Oddities.

I suppose everyone has their fair share of quirks, some a bit more life interfering than others. I can proudly claim that mine are extremely limited, most likely due to my extremely laid back mother and well, marrying into the "Quirk Family."

I can sleep quite well regardless of the direction and shape my towels are folded. And, like Sci Fi Dad and I discussed a few weeks ago, any cleaning products are the right cleaning products, made better when used on my floor with your mop and elbow grease.

But that doesn't mean I freak out a little bit when my daughter decides to peek into the "cool silver box" in the public restroom.

We've all got our deal breakers; some of us refuse to shake hands and can't leave the house without lining up the rug tassles. And others of us just don't like to get shocked every single time we grab a door knob so we tend to flick it oddly before grabbing it.

Ahem.

But take the silver box example. I say, "Don't touch the silver box because it's really a little trashcan where people tend to put personal waste that is for their fingers only" (feel free to giggle the next time you are one stall over from me). But then there's the "Don't touch the silver box of death because it's full of germs and now I must wash your hands 40 times over and desanitize you with a wet wipe so start stripping kid."

Eek.

And unless our quirks interfere with us making it out of the house, they really won't ever give us too much of a hassle. Granted, I was schooled in the "correct" way to dry yourself off before exiting the shower, and how to properly hang the toilet paper roll so the paper falls over (God not under YOU FREAKS!).

But hell, we survived, albeit with way less sex, but alive and kicking just the same!

But then kids come into the picture, and I say all bets are off. It's time to quit the quirks. You know, bury your bizarreness.

Because what pains me more than seeing people obsess over something so ridiculous is when their kids do it too.

Now I understand that many of our oddities, or preferences (if we're using gentle language), are personality based and can be related to specific developmental issues. But when kids are demanding four layers of toilet paper on the public restroom seat, I start to wonder if parents aren't letting their own quirks rub off a bit too much on their kids.

Try cover and hover, kid.

Now I know it's one thing to be safe and careful. But when our kids can't eat a perfectly good raisin off the floor in peace and quiet and play in the sand without being vacuumed with a car vac, then what is this world coming to?

Truth be told, I want my kid to be quirky all on her very own. She doesn't need my baggage and she most certainly doesn't need my weirdness. And pain me as it does to explain to her why peeing on top of another family member's (or God help me, poop) is not a big deal, I will do it.

Because damnit someone has to make up for some of the crazy shit my husband likes to think is normal. 

Comments

[Lawyer Mama]

I'll sooo have to remember this justification for letting my kids pick Cheerios off the floor. Thanks! (-;

I'd never thought about using the vacuum hose on the kids before. I bet it would work well. Is it freaky if it's practical? Hmmm....

[mothergoosemouse]

Ah, just one of the many ways I'm trying to avoid screwing up my children...

[ImpostorMom]

our TP is now under, oh the horror. Although I KNOW that it goes over and not under, with it under it doesn't come off the roll quite so easily when little hands happen to get hold of it.

[Christina]

If you don't have perfect aim, you shouldn't squat. I wish people would follow that more - and clean up any messes they make.

I also keep CleanWell or Purell in my purse at all times. The sinks can sometimes be more gross than the toilets, so in those cases I'll use the hand sanitizer and skip the sinks.

[Redneck Mommy]

I have no quirks.

I'm completely normal.

Now excuse me while I go wash my hands repeatedly after just have finished petting my dog...

[Queen of Shake Shake]

Like I really have to pass any quirks onto my oldest son.

[The Other Sister-in-Law]

There's quirky and then there's OCD. And I don't mean when someone just casually mentions something they do as "OCD-like". I mean real, diagnosed true OCD. (I have it, so I know.) Some of those things, like towels needing to be folded and facing a certain way (unless you were joking), not shaking hands (because of germs, I'm guessing), and being unable to leave the house until certain things are checked or just right are traits of OCD. Just watch for this stuff. There's help for this kind of thing, behavioral therapy and meds are two. Just putting my two cents in. I've lived with it for years, and it's no picnic...for the person who has it or the ones that live with them.

[Amy]

JUST SIT ON THE TOILET ALREADY! If everyone sat, it would not get so filthy and require other people to hover. Stop it. It is just cheek skin is right, to the other commenter who said that.

[Carrie]

My dear little niece washes her hands, then smells them to make sure they "smell clean". This comes from my freaky sister, and her waaay overdeveloped olfactory system. So weird.

[Manic Mommy]

I'm not obsessive at home - the five second rule can easily become the five minute rule. But public restrooms? I carry Purell.

People can be disgusting. Witness Submommy's story. WTF? Ugh.

[BOSSY]

Balance. It's all about balance. And sleeping pills.

[Bill]

Wow, you get cool silver boxes in the women's bathrooms? What the heck are those f...oh...eew. :)

And TP should definitely be over, as should the paper towels.

[Brenna]

I MUST know the "correct" way to dry yourself off! Dish!

And ditto on the t.p. going over, not under. It drives my mom crazy, because I change hers when I visit.

AND I'm all about the hand-washing, but otherwise I think I'm fairly lax about germs. I guess my theory is if you wash your hands regularly, it doesn't really matter what you touch.

[b]

I am all for hand washing. Why, if you were at my house you would notice my dry, cracked, granny fingers. I have strep throat, and I've been to the doc enough this winter, thanks.

HOWEVER, my daughter's school makes them wash so often that HER hands are now chapped and dry and bleeding all the way to the wrist. (Nice to know she washes them so well!) Now she has to put hand cream on after every wash so as to counter act the drying effects of the hand washing. No 4yo should be that highly maintained.

[Sugared Harpy]

I would like to be schooled on this proper drying off method!

And hells yes, TP OVER never under. Sit your bare ass on the toilet, it's just cheek skin...but stop hovering and hitting the rim, people! Eeew.

I would also just give my kids one of my tampons to play with in the store if it made them settle down for a moment. Those looks were fun to get :)

[Jessica]

This post made me cringe the moment you mentioned the trash can. I can't stand Lil' Bum touching things in a public restroom. She's always trying to play with the trash lid or sit in the floor. This is definitely a quirk of mine. I CAN"T STAND IT.

[Catizhere]

Maggie was completely FREAKED out when I suggested she put her peepee in the potty with mine.

I told her that our peepee would get all mixed up when she flushed & it would go together to the beach and play in the ocean. Then she thought it was kinda cool.

[submommy]

The TP must go over. M-U-S-T.

I M-U-S-T flush a public restroom toilet with my foot. And now K. tries to do the same.

But I think my all-time gag inducing moment with my daughter was in the locker room at the gym. In one of the showers, someone had hung a USED tampon on the soap dispenser.

And here's K: "What's that?" Hurl. Gag. "um....." What can I say? Besides Hurl. And gag.

[Gina]

I'm definietly an over TPer. In fact - I have been knowm to change the under TPers TP. I'm sure they appreciated it.

[Jill in Atlanta]

If everyone just sat their stupid butts on the toilet seats then no pee would land on them and they'd be perfectly clean enough for another stupid butt. Are butt cheeks considered germ havens?

[K]

I totally get the doorknob flicking thing. I do it unconsciously now, especially if it's dry and cold. *mutters*

And yes, toilet paper should always go over. And if you're one of those under people and someone switched it around in your bathroom during a party... it's possible that I did it.

[Suebob]

I was my mom's fifth kid. As long as I was not on fire or drinking from the gas can, she let me do whatever, and I survived. Today I sit bareassed on toilet seats all over the world with nary a care. HA! Take THAT, germaphobes.

[Heather]

Gagging a little about the metal box. Thanks for that.

[Jo]

That's hilarious because my mother's unwavering rule when I was growing up was two squares of toilet paper only, and washing hands is optional. Ha ha. Talk about sanitary.

[SciFi Dad]

I try to counteract the insanity my wife imposes upon my daughter. Usually it starts with, "But Mommy says..." or "But Mommy doesn't do it that way..." and I reply, "But I'm Daddy." That way, she doesn't know I'm deprogramming her, and she thinks I'm just being myself.