A Teeny Bit OCD

For some summer entertainment, our family is watching 'Monk' checked out from the library. I had never seen the show on tv so it's been fun to start at Season 1. I love that guy. And I feel like I can relate to him in some frightening ways. He is a germ-o-phobe which I'm not and obsessed with order and neatness which I am to a certain extent.

For instance, I totally get why he can't pass the umbrella rack in the entry without turning all of the handles to face the same direction. If I eat M & M's (notice I said 'if'), I tend to group them in little like-color piles before eating them in order so that there are always the same number of each color left. It's scary even admitting that out loud. I used to count tiles on the floor and bricks on a path but I guess I'm making progress because I don't do that anymore. However, I do faithfully open the lid of the water compartment of my coffee maker to let it dry out each day - imagine the germs growing in that warm, wet environment!

The good thing is I know I'm not totally OCD because in all honesty, I like things to LOOK clean more than I care if they really ARE clean. Hence, the state of a few of my closets and cupboards.

My sweet mother was a neatnik to the 'nth' power. Her drawers each contained boxes or dividers for everything. The 'junk' drawer in the kitchen looked like something out of The Container Store - a box for gum, another for thumbtacks, another for playing cards, etc.. etc.. Her dresser drawer was divided neatly into separate compartments for nylons, footies, scarves and undies. She folded plastic bags into tidy squares and washed cans thoroughly before putting them in the recycling container. I admired her organizational tendancies but I know it also brought her a good bit of frustration when it came to keeping up with all of those habits - living in the real world with messy people tends to do that.

I remember as a young mother feeling extremely frustrated with keeping the house picked up and eventually decided that living with some chaos was better than becoming a grouchy, naggy mom. I recall the day I decided to let it go - and it felt good! Even my mom told me that when our family with three little girls had left their house after a weekend visit, she would leave the hand-prints on the sliding glass door just to enjoy the memory of those chubby little hands and grinning faces.

Now, things around the house stay pretty much picked up. But I have to be honest - I still have a few issues to address:

I told you I'm only a teeny bit OCD - this proves I'm healthy.