I was tagged by both Grace Comes By Hearing and Fractured Toy for a meme in which I have tell you six things about myself.
Six things?!
After I just spilled the beans in my 100 things about me post?! You might be wondering if one person really can have that many quirks.
Let me assure you that one person most certainly can. And I do.
1. I can’t bring myself to eat food meant for kids. Kraft mac’n'cheese, Smucker’s uncrustables, dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets. Not my thang. Purple ketchup, go-gurt, Push pops. Nope, no thanks. I have to pass. It may be that the total and complete lack of nutritional value in those empty foods is what repels me. But, along the same lines, I don’t drink from the plastic cups we keep in our cupboard for the kids to use. Nor can I eat cereal from the plastic bowls we keep on hand for them.
It’s okay. You can tell me. That’s weird isn’t it?
2. Clutter stresses me out, but only if it’s in my house. The sight of dishes in the sink, paperwork scattered about the counter, and random objects strewn across the floor will put me in a bad mood faster than you can say Calgon take me away. Perhaps that explains why the first hour after school is out, when the kids come home and almost instantly destroy any semblance of order that I’ve worked all day to establish, is one of my most tense hours of the day. However, clutter in someone else’s house doesn’t affect me at all. I guess it’s the knowledge that I don’t have to lift a finger, or find a place for all of it, that helps me keep my cool.
3. When people say “birfday” it affects me the same way that, say, the sound of nails on a chalkboard might affect you. My body instinctively stiffens and I have to fight off the urge to point out the differences in the words ‘birth day’ and ‘birfday’. The latter just reminds me of the word barf, which brings me to number 4.
4. I don’t use the word barf (click here for proof). Likewise, I hardly ever say ‘throw up’ or hurl or use any other slang in reference to vomiting. My husband and my children get seriously annoyed by the fact that, without fail, I say vomit or vomited. They think it makes me sound like an old lady.
5. At the grocery store, I never choose the item at the front of the shelf. If I’m buying shredded cheese from the dairy case, I remove the first two packages from the little hook thing before taking the third package and placing it into my cart (not buggy by the way, that’s another chalkboard word for me). The exception is for items sold in hard packaging like canned goods or cereal in boxes. I can take whatever is on the shelf when it comes to those things. If it’s sold in a bag or squish-able container of any kind though, I can’t buy from the front.
6. None of these last quirks seemed worthy of their own number, so I’m combining: I require at least two napkins to be within reach before I can eat. I need a straw when I drink because otherwise I make slurping sounds with my mouth. I’d rather starve than eat food prepared by someone I don’t know (potlucks are a nightmare). And yes, I realize that what I’ve just admitted to will leave you wondering what food related trauma I suffered in my childhood that clearly left me neurotic . The answer, is none that I can think of. Feel free to chime in on this one in the comments mom (or Me as she refers to herself).
Alrighty then. If you had any questions about my status as a high-maintenance type of gal then at least I’ve cleared that right up for you. I used to own a pair of pajamas that were pink with those “Hi, I’m __________” name-tags printed all over them. Only the ________ was filled in with the words ‘high maintenance.’
At least I’m the first to admit it.
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
You are weird and funny all wrapped up in one, and I’ve missed you this summer!
I totally get the one about not eating food if you don’t know who prepared it. Gross!
I could pretty much cut and paste this post and put it up on my blog verbatim…with the exception of number 5.
I was so happy that you served me drink with a straw last week I could have cheered out loud. Not because I slurp (although with the amount of ice I put in a glass, slurping is inevitable!
I am sitting here with my water beside me…and a straw in it. :) Something I’ve gotta have.
#4 cracked me up. I have to admit I can’t stand the word vomit. It completely grosses me out. I think any of the other slang terms are preferable, but then I have a great aversion to vomiting (who doesn’t!?) no matter what it’s called, so I guess it really doesn’t matter.
Fun to get to know even more about you!
I could have written number one. On #4…my mom always uses the words “bowel movement” when referring to my kids poop and i think “that is sooo old-fashioned!”
I totally do #5…and I do it with Magazines as well. If i look at one in the store, I buy the one behind it, because it wasn’t already opened!
Freaks unite! ;)
Oh and I don’t eat meat that was frozen and then thawed out via sitting on the counter all day, in the microwave…or anything else other than FRESH.
I am the same way about kid foods AND shopping at the grocery store. I will tell you that, from working in a grocery store as a teen, fresh items are restocked to the back, so it is BETTER to shop from the back- you’ll usually find later expiration dates, etc!
Steph
Oh Vomit!!
You gave me away, I honestly do not know why you have that fear about food, now if all potlucks served was cereal, you would probably be fine, being that it is from a box and you will even take the first one off the shelf…
And THIS is why I love you! :-) I can totally relate.
I see nothing wrong with your spasticity. In fact, I think it makes perfect sense. Except for the reaching two bags back for the cheese part. I don’t get that one.
And finally our paths diverge. :( I guess it had to happen sooner or later.
I adore plastic cups and plates. I have no idea why, just do. I only have glasses in my house for guests, and so we look like actual grown-ups. We use plastic cups. We do use actual dinnerware, though if I could find some great funky plastic ones I’d surely convert. I’m all about indestructable, baby.
And clutter – forget about it. There are actual books written about living with a messie, and that’s us. I’m a messie. It bugs me, but I let it build up and do the big periodic clean sweeps. I’m not opposed to change, I just don’t know how. Where do you uncluttered people put all of your misc papers and reminders and library books to be returned and diaper bags you need frequently??? I get having a home for everything, I just can’t find a good home for the stuff we use all the time. Out of sight, out of mind. My mind is too crammed – I need it in sight!
My husband is the same way at the grocery store. Getting a gallon of milk is sometimes a chore because he has to dig through ALL the milk to get the freshest date.
Clutter also drives me insane, but I’ll admit to learning to turn a better blind eye to it since my son started walking!
Oh I don’t like plastic either. It makes food and drink seems so…well, transient.
No, no, no. It just won’t do.
Thanks to my very favorite blogger, I offer you this.
http://iamneurotic.com/
Hmm… are neurosis the same as silly little quirks?
So, somehow I stumbled upon this and laughed really hard because of numbers:
2. Watch me lose it when my kids come home for the day and leave their shoes and backpack in the MIDDLE of the hallway or kitchen. My house is definitely not clutter-free, but their little clutter-spree after school drives me batty.
3. In that swimming class that I am taking… is a women… who said that she was “scared to deaf” about swimming. It immediately reminded me of the ‘word’ birfday and made me angry at her for a few seconds.
5. My husband laughs at me sometimes because when I send him to the store I make him dig in the bag for things like cheese and milk, and the produce he brings home is never perfect enough.
6. The one that made me laugh the most… Is that why you didn’t eat any of the fruit dip? I have the same issue and thought I might be one of the only ones. It is actually because my aunt had a dirty kitchen when I was growing up and everyone raved about her food. I couldn’t do it, just thinking about all the stuff that was probably in there… uck. Rest assured that I am a bit neurotic with my hand washing, non-finger using preparation of foods. Also, I (sadly) throw out about 1/4 the fruit/vegetables I buy because they are not quite perfect enough -that’s why I have to buy my produce at Costco. After seeing your house, I could eat your prepared food :-)