September 15, 2010

OCD? Me?

I've been thinking a lot about my little idiosyncrasies (did I spell that right?) lately and wondering if I might have a touch of OCD.  OCD, in case you don't know, is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.  Here's just a few reasons I have for thinking maybe I have a little touch of it.  (OK, a big touch.)

*I can't let Chris fold clothes, towels, anything.  If he (or anyone else) folds any laundry, I will unfold and refold it the way *I* like it.

*I often wish Chris would unload and reload the dishwasher for me before I get home from work, but if he does, I go behind him and rearrange the dishes in the cabinets and then reload the dishwasher the way *I* like it.  Hmmm....wonder why he doesn't bother?

*I must (MUST) sweep the floors daily. I usually wait until Chris and the kids are outside or otherwise preoccupied because, as cute as it is, when the kids try to help, it drives.me.crazy.  When Chris is being sweet and tries to sweep and mop for me, I have to go behind him and redo it because its not done the way *I* would do it.

*When we are traveling (which we do fairly often, since our family all lives around 3-5 hrs away from us), I get pissier and pissier the later it gets.  (Okay, okay, this goes for ANYTHING.  I can't stand being right on time.  I want to be there 5-10 minutes early.  God forbid I am ever late for anything.  I think I would have a panic attack.)  I want to get up and out the door and get the trip over with.  If we say we are leaving at 9 am, I get antsy around 8:30 and want to get going already!  This drives Chris crazy and we usually end up bickering.  Not fun.  I have recently started trying to tell myself that if Chris says 9 am, that means 9:30 am.  This has helped with my OCD-ness and cut back on the bickering.

Recently I have noticed Hannah showing a few of these traits.  I know its normal and she is just learning about sorting and putting things in order and stuff, but when I see her line up all of her "babies" in a row (most often from smallest to tallest, but not always),  I admire her and secretly LOVE that she is showing organization skills and a desire for order, the way I like it.  I am one sick puppy.

Bathtime mostly consists of lining up her babies around the edge of the tub.
My classroom at school is immaculate and my fellow teachers often comment on how organized I am.  I tell them its because my house is in constant chaos (seriously...with a 4 yr old and 2 yr old, it looks like Toys R Us exploded in here) and my classroom is kind of my sanctuary...the one place in my world where everything has a place and everything is in its place.  My co-teacher this year is a mess, organizationally, and one day during our planning time, I emptied out her cabinets and reorganized them for her.  She LOVED it and showed everyone how awesome I was, but seriously...

I need medication, don't I?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think your just normal. My mom is the same way about the dishwasher and laundry to a tee. Daddy isn't allowed to touch it. Kristie and I have been "trained" however and are allowed to help with the dishes, but I still can't fold towels the Mom likes them so I am excused from that (oh, darn). Oddly enough, my mom is the one who takes the most time to get ready for a trip and Dad has learned to tell her we need to leave 30 minutes before he actually plans on going.

I guess to me it doesn't seem OCD since that's how my family has always been. I have my own tendencies too though so maybe you are onto something...

sweetcoalminer said...

Have you always been like that? I find myself getting set in my ways as I get older. My kids, though, do not organize anything ever, let alone in any way that makes sense. I've never seen them do anything like Hannah was doing. I was actually admiring your FB picture of your tub because the toys were so well organized!

Maybe you're on to something?

Anna said...

Thanks, ladies. Yes, I do find it getting a little worse as I age...probably just me, settling into my "ways" as I get old. I often say I wish I could throw out about 80% of what we own. I am a minimalist at heart, while Chris is a packrat. So far, these tendencies are not interfering with my daily life in some kind of drastic way, so I guess its not as bad as I think. Ha! So glad to know I'm not the only one, though...I guess Hannah and I can organize the house together when she gets old enough to help!

lynette355 said...

I always took my OCD traits as part of the good things. Ok my clothes are hung in order by item and then color. And my kitchen cabinets look like the shelves of a grocery store...in lines with the labels all in front. I don't want help cleaning...it is soothing to me. And please please please do not move things around....this is where they go!
OK OCD can be a lil too much

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