood it upright in the water. When she saw me doing this, she immediately asked me what I was doing, and I told her that since she obviously thought that the boots standing on their sides or upside down in the closet was an acceptable way to keep them, I was going to show her just how accepting she'd be of that method if the boot was actually filled with water. She told me don't be stupid, it was just a pair of boots, stop fucking around with it and put it away the right way. I told her that I was going to put it away the way she'd wanted me to all along: standing upside down with water in them. I stood the boot upside down in the water and she went berserk.<br><br>She told me I was being immature and was just trying to make a mess. I was trying to make a point, I wasn't trying to make a mess. I left her to deal with it and went to change. When I came back upstairs, she was still fuming, but she wouldn't speak to me. I tried asking her if she'd speak to me, she said no. I asked her how long she was going to be in a mood, and she told me she was never going to get over me trying to fill a boot with water and stand it upside down in the fucking closet.<br><br>So here I am, asking for some advice. I realize that the water thing may have been a slightly passive aggressive thing to do, but my intention was never to be spiteful or cause harm. I was just trying to show her how unacceptable it is to stand the boot upside down. I just want her to stop messing with my boots, and I'm to the point where I feel like I'm just talking into the void.<br><br>How can I get her to listen to me about something so simple? Or better yet, how do I fix this mess I just made?