key to my heart

How long do you wait before making it a little easier for your girlfriend to "surprise" you by rearranging your bachelor pad?

I'm taking about the house key exchange.

The NY Times has this piece about the ritual, calling it a relationship milestone. Consider this excerpt:

“Where we live is our private shelter from the world, the place to which we return each day and where we can be our truest selves,” said Ellen Helman, a psychoanalyst specializing in relationship and boundary issues who teaches at the Florida Psychoanalytic Institute in Coral Gables. “Giving the key to your home says, ‘You now have access to my private world.’ ”

But some people say the whole idea of relationship milestones is antiquated.

Weigh in: Is a key ever "just" a key? And is there a certain point in a relationship when it's fair to expect unlimited access to someone's private living space?

(via Jezebel)