My own little Freakshows!

Think F.R.I.E.N.D.S, think Monica Geller, think OCD, think – me!

I have OCD, so I annoy everybody around, especially my husband. When we were newly married, he liked that I kept things neat, clean and in an orderly fashion. I always put things back in their own place the moment I was done with them.  In a few years, it started becoming a topic of conversation when family and friends were around, and would never cease to put people in a lighter mood.

Some more years passed, and we seemed to be arguing about just these very things that he seemed to like about me earlier. (I guess, that is the reality of being married to someone as compared to living with someone). He hated it that I wanted the newspapers, books, tablemats in 90 degree angles; that I wanted to unpack as soon as we reached our holiday destination or reached back home – to the extent of putting the clothes in the wardrobes in their place and put the empty bags/suitcases back in the loft; that I constantly maintained various lists on my laptop to run the house or my daily routines or to pack for a vacation or to plan shifting of homes or shop for groceries.

He also finds comfort in the fact that, when he has to look for the tiniest thing in the house, he just needs to ask me. Needles, erasers, shoe laces, 8 yr old receipts, passport, an old weighing machine, a silk kurta – whether used yesterday or 10 yrs ago, I have a mental record of what is kept where and so far have never wasted time searching for something either in my house or on a vacation, despite having two children.

Fortunately or unfortunately, I have made my children keep their toys, books, clothes, shoes sorted and categorized too. More often than not, they too never look for lost or misplaced things, because there aren’t any.

My husband has fixations too – just that they are made out to be far milder compared to mine. The toothpaste has to be extracted to a point of no return (the tube should be as thin as a blade when done), only then will he junk it. Newspapers have to be folded back corner to corner, front page facing up (this has grown on me very well) all the time. Hanky has to be folded in a particular way – first vertical then horizontal – I have never seen it being opened and used, ever. Time is always estimated to the minute (there is no give or take even a few seconds), one needs 5 mins then one takes 5 mins, not allowed 7 mins. In the early years of marriage, I used to get violent reactions if I broke the rule with any of these. Now I guess I am used to it and automatically stick to them.

My sister once told me that staying even 2 days in my house is like attending Boot Camp. While I did feel offended back then, I now know her opinion was justified. I also realize how annoying I can be, and I guess this enlightenment is because of my kids.

My 6 yr old has highly developed fixations, and drives me crazy when things have to be done in a hurry. He uses three different toothpastes, and will use them in the same order across morning and evening. If the order is changed, he panics. If he is taken to a restaurant for the second time, he will order exactly the same things he did the first time - any compromise and he would rather go hungry. He has a set of animals that he will play with, by standing them in the form of an assembly line and in alphabetical order. This is how I came about to realize how annoying I can be.

But, it is by watching my 2 yr old freak, that I have been jolted into reality. He tries to wrap an empty cheese cube wrapper back into its folds before he throws it into the dustbin. If he struggles to get a ball that has rolled under a table, and one of us happens to help him, he will take the ball and put it back in the same tricky spot, and start the struggle again. If he gets into the car from a particular side, he has to get off from the same side – even if there are cars honking behind us to speed up the alighting process. He has to wear his clothes, his shoes, his bag, open the front door, step out, press for the lift in the same order every day; any change of order and he will be sure to remind us that the legends of the  tantrums of the terrible twos are true!!