I just don’t get it. When unloading the dishwasher, why would you not put cups of like colors together? Or if they must be mixed together, at least make a balanced pattern. Two pink, one green, two pink. The patterns are not my first choice however, because when someone takes a cup off the top, everything is out of whack again. I would rather have all like colors together. These are the type of things I think about before drifting off to sleep. Or as I unload the dishwasher, the argument plays out in my mind:
OCD me: Fix the mismatched stack.
Relaxed me: No, leave it alone. It’s not a big deal.
OCD me: Yeah but you’ll just keep thinking about it if you don’t.
Relaxed me: This is ridiculous. They’re just plastic cups, why do I care?
OCD me: Ok, I warned you. But you’ll just keep thinking about it. It’s easier to just fix it and be done with it.
Then I cave, and fix the stupid cups. Well, I usually do. Maybe 75% of the time. But that’s a huge improvement from where I used to be. Having kids has kind of forced me to let some things go.
I first realized I have OCD in college, when I read about it in a psych class. I never knew it was strange to turn the deadbolt five times. I was just making sure it was really locked. The same goes for making sure my alarm clock was really turned on. Everything was in fives, on, off, on, off on. There. It’s really on. I have actually gotten better about this in the past 5-6 years. Although that may be because my alarm clock is now two little girls. I wish they had an an/off button. Or at least a snooze would be nice.
When I watch shows like As Good as It Gets, I don’t feel like the freak that Jack Nickolson plays. Granted, I do wash my hands eight thousand times a day. But that’s because I have two kids under four, and not because I want to. So what if I have a dozen cracks on every finger in the winter. At least my hands are clean, right? RIGHT?
Poor poor Curtis.
moosh in indy. says:
You would pass out and die in my house.
I would at least cover you with matching sheets when you did, you know, out of respect.
February 7th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
RG in ID says:
That’s so sweet!
Actually, I’m 99.9% fine with other people’s chaos. It’s my own “stuff” staring me in the face every day that sometimes kicks my butt.
February 19th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
» My drug of choice says:
[…] know I have issues. But why do things like this get me so […]
February 29th, 2008 at 8:42 am
Liz C. says:
Found you through OMSH, just started reading, and had to add a comment to your cup post.
I Get It.
That need for visual continuity is huge for me, too. After 12 years of marriage, my husband is finally figuring out WHY all the towels are the same size, and white, and 900 other things in our lives are in identical sets… otherwise, I’m up at 2am, re-ordering the cupboard. He snickers at my box of crayons… never used, but arranged in perfect chromatic order, and put up where the kids can’t get ‘em (they have their own crayons). There is nothing so peaceful as 96 perfectly ordered crayons.
Pity me, though–we live directly across the street from a church. Two years ago, they re-striped the parking lot.
All The Stripes Are Approximately 38″ OFF From Balancing On The Large Front Vestibule.
I saw it happening as they were working, and really should have given into my baser instincts, run outside, and bribed them with ice-cold lemonade to STOP, and rebalance things, and start over.
I’m fine in the winter, when everything is covered over with snow, and it’s only the handicapped signs that are slightly off balance with the doors… but in summer, it is soooo glaring, and it’s Right Out My Front Windows. Every Single Day.
So, I’ve had to learn to look out and UP–to gaze at the steeple and sky, which *are* centered nicely.
Hmmm… perhaps God is telling me something there?
Love the blog–looking forward to reading more.
March 7th, 2008 at 9:43 am
Helen in Sydney says:
Thank gawd ! I have found another OCD dishwasher stacker !
I am the running joke at work because I have to re-order the dishwasher when everyone just chucks in the cutlery, cups, plates etc.
All glasses go along top rack on side (so they don’t break), coffee mugs in the middle, large plates at the back, small at the front.
It makes sense to me and half the small spoons don’t end up at the bottom of the dishwasher at the end of the cycle due to flying out from being stuffed in the front cutlery pocket by my non OCD co-workers who don’t just notice these things
Sometimes I have the same “leave it alone” argument but other days (esp after caffeine) I give in to it !
Weird thing is I am really messy in other areas…like my work desk and cupboard at home.
I do have to plump up my couch cushions every night before I go to bed and I check the car a few times before I leave it (esp. the park brake and that the alarm is on). Books on my shelf are stacked in descending order of height.
I guess these little things give me some sense of control over the other chaotic areas in my life…
June 30th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
RG in ID » Small town 4th of July says:
[…] I did not put the brakes on the sugar consumption. And boy I paid. I guess sometimes it pays to be anal. At least I had a great fireworks show providing enough light to clean up the […]
July 5th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
mindi says:
I guess I witnessed a glimpse of it in college.. and it actually rubbed off on me. I now, too, insist that the toilet paper roll unroll from the top and not from underneath. I never understood why you insisted on all of doing it this way.. it was just the “right way” to do it… and now that IS how I do it. I agree, it just works better that way..
And now that is how it MUST be at my house too.
As far as colored cups… I’m too lazy to worry about that stuff… but thanks for bringing it to mind.. now it probably WILL start bugging me.
July 7th, 2008 at 6:16 pm